Open Rate: Podcasting's Forgotten Metric [Episode 128]

Podcast Pontifications

Podcasting holds a single metric as sacred: downloads. And to ensure a podcast gets the most downloads consistently, lots of energy is spent encouraging people to become subscribers.

But podcasting has a dirty underbelly that we're largely ignoring. Many of us don't want to face the truth, but the reality is that many downloads are never listened to.

Shocked? Don't be. Email marketers have known this for a very long time. It's not good enough to track delivery. We need to track if the file is ever opened.

Once a podcast episode is opened, we know (thanks, Apple) that the majority -- upwards of 85% -- of the episode is listened to. That's much better than online video, where the vast majority of views are for less than 10 seconds -- often with the sound off. So hooray for podcasts, right? Maybe.

In this episode, I'll tell you how to use information from your podcast hosting company and from Apple Podcasts to find out what your show's "listen rate" actually is. Even better, I'll give you practical advice on how to improve it.

Mentioned in this episode:

Support For Abortion Rights

While Americans overwhelmingly support the right of an individual to make their own decisions about abortion, unfortunately, that right is no longer protected everywhere in the U.S. The Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade on June 24th. Abortion is a basic healthcare need for the millions of people who can become pregnant. Everyone should have the freedom to decide what’s best for themselves and their families, including when it comes to ending a pregnancy. This decision has dire consequences for individual health and safety, and could have harsh repercussions for other landmark decisions. Restricting access to comprehensive reproductive care, including abortion, threatens the health and independence of all Americans. Even if you live in a state where abortion rights are upheld, access to safe medical procedures shouldn’t be determined by location, and it shouldn't be the privilege of a small few. You can help by donating to local abortion funds. To find out where to donate for each state, visit donations4abortion.com. If you or someone you know needs help, or if you want to get more involved, here are 5 resources: 1. ShoutYourAbortion.com is a campaign to normalize abortion. 2. DontBanEquality.com is a campaign for companies to take a stand against abortion restrictions. 3. Abortion.cafe has information about where to find clinics. 4. PlanCPills.org provides early at-home abortion pills that you can keep in your medicine cabinet. 5. Choice.CRD.co has a collection of these resources and more. We encourage you to speak up! And spread the word.

This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:
OP3 - https://op3.dev/privacy
Chartable - https://chartable.com/privacy
Podsights - https://podsights.com/privacy