What are the vital numbers that you should know when considering being a guest or sponsor of a podcast? There are plenty of stats to consider, but knowing how many people listen to a show is probably at the top of your list.
You'll want to choose a podcast with enough listeners to make it worth investing your time and money. But current listener numbers are only a part of the story — it would be great to predict where the figures are heading in the future.
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The valuable data lies in trends
Knowing what is happening right now is essential, of course. But you can't assess the value of that information until you see it in context.
For example, you've just published your latest book and plan to promote it with a podcast tour, i.e. being a guest on multiple shows.
One podcast you found covers your ideal audience, but the listener numbers seem small. Should you approach the podcast host or try for a larger show?
Modest audience numbers are not necessarily a deal-breaker. You need to find out if this is a small-but-growing podcast or one that's looking a bit stagnant.
And that's where we can help because Rephonic has a unique feature that lets you see historical listener trends for every podcast.
Benefits of viewing listener trends for a podcast
Seeing a podcast's historical listener trends tells you whether the show is gaining momentum and attracting more listeners, plateauing or is on a downward trend.
Each trend can be beneficial in different circumstances. Even a downward trend can have some positives (keep reading to see what those are!)
A lot of value can be gained well after the initial drop of an episode you're featured in. So knowing a podcast's listener trends helps you make better decisions about whether or not to pitch the podcast's host as a guest or sponsor.
Let's see what each kind of trend could mean for you and your podcast choices.
Upwards trend
Upward trends are ideal for guests and sponsors who are running baked-in ad campaigns.
Guests
Once your episode is locked and loaded, it's likely to be listed in the podcast's RSS feed forever. New subscribers often dip into a podcast's back catalog, so an upward trend means you'll get listens and downloads long after the episode has dropped.
Sponsors
If you run baked-in ad campaigns, you pay a fee, usually a flat fee, and your ad sits in those episodes forever on the show's RSS feed. Every time new listeners find the podcast episode, they'll hear your message. That longevity is gold!
Of course, upward trends also work just fine for dynamically-inserted ad sponsors, but those running baked-in ads will reap the most reward.
Hitting a plateau
Long-running podcasts often reach a listener plateau. In other words, most of the audience is stable, and the podcast gains new listeners at roughly the same rate as people lose interest.
Guests and sponsors (especially with baked-in ads) will still benefit from a podcast where the audience is leveling out. New subscribers should still find your episodes in the RSS feed, but the numbers will be less than those for podcasts with growing audiences.
Downwards trend
A downward trend is not ideal for guests or sponsors doing baked-in ads. But naturally, that still depends on how many actual listeners the show has.
You can still reach many listeners on shows trending downwards because most listen and download in the first few days after an episode drops.
Downward trends can work for dynamically-inserted ads
If you're paying on a CPM (cost per mille) basis, where the ad runs until a certain number of listens has been achieved, you'll get what you pay for, but your ad might run slightly longer than it would in a fast-growing show.
How to view podcast trends using Rephonic
Rephonic is a database of 2.5m+ podcasts. Over time we've gathered an enormous amount of information on every podcast, including the number of people listening to each episode. That makes us uniquely positioned to crunch the numbers and graph the changes.
Our users can see how each show's popularity has changed over time. Here's how you do it.
Search for a show or topic
Look for podcasts by topic, title or publisher using the Rephonic search bar.
Tap on a podcast
Select a link to bring up a podcast's information pages.
Hit the trend icon
Select the trend icon beside Listeners per Episode in the Audience information section to see the podcast's unique trend graph.
Final thoughts
If you're looking for podcasts to sponsor or appear on and you're not already using Rephonic, it's time to get started with our free trial.
Race ahead with tons of invaluable data, including listener trends, chart ranking, contact info and trends. Get pitch templates, discover related podcasts, reviews, and more.
