What makes a podcast successful? Everyone’s version of podcast success is different but entrepreneurs should be focusing on 3 specific metrics for success.
How to Define Your Podcast Success
Crazy enough, even though I wasn’t putting out new episodes, our downloads continued to grow so that’s a plus!
This week I am planning on batching some episodes so that there will be no more unplanned breaks from the show because consistency is so important to me.
Now let’s talk about why you’re actually listening to this episode, and that’s to talk about how to define your podcast success.
The answer to this question is really going to vary because we all have different reasons for podcasting.
You may have your podcast so that you can build authority with your ideal audience or maybe your main goal from your podcast is to generate new leads in your business.
If you’re just looking for your podcast to serve as an authority builder then you may care less about the download numbers and more about what your audience is saying about your content.
If you’re using your podcast to generate new leads, your success also likely doesn’t depend on downloads either, but more about how many of your listeners are taking the next step into your funnel.
As business owners who are looking to use your podcast strategically, you should focus on these 3 metrics (in this order)
- Leads
- 30-day episode downloads
- Monthly downloads
Now let’s dive into each one of these individually.
Leads – This is something you definitely need to be tracking whether it’s opt-ins to your freebies, sign-ups for your masterclass, summit, booking a discovery call with you, etc. This all needs to be tracked and you should be using URLs that are only shared on your podcast episodes so you know exactly where the lead came from.
To me, this is the most important metric because it gets people further into your funnel and allows you to continue to connect with them on a deeper level.
30-day episode downloads – Tracking your 30-day episode downloads helps you see which topics are resonating with your listeners so that you can do more episodes like that.
Monthly downloads – Obviously this metric doesn’t tell you too much but if this number is growing each month, even slightly then that is a good thing because it shows that your show is being served to more and more people and more people are deciding to subscribe and tune into your episodes.
So all that to say, there’s no one true metric to define a podcast’s success because everyone’s goals are going to be different but these 3 are ones that I find are the most beneficial for people to keep track of on a monthly basis.
Now I’d love to hear from you guys. Which of these metrics do you track (if any) and which one is the most important to you personally? Head on over to Instagram @jennysuneson and let me know. Being able to chat with you all in my DMs is my favorite thing to do so I’m looking forward to your input.
And if you’re struggling with even knowing where to begin with podcasting, I can help. Head here and book your free call with me today. I can’t wait to hear from you!
Related Episodes:
Ep. 191 | How to Use Chartable to Help Make Decisions with Your Podcast
Ep. 187 | 5 Mistakes You’re Probably Making with Your Podcast