Our crew here at VA FLIX has collaborated on a vast number of podcasts with some of the most well-known and well-known businesses in the world. One of the topics that we often go through with our customers is podcast analytics, namely how to not just interpret them but also determine what aspects of your program are most important.

There is a wide variety of software and innovative approaches available for monitoring podcast analytics. However, in order to get back to the fundamentals and highlight the metrics that are essential for your company to monitor at all times, we have chosen to discuss six of our most frequently used resources that are simple to access.

We will discuss the following six critical podcast metrics that every company needs to be tracking:

1. Podcast Consumption Rates 

When it comes to branded podcasts, we have previously discussed consumption rates, and moving forward, we will continue to be strong proponents of this statistic.

The average consumption of your episodes is a measurement of how much of each episode listeners really pay attention to. For instance, let’s assume you have a 30-minute episode; you’ll be able to monitor how long listeners stay tuned in before abandoning the show. It’s possible that the chart reveals that listeners are sticking around until the 25-minute point, which would indicate that your typical episode consumption rate is somewhat higher than 80%.

This is an effective statistic, and it is arguable that it is one of the most essential ones when it comes to determining how high the quality of your podcast episodes is and how relevant they are.

If you reach the midway point of your presentation and see a decline in the number of people listening to it, this is a valuable insight that indicates something has to be altered. If you want to keep your listener’s interest, you may want to experiment with a shorter episode or try introducing a transition at around the midway mark. Whatever the alternative remedies may be, your consumption rate is telling you that listeners are disinterested after listening to only 50% of your episode. Another possibility is that listeners stop paying attention shortly after the beginning of the show, which may be an indication that you need to begin each episode in a more appealing manner or if the material isn’t what they anticipated.

As a general rule, we try to maintain a consumption rate for shows that is at least between 75 and 80 percent. At the moment, Apple calculates consumption rates, while Spotify maintains graphs for both completion and retention. Consumption rates, as a whole, ought to function as a leading indicator for the success of podcasts.

2. Unique Listeners  

The term “unique listeners” is sometimes mistaken for “downloads,” but what it really refers to is the specific listeners who are tuned in to your podcast. This measure thus shows the most exact number of listeners you have tuning into episodes, in contrast to downloads, which monitor any and all listens an episode gets.

For instance, if I were to listen to your podcast five times in a row, for instance, this would count as five downloads, but it would only count as one unique listen.

To be able to provide accurate reporting for your brand, it is essential to have a solid understanding of the number of people that are actually listening to your podcast. Over the course of time, you will also be able to acquire an estimate of the number of listeners that are committed to your show. If you find that after the release of each new episode, you still have the same number of unique listeners, this is an encouraging indicator that the people who make up your base of unique listeners are committed members of your fandom.

For sure, you need to put together this concept or measure, but for the time being, this is how companies may monitor customer loyalty without receiving feedback directly from consumers.

3. Podcast/Episode Downloads 

Downloads are another important podcast measure that should be tracked alongside the number of unique listeners.

Now, one of the most common success criteria that podcasters and companies are relying on is the number of downloads their content receives. However, there is a justification for why we have not placed it at the top of the list.

We are not going to argue that downloads do not have value since it is abundantly clear that they do. However, it is not the most essential podcast measure, and we prefer to make sure that our customers are aware of this fact. When compared to the number of unique listeners, downloads may be a good indicator of the percentage of your audience that consists of dedicated listeners that tune in for several episodes. This is a fantastic indicator that the information you’re providing is rich in value and interesting to readers.

When discussing engagement, we often refer to consumption rate measurements. However, when discussing awareness, we focus on unique listeners since this statistic provides a more precise reflection of the number of individuals that are a part of your audience.

But with that being said, downloads are still crucial to report on as an indication of your overall podcast success, but don’t allow it to be the sole metric to offer you this information.

4. Listener Demographic & Geographic Data 

Following that, we will discuss facts pertaining to demographics and geography. Geographic data tells us where our listeners are listening from, while demographic data might include things like the age or gender of the listeners.

If you run a business, having access to this kind of vital data may either help you make certain that your podcast is reaching the audience you want or it can aid you in targeting audiences in the future. We can all agree that there is less demographic data accessible for podcasts, but you may still get useful insights from the information that is made available to you.

Perhaps there is a certain age group or gender that you are concentrating on as a target audience for your endeavors, or perhaps there is a particular nation, area, or city that you would want to attract customers from. Whatever it may be, you will be able to determine whether or not this audience is truly responding to your podcast and whether or not the material is relevant to them.

Data pertaining to demographics and locations may also be used for advertising purposes. Take, for instance, the scenario in which you want to market your podcast to a subset of listeners who would be the most interested in hearing about your program. It’s possible that when you look at your most recent statistics, you discover that the bulk of the people who listen to your podcast are between the ages of 25 and 34, consider themselves female, and live in the United States. You may use these insights and include them in your advertisements to guarantee that you are reaching the intended demographic.

5. Podcast Ratings & Reviews 

Ratings and reviews on podcasts are actually useful for a variety of purposes. Not only does it seem great for your podcast to have a lot of ratings and reviews when new listeners find your show, but they may also be a beneficial source of feedback. When new listeners discover your show, it looks wonderful that your podcast has a lot of ratings and reviews.

It is one thing for your brand to market your podcast and inform prospective listeners that you have amazing material; but, having actual listeners leave good reviews and ratings on your show says volumes about the quality of the program.

On the other hand, reviews, in particular, are fantastic resources for feedback on your podcast. Even if not all of the reviews are good, it is important to read through each and every one of them and determine if there are any aspects of your podcast that may be improved. Perhaps there was a particular aspect of the show’s content that viewers and listeners found particularly interesting, and you could base future episodes around that. Or, maybe you tried out a new format that didn’t go down well with your audience, which provided you with valuable information that suggests it’s either time to revert to the format you were using before or investigate some other options.

6. Listening Platform Chart Rankings 

Finally, podcast charts and the position that your podcast now has in such rankings are significant podcast metrics to have a look at. Podcast charts are not only an amazing milestone for your business to celebrate, but they also work as a wonderful source of discoverability for new listeners. This is because podcast charts rank podcasts according to their popularity among other listeners.

Pay attention to the charts that your podcast is ranking for since it may provide you insights into the categories and genres your program belongs into that you may not think about, and it can also tell you where your podcast is the most popular (genre and location).

We’ve had customers rank for charts all around the globe, even in countries and regions where we wouldn’t have suspected we had a significant listener base if we hadn’t looked at the analytics.