How I use data to make decisions about my podcast

In this episode of "Process to Profitability," I’m delve into the importance of analyzing podcast data to make informed business decisions. As the host of a podcast that may not be top-charting, I value the education and connections gained through my show. By evaluating factors such as download numbers, client referrals, and collaborations, I am able to assess the profitability and value of my podcast. I discuss how understanding download patterns and popular content helps shape future episodes, whether it's diving deeper into certain topics or featuring guests that resonate with my audience. By treating my podcast as an asset that drives clients and revenue, I am able to leverage its potential in growing my business. Tune in today to see how I’m using data to make decisions about the future of Process to Profitability.

Timestamps:

[00:00:44] How to use podcast data to make business decisions

[00:01:49] Podcasting is an investment that should have an ROI

[00:03:13] Looking at your download numbers

[00:05:15] Looking at the most popular content

[00:07:19] Looking at other ways you might see an ROI

[00:09:58] Take action to evaluate your marketing data

Key Takeaways:

• Finding engaged guests willing to share detailed information on the podcast

• Evaluating the value of a podcast beyond download numbers, considering education, connections, and client acquisition

• The role of the podcast in forming valuable relationships with guests, leading to collaborations, referrals, and opportunities

• Becoming known as an expert in the topic to attract speaking engagements and client relationships

• Analyzing data from the podcast to determine ROI, looking at download numbers, spikes, and dips

• The importance of making data-driven decisions in all aspects of business, treating the podcast as a valuable asset

• Understanding the most popular content and types of episodes to create more of and plan future seasons

• Recognizing the success of certain episodes, like the client gifting episode, to identify and replicate high-value content.

[00:00:00] I am celebrating the official 200th episode of Process to Profitability in just a few days with my next guest episode, so I wanted to talk to you about how I am using podcast data to make decisions in my business.

[00:00:20] If you've actually looked on iTunes or in your podcast player, you will notice that I have released more than 200 episodes, but some of those are bonuses or replays or updated versions. This is officially my 199th episode of Process to Profitability, hitting 200 episodes on Thursday, and I'm super excited.

How to use podcast data to make business decisions

[00:00:44] But what I wanted to talk to you about is how I am using the data that I find about my podcast to then make decisions about what I should do moving forward.

[00:00:55] Because we're talking about making data driven decisions in your business, what does that look like outside of a website? What does that look like when you're looking at your marketing channels?

[00:01:06] A couple of things I always look at when I am taking time to review my podcast data is my download numbers. I want to see how many people have downloaded the show overall in a given month, and then per episode.

[00:01:23] I also look at what my most popular episodes are, uh, what the topics, the guests, all of that information.

[00:01:30] And then I consider some other factors as well that can help me make decisions as far as how I want to continue to grow my podcast, who I want to bring on, what topics I want to talk about, and whether or not it's really profitable and valuable for my business.

Podcasting is an investment that should have an ROI

[00:01:49] Podcasting is an investment of both time and money, and for me, who does not have sponsors of my show, all of that time and money is coming out of my own pocket. So right now I'm editing my own podcast, which means I'm taking the time to both record and do all the editing. There's an investment on the software that I use. And then if I do outsource to somebody, like an editor or a podcast manager, that's an investment of money as well.

[00:02:20] So I want to make sure, based on the actual data, that my podcast is valuable to my business, that I'm getting a return on investment, and that can look a couple of different ways. That can look like I'm actually getting clients. It might look like I'm just becoming known for a particular topic that I wanna talk about.

[00:02:42] But is my podcast, the way that I'm running it and running it at all, is it an asset in my business that is driving more clients, more customers, and more revenue?

[00:02:55] Okay, so let's talk about the things that I take a look at more in depth and what kind of decisions I can make based on that.

[00:03:03] And you can apply this if you have a podcast, but you can also apply it to any marketing channel that you're using. You're just gonna be looking at slightly different data.

Looking at your download numbers

[00:03:13] The first thing, like I mentioned, I look at download numbers, so I look at the total number of downloads over the lifetime of my podcast since 2017.

[00:03:22] I look at the number of downloads that I get per month of my podcast, and then I look at the number of downloads per episode, and what this tells me is how many people are downloading my episode?

[00:03:38] Each episode actually gives me stats on how many times it was downloaded in the first seven days after it was released, how many times it was downloaded in the first 30 days after released, and then the lifetime downloads. And that gives me a lot of information that I can work with to know, okay, are people downloading this right away? Maybe that means they're subscribed to the podcast, or are they finding it later and downloading episodes to their podcast player.

[00:04:08] And the reason I like to take a look at the per episode and the monthly information is because I want to see if there are any spikes or dips in my download numbers, and that will help me to know, uh, maybe podcast download numbers are always slow in the summer. And that would be a good time for me to take a break from the podcast. Maybe I got a spike in traffic, and that's because I spoke at a summit where I mentioned my podcast.

[00:04:37] I can use the actual numbers of the downloads to look at my marketing efforts and see where things might correspond, and that's going to help me make decisions about how I want to market in the future. What might be a good marketing platform to use, and how much effort I want to put into marketing the podcast?

[00:04:56] If I don't care that my download episodes are low because of other factors that we're gonna talk about later, then I might not be concerned with marketing my podcast so much and sending people to episodes as much as I'm just using it for content and connections and other types of value.

Looking at the most popular content

[00:05:15] The second thing I look at, and this is what I spend the most time considering, is what is the most popular content? So what are the most popular episodes of the podcast? This gives me a lot of information about the types of episodes people are listening to that I should make more of.

[00:05:32] So things I consider here are, are people downloading more guest episodes or more solo episodes? That tells me how I might want to plan out my season. I look at the types of topics that we're covering. So what do people tend to listen to, and can we dive more in depth on one of those topics? Maybe we can cover related topics. Maybe we're just looking at the episode title and how it is phrased, and we can change those around to see better results from different episodes because one title is more compelling than another.

[00:06:09] And then I look at the guests themselves. So is it valuable to have some of those more well-known guests in a space, or are the guests that are coming on who might not be on every podcast on the block just as popular?

[00:06:28] One of the most popular episodes that I've ever had of my podcast is about client gifting, and I still get compliments on it even though it was recorded two seasons ago because it's a topic that is not covered super in depth on other podcasts. And my guest for that particular episode did a fantastic job of explaining client gifting, giving examples, and really being open to sharing lots of information for people.

[00:06:55] And that tells me, because I loved that interview and because people obviously love to listen to it, I need to do more of that. Maybe I don't need to cover client gifting over and over again, but I need to find guests who are ready to engage, who are going to share a lot of nitty gritty details, who are going to get into the weeds with people because that's what they want to learn.

Looking at other ways you might see an ROI

[00:07:19] And then there are other factors that I consider when I'm looking at whether my podcast is performing well. Because my podcast is not one of the chart topping ones in any category, what I find most valuable is the education and the connections that it's giving me.

[00:07:40] So things you might look at are, are you getting clients directly from your podcast? When people reach out to work with you, are they telling you that they found you from your podcast or are they telling you that they have been listening to your podcast and that's what convinced them to work with you?

[00:07:57] I have quite a few clients who tell me they found me from Instagram or from a referral, and then they signed up for the podcast and they've been listening along in the background for a long time. And the podcast is the reason they knew I was the right website designer for them because they understood my process. They understand the way that I work. They like my personality and they think we're a good fit. And so that has value all on its own.

[00:08:22] Even if 10 people download a specific episode, if one of those people then goes on to hire me and trust me and my process because of it, that's valuable.

[00:08:32] I also look at the collaborations, referrals, and relationships that I have from my guests. So one of the most valuable things about having my podcast has been the relationships that I then have with the people who have been on the show. I'm able to be a guest on their shows and get in front of their audience, or they have referred their clients to me in the past, or maybe we've just become business friends who continue to connect. There is value in that as well.

[00:09:02] And then the third other factor that I consider is, am I becoming known as an expert in my topic? If I am consistently posting solo episodes about website design and strategy, are people coming to know me as an expert on that topic as the go-to person to ask questions for?

[00:09:20] And again, that has value beyond just the download numbers or beyond the direct revenue of a podcast. Am I being asked to speak on other podcasts? Am I known as the person to talk to about website design?

[00:09:34] And that is going to then ultimately lead to clients and to relationships because they know to send people my way when they have asked for Squarespace website design.

[00:09:47] So all of those things can be super valuable and all of that can be considered from the data as you are looking at your podcast or other social platform.

Take action to evaluate your marketing data

[00:09:58] So today I want you to find your number one marketing platform and take some time to evaluate the data you get from it to see. Is it giving you a return on the investment of time and money that you're putting into it?