Downloads vs Followers

Every download tells a story. Whether it's a loyal listener catching your latest episode or a new fan binging your back catalog, understanding your download metrics is crucial for podcast growth but does more always equal better? Let’s take a look.

What Are Downloads & Streams?

Before I get into this week’s content - I want to level set and talk about the difference between downloads and followers. Back in the good ol’ days (2022 to be exact) you could be fairly certain that your number of downloads would be equal to your number of followers (or subscribers as it was known then) because every show you subscribed to automatically downloaded every episode. Follow a show once and never listen again - but you would still get the content and the download would count.

But then Apple had to go and change the game. They stopped automatically downloading every episode of every show you ever followed. This meant that peoples numbers dropped, some significantly, overnight. The panic was real.

My personal opinion is this was a good move by Apple because now your downloads reflect your actual listeners and not just someone who followed your show once and never listened again. It incentivized the podcasters to see what is actually working and double down on that.

Podcasts as a tool In your toolbox

Podcasts are a marketing tool to keep people in your ecosystem and I honestly go back and forth on whether they are a top of funnel or a middle of funnel tool in your toolbox. Different episode formats serve different purposes, which is why it’s important to look at your episode level analytics and not just the overall show. (I’ll talk more about episode formats in another newsletter.)

Take a look at the numbers below. What do you see?

I see more Listeners than Followers by a lot. This show has leaned into an interview format versus solo content as an amplification strategy. It throws a wider net because the expectation is that people will promote their episodes. What this is telling me is that people are coming to the show but aren’t sticking around either because they are so focused on what that guest has to say or maybe they don’t like the show. And it’s a good top of funnel tool but are they bringing people into their ecosystem in other ways - in this case I would recommend a call to action that captures emails. Maybe an opportunity to jump on a roundtable webinar with a few guests - but sign up to be notified!

Let’s look at a different show. This is a solo content show in a hyper specific niche.

There are more followers than engaged listeners - aka someone who listens to at least 40% of the show. What I take away from this is that they have a group that wants to support them but the content isn’t landing. If I were to advise them, I would tell them to look deeper into the episodes that have higher downloads and lean into that.

What actually matters though?

Here’s the bottom line: podcast analytics aren’t worth their salt unless you take a look at everything in your marketing efforts. I want to know how many people have signed up for your email list from your podcast (use custom links and segment that list!). I want to know how many people clicked on the link to listen from your social media. I want to know what your website traffic is. This is how you really capture if your podcast is working within your marketing toolbox.

Don’t be afraid to be a little different in your call to action. Maybe ask a guest to come back for a live roundtable that is gated for email subscribers only. Or tell them to go follow you on LinkedIn where you’ll have a live ask me anything event the days after your episode drops. Get them to your channels where you want them to be and give them a reason to stay there and on your podcast.

The TL:DR

1. Look at your analytics to see which is higher - your followers or your listeners.

2. Create unique call to actions at the end of the episode to bring people further into your marketing ecosystem.

3. Start tracking your comprehensive analytics to see your marketing efforts and watch them grow.