What Even Constitutes a Podcast “Download?”
If you’ve ever found yourself refreshing your podcast hosting provider’s dashboard just to see if your download number ticked up by… one? Same. This is for you.
Downloads are the metric everyone knows and tracks, the number people ask about, and the stat advertisers are obsessed with. But in this conversation I had with Shreya Sharma of Podcast Marketing Magic, we discuss that idea that downloads are only one small part of the story. And very often, they’re not actually that useful for creators… beyond vanity metrics.
This conversation was all about what to track instead (or at least alongside downloads), and how doing so can help you grow, monetize, and actually understand your audience,
Why Pocast Downloads Aren’t the Full Picture
Downloads can vary depending on platform, app, and definition within those spaces. Apple counts them one way, Spotify another (and then throw the term “stream” into the mix), and podcast hosting providers aggregates them into a number for ease of understanding. But it’s not the whole story.
More importantly: downloads don’t tell you if people are actually listening, engaging, being impacted by your show.
Shreya works with a lot of independent creators and shows whose hosts come from non-media fields. She sees the same pattern: people fixate on downloads because it’s the only metric they know. The real work is helping them unlearn that instinct. But the work also is in helping advertisers, funders, and even consumers see beyond that one number.
Metrics That Actually Matter
We made sure to get practical in our conversation. If you’re going to track anything beyond downloads, start with some of these.
Listener Engagement & Completion Rate
Make sure you have access to your dashboard on Apple Podcasts so you can check out how your listeners who use that app are tapping in.
You’ll be able to see:
How far into an episode people listen
Where listeners tend to drop off
Your overall episode completion rate
A strong benchmark that Shreya noted: aim for 80%+ completion across recent episodes. Anything below that might indicate you’re not optimizing your show for a full listen-through. There may be some improvements afoot when it comes to your storytelling, interview approach, or other content-related matters.
Why this matters:
It tells you whether your content is holding attention
It helps you decide where not to put ads or promos
It means you have room to improve
Listener Surveys (Even for Small Audiences)
This is the big one. Shreya is bullish on this one: run a listener survey.
You do not need thousands of listeners. Even 15–20 thoughtful responses can change how you think about your show.
Key questions to ask:
How did you discover this podcast?
How would you describe it to a friend?
What do you want more (or less) of?
Shreya and I both love this short, focused survey framework from Tom Webster at Sounds Profitable. And here’s another resource from Shreya at Podcast Marketing Magic:
Ratings & Reviews (Yes, even though they don’t impact algorith)
Ratings and reviews don’t boost your show in the algorithm. Apple is clear about that. But ratings / reviews do provide social proof.
Think of them as a signal to new listeners that:
Real humans have been here
Those real humans found value
This show is worth a new listeners’ time
Action item: ask for ratings and reviews. But make it clear WHY you’re asking for them. And change up your language episode to episode so listeners don’t glaze over after hearing this request on podcast after podcast. Another way to do this: ask listeners to answer something specific in their review. Give them something to do!
How Defining Other Metrics Helps You Grow and Monetize
Here’s the real deal, readers: all of these metrics inform each other and paint a fuller picture of your show’s impact.
Here are some of the other metrics we mentioned you can track + a few others we didn’t have time for
Listen-through rate is an indicator of your show’s stickiness
An audience that listeners and hangs on to your every word is an audience that trusts you and does what you say (including possibly buying products you advertise)
Ratings / Reviews / Comments on Spotify / YouTube let us know that your listeners have questions, comments, ideas to share with you. They are engaged.
Engaged audiences also do what you tell them
Email replies after an episode drop let us know that your show resonated, so much so that people go out of their way to share what they think with you
Show notes link clicks indicate that your extra resources are genuinely useful
Web traffic uptick is a sign that your listeners want even more from you
Views and comments on social media — this is a tricky one because social media may feed the podcast AND the podcast may feed social media. But you can still track this as a part of your overall impact.
Newsletter subscriber growth is a marker of your content’s resonance with an audience.
A newsletter can also be used to trade impressions with collaborators AND find more audience for your show via written platforms
There are so many more numbers, rates, metrics and whatnot that you can decide to track AND report on as part of your show’s growth and impact. Let us know some that you’re keeping tabs on…
One Thing to Do This Week
I love to share a to-do at the end of a post, so we’ll leave you with this one:
Pick just one metric besides downloads to track this month
Whether that’s completion rate, survey responses, email replies, or link clicks. Your podcast is bigger than a single number, and the more clearly you can tell that story, the more sustainable your show becomes.
More Things / Links Mentioned
If you want more from Shreya, subscribe to Podcast Marketing Magic:
Is your podcast a little too inside jokey? Via Charles Commins
More on unraveling podcast data and analytics
A Reddit thread on the impact of podcasting for creators
Alban Brooke of Buzzsprout on tracking data
What to DO with your tracked numbers (AKA what goes into a pitch deck)
Read the latest from Podcasts We Text About:
Thank you Halicue, Andreea Coscai, Myra Rhodes, Stephanie Elie, Dan Delgado, and many others for tuning into our live video.
Happy tracking!
-Arielle Nissenblatt
