Tracking your podcast success can be complex. The podcast is a decentralized medium, and unlike music/video streaming, the point of consumption happens across different devices and platforms, which means it is being downloaded onto a device through which your listeners actually listen to your podcast. Here come podcast performance metrics.
There are a lot of podcast performance metrics you should consider to get real and powerful insights about your podcasts success which can be confusing sometimes. There are different podcast directories each having different ways of measuring performance metrics, and unfortunately, it isnt easy to figure out clear data. Lets go through 14 essential podcast performance metrics you need to track in 2023 to better understand if your podcast is successful.
You’ve launched your podcast – congrats! But now comes the critical question: how do you know if it’s actually successful? Relying just on gut instinct is not enough. You need concrete metrics to benchmark performance and growth.
In this article, we’ll explore the key indicators to measure podcast success. Tracking these data points will provide insights to shape your content strategy and take your show to the next level
Why Measurement Matters for Podcasting
Many podcasters just focus on publishing episodes without digging into listener data. But metrics should guide your approach, not vanity stats like having 100 shows.
Here are some of the benefits formal measurement provides:
- Identifies your most popular and engaging episode formats to replicate
- Shows who your audience is and how they listen over time
- Surfaces opportunities to improve content, marketing, distribution etc.
- Sets goals for growth and benchmarks progress
- Demonstrates ROI to sponsors and stakeholders
- Motivates you to keep producing with tangible indicators of impact
In short, measuring performance is key for maximizing success.
Top Podcast Metrics to Track
Now let’s explore the key metrics and KPIs to measure for your podcast:
Downloads
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What it shows Total interest and reach of your podcast
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How to measure: Number of episode downloads over time. Many platforms provide handy download data.
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Benchmark: Set targets for minimum downloads per episode. Track growth over time.
Listens
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What it shows: Listener engagement with your episodes
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How to measure: Number of complete episode listens or % listened. Platforms can track.
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Benchmark: % listen through rate per episode. Set goals for improvement.
Listen Locations
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What it shows: Where your audience is listening from – country, platform etc.
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How to measure: Platform analytics detailing listener location data.
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Benchmark: Listen share by country. Changes over time.
Listener Retention
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What it shows: Ability to retain listeners over episodes long-term
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How to measure: % of unique listeners who download multiple episodes.
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Benchmark: Average number of episodes consumed per listener.
Reviews & Ratings
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What it shows: Direct listener feedback on your podcast quality
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How to measure: Number and sentiment of reviews left on podcast platforms.
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Benchmark: Average rating. Percent 5 star reviews.
Social Media Engagement
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What it shows: Audience interest beyond just listening
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How to measure: Shares, comments, likes, followers driven by your podcast.
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Benchmark: Engagement rates over time. Set growth goals.
Website Traffic
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What it shows: Your podcast’s impact driving other business goals
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How to measure: Increased visits to your site from podcast links.
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Benchmark: Website referral traffic growth. Conversation rates.
Lead Generation
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What it shows: Business impact of your podcast beyond reach
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How to measure: Leads captured from podcast promotion and content.
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Benchmark: Podcast-driven leads over time, cost per lead.
Best Practices for Tracking Podcast Metrics
Follow these tips to measure your podcast performance effectively:
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Track regularly – Monitor metrics continuously, not just one-off. Monthly or quarterly cadence is ideal.
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Use multiple metrics – No one indicator tells the full story. Adopt a holistic set per above.
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Set SMART goals – Establish Specific, Measurable goals related to your KPIs to drive growth.
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Automate reporting – Use software tools to automatically generate reports rather than manual tracking.
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Segment data – Break down metrics by factors like episode, format, guest etc. to spot trends.
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Be patient – Don’t expect overnight success. Look at long term progress over months and years.
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Listen to episodes – Don’t just rely on data. Listen to understand the user experience.
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A/B test changes – When you make format tweaks, compare data to see the impact.
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Optimize over time – Use insights to continually refine your podcast strategy.
Measuring Podcast Success on Popular Platforms
Major podcast platforms make it easy to access metrics and analytics:
Apple Podcasts
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Provides download and listener numbers plus reviews
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Use Apple Podcast Connect dashboard to access
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Can view geographic data on audience
Spotify
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Spotify for Podcasters hub offers download, demographic and listener data
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Can analyze performance by episode and segment data
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Comprehensive analytics compared to other platforms
Google Podcasts
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Download numbers provided in Podcast Manager dashboard
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Some demographic data available but more limited insights
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Focus is mainly on download stats rather than listener behavior
Additional Tools
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Podcast hosts like Buzzsprout also provide download stats and other analytics
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Website analytics platforms can track podcast referral traffic
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Link shortener tools like Bitly show clicks on episode links you share
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Survey tools can gather listener feedback to supplement platform data
Tips for Interpreting Podcast Metrics
When analyzing data, keep these tips in mind:
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Focus on trends rather than obsessing over single data points
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Don’t expect to “go viral” – steady organic growth is better long term
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Increase total downloads and listeners before digging into more advanced metrics
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Give new episodes 2-3 weeks to accumulate listens before assessing response
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Consider seasonality – listens often dip in summer and peak in January
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Don’t compare to other shows – measure against your own past performance
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Segment data to see differences across episodes, formats etc.
Using Data to Improve Your Podcast
The purpose of measuring performance is driving continuous improvement. Analyze your metrics to:
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Identify and double down on your best performing episode formats
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Refine topics and content that attracts listeners
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Guide marketing by focusing on channels driving the most engagement
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Set realistic targets for downloads, reviews etc. to motivate growth
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Develop partnerships and collaborations that bring new audiences
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Optimize production quality based on listener feedback
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Improve episode pacing and listener retention
The data doesn’t lie – let it steer your podcast to success. With the right measurement approach, you’ll gain helpful insights to engage more listeners. What key metrics do you track for your podcast? Please share your experiences in the comments below!
Downloads per episode
The number of times your episode has been downloaded to a mobile device indicates the growth and its popularity among your listeners. This performance metric also helps you gauge if your content, titles, and format are engaging enough for your audiences. There are podcast analytics platforms providing information on how many times your podcast is being downloaded, your audience location, age, devices they use to listen to your episodes, and other useful information, that you can use to find more listeners, as well as relevant sponsors to pitch your podcast to.
Downloads by the time of the day
This performance metric will give you insights on what is the best time of the day to publish episodes. Knowing the weekday and the most active hour of the day can help set your schedule on publishing so that to have a fresh episode at the time when people are expecting it.
Understanding in which countries your podcast is the most popular will enable you to engage with your audience in the right manner and find new opportunities to market your show. Plus, the breakdown of your target audience location can help you plan a live tour and do more targeted marketing.
3 Ways to Measure Podcast Success
What are podcast metrics?
Metrics are the hard data that show whether your podcast is successful. But which metrics you pay the most attention to depends on your unique goals. Many podcasters track basic podcast statistics like total downloads, subscribers numbers, and chart rankins. These can give you a good birds-eye view of your podcast’s popularity and performance.
How do you measure the success of a podcast?
While it’s important to track how many people listen to each episode, another way to measure the success of a podcast is by calculating the number of people who download an episode. Downloads help measure how many listeners plan to listen later or listen a second time.
How do you measure a podcast audience?
For many creators, growing their podcast audience is one of the top goals. The number of listeners is the best metric to measure audience size. Spotify counts the number of listeners based on how many people have started an episode and listened for any amount of time. You can look at your overall listeners and listeners per individual episode.
How do I know if my podcast is a success?
Your show’s chart position (or popularity ranking) within your genre is a good indicator of success. Rather than going strictly by download numbers, Apple Podcasts determines chart positions by engaged listeners and the popularity of an episode.
