Understanding Your Podcast’s Analytics
A basic guide
Podcast analytics can be confusing, even for the most experienced creators and marketers.
Whether you need a refresher on the metrics that matter or are producing a show for the first time, below are the key podcast metrics you need to focus on to understand how your show is performing.
Podcast Growth Metrics
Downloads
What it is:
- Every play you’ve received on your podcast for 60 seconds or more. This means if one individual listens to your podcast twice, it will count as two downloads.
Why it’s important:
- Downloads are the most common metric to measure your show’s success. They are important for overall benchmarking and when compared to unique listeners, can serve as a metric of retention.
Where to find it:
Downloads over time
What it is:
- The accumulation and distribution of podcast episode downloads across a specified period. It is a metric used to track the popularity and reach of a podcast by monitoring how many times its episodes have been accessed or downloaded by listeners over a given timeframe.
Why it’s important:
- Tracking downloads over time allows you to understand audience growth, identify successful episodes, and track the popularity of your show.
Where to find it:
Unique listeners
What it is:
- The number of single devices (iPhone, iPad, computer, etc;) that have played an episode. For example, if I played a podcast episode four times, it would be counted as four downloads but only one unique listener.
Why it’s important:
- This is the metric that's truest to the number of individual listeners your podcast has, making it a much better reflection of your podcast’s reach compared to downloads.
Where to find it:
Unique listeners over time
What it is:
- The cumulative number of individuals who have listened to a podcast episode or series over a specified period. It measures the number of different people who have engaged with the content, regardless of how many times they have accessed it.
Why it’s important:
- This metric is essential for podcasters and advertisers to gauge the overall reach and sustained interest in a podcast, helping them assess its long-term popularity and audience retention.
Where to find it:
Subscribers
What it is:
- When someone subscribes to a podcast, it means they have opted to automatically download or stream new episodes as they are released, ensuring that they stay up-to-date with the content. Remember that a subscriber doesn’t automatically equate to a listener.
Why it’s important:
- The number of subscribers can influence a podcast's ranking and visibility on podcast directories and platforms, expanding the discoverability and reach of your show.
Engagement Metrics
Consumption rate
What it is:
- How much of a podcast episode listeners are listening to before dropping off. The consumption rate is calculated on a percentage basis, so the closer you can get to 100%, the better. For episodes that get played more than once often by a listener, Apple will record the consumption rate as over 100%.
Why it’s important:
Consumption rate tells you how engaged your audience is with your content. Use this metric to compare your highest and lowest-performing episodes and episode segments to determine what content your listeners value most and what can be refined.
Consumption rate is also important to advertisers, as they’re looking to reach captive, engaged audiences. A podcast with a high consumption rate can command higher advertising rates and attract more lucrative partnerships.
A good goal to set is to try to maintain an average consumption rate of about 80%. This means that listeners are tuning in for a little over three-quarters of your episode.
Where to find it:
Time of day
What it is:
- The time of the day that your listeners are tuning into your show.
Why it’s important:
- Monitor Time of Day to better understand when you should publish your episodes. For example, if the most popular time of day that your listeners are tuning in is Wednesdays at 3pm, consider publishing your show on Wednesdays at 8am. That way your audience can always find your content when it’s most convenient for them.
Where to find it:
Listen rate
What it is:
- Listen rate refers to the measurement or percentage of how many people who start listening to a podcast episode complete the entire episode. A high listen rate indicates that a podcast has a dedicated and engaged audience, while a low listen rate may suggest that listeners are dropping off before concluding an episode.
Why it’s important:
- Listen rate provides insights into the effectiveness of a podcast's content and whether it can maintain the interest of its audience throughout an episode. On top of measuring the relevance and quality of your content, listen rate can also be useful in attracting advertisers and accessing audience engagement.
Audience Insight Analytics
Advanced Audience Demographics
What it is:
- A CoHost-specific feature that reveals basic demographic information, like location and age, as well as interests, hobbies, social media platforms, social media behaviors, household income, family members, and lifestyles of your listeners.
Why it’s important:
- This feature was designed to help brands and agencies:
- Verify if podcasts are reaching their desired target audience
- Tailor their content to audience preferences for improved engagement
- Enhance sponsorship sales with comprehensive listener profiles
- For more information about the importance of demographic data and how CoHost’s feature works, check out our full run-through:
Where to find it:
B2B Analytics
What it is:
- This CoHost feature provides an overview of the companies and industries that are listening to your show including their size, revenue, and location. This information is broken down on both a show and episode level.
Why it’s important:
- By understanding the companies that are listening to your podcast, marketers can understand the effectiveness of their audio strategy, attribute marketing leads, and measure podcast ROI more accurately. Additionally, data gathered from B2B Analytics, can help generate more sponsorship opportunities, drive revenue, and build partnerships.
- For more information about what B2B Analytics is and how it’s benefiting brands and agencies, check out our full feature breakdown:
Where to find it:
If you’re interested in learning more about need-to-know podcast analytics terms, check out CoHost’s Ultimate Podcast Analytics Dictionary.