How Do I Know How Many Subscribers A Podcast Has?
It's hard enough for podcasters to piece together how many subscribers they actually have across all listening platforms, their podcast hosting platform, and their website if they have one.
But how are you supposed to know how many subscribers a particular podcast has which isn't your own show.
Social Media Channels
Check a podcast's social media channels, how active their community is, and the engagement of the content the podcast puts out. Although, not the most accurate method, it does give you an idea of the size of a podcast's community and then you can make certain conclusions of the range of subscribers a podcast has.
Website Rankings and Traffic
I always recommend businesses and personal brands alike to have a website. A website is the cornerstone of your marketing strategy online. So it's only natural for a podcast to have a website as well. With a place to drive listeners, you control the traffic and audience. You can get insights on what content your listeners consume and as a podcast, can provide a more immersive experience. When a podcast does have a website, you can use tools like Semrush for competitor analysis. You get an idea of what the organic and paid traffic looks like, the organic keywords the site is ranking for, any paid efforts the podcast is running to the website, social mentions, brand mentions, referring domains, authority score of the domain among other things.
YouTube Podcast Subscribers and Plays
Many podcasts are video as well as audio. If a podcast have a YouTube presence the follower and play counts can be used as an estimate to what a show's estimated subscriber count is, and potential average podcast episode listenership.
Podcast Chart Rankings
Another thing you can use is what a podcast rankings in podcast charts either currently or historically. Chartable is a good tool to get this done. If you see a show ranking in a category chart on Apply Podcasts or appearing on Spotify Charts it safe to say that the show has some sort of listener base.
It's not an exact science but if you piece all these potential data points together, you may get an idea of the subscriber size of a show.
