Hey savvies! Welcome back to another episode of the podcast. In today’s episode, we’re talking about probably one of the most asked podcasting questions – What exactly is considered a good number of downloads?
I want to start off by saying that your downloads are definitely going to vary depending on a couple of factors.
First, do you have a built-in audience already? If you already have a decent-sized audience who loves everything you do then obviously your downloads are going to be higher than someone who starts with no audience or a small audience.
The second thing to consider is the length of time you’ve been podcasting. As I’m sure you’ve heard me say a million times, starting a podcast isn’t an overnight massive amount of downloads kind of thing. It takes time to grow your listenership and it’s important to be patient.
The third thing to consider is your actual topic. If you have a more niched-down show then you may have a ton of downloads (especially if the niche is underserved) or you may have a moderate amount of downloads but your listeners are super engaged because the topic is so niche.
Now let’s talk about average download numbers.
Libsyn shares average download numbers pretty regularly with their audience which is super helpful.
As of recently, if, after 30 days, your podcast episode has over…
123 downloads you’re in the top 50% of podcasts
1000 downloads you’re in the top 20% of podcasts
2900 downloads you’re in the top 10% of podcasts
6600 downloads you’re in the top 5% of podcasts
17,000 downloads you’re in the top 2% of podcasts
30,000 downloads you’re in the top 1% of podcasts
So if your episode has 123 downloads after just 30 days, then you’re doing just fine. People are often shocked when I tell them this stat because they expect it to be much higher. Although podcasting has been around since 2004, it’s only recently started gaining traction in the past 10 years or so and even more so in the past 5 years.
So if you’re getting more than 123 downloads per episode, then you should be so proud of yourself because that means you’re doing better than the average podcast so if this is you give yourself a big pat on the back for me right now.
And if you’re getting less than 123 downloads per episode, that’s totally okay too! Celebrate yourself anyway. Your message is still getting heard by your people whether it’s 75 people or 750 people it still counts so don’t beat yourself up if you’re not quite to the 123+ per episode download mark quite yet.
That’s it for today’s episode. I’d love to hear from you. Were you shocked to hear the average download number? Did you expect it to be higher or lower? DM me on Instagram @jenny.suneson and let me know.