Discover valuable insights!
About your most loyal listeners and their origins with Apple Podcasts’ new subscription analytics tools. Gain a deeper understanding of your audience by learning how many listeners start a free trial and convert to paid subscriptions, as well as the specific subscription plans, they choose and where they’re located. While Apple has offered analytics for regular listeners since 2017, these new analytics focus on the subscription side of your podcasting business, providing you with even more valuable information.
In addition, you can now easily compare annual and monthly subscriptions. According to Apple’s global head of podcasts, Ben Cave, annual plans are becoming increasingly popular among new subscribers. This is excellent news for creators as it means upfront revenue and improved retention rates.
How to access these insightful analytics,
Simply log into Apple Podcast Connect, the creator’s dashboard. From there, navigate to the Analytics tab and select the desired subscription. Explore different breakdowns of your subscription metrics by choosing either “Overview” or “Trends.” The “Trends” option allows you to view details such as the number of active subscribers, subscription events (like cancellations, activations, and renewals), subscription sales over time, and estimated proceeds. On the other hand, the Overview tab provides information on free trial subscriptions, conversion rates to paid subscriptions, and geographic breakdowns.
Apple’s in-app podcast subscriptions faced various challenges when they were launched two years ago. The interface of Apple Podcast Connect was confusing and the platform had several bugs. Additionally, creating valuable content that audiences would pay for was a daunting task. Though improvements have been made over time and premium content has become a lucrative revenue source for podcasts, producing new content for subscribers remains a difficult endeavor. This is especially true for smaller, independent shows that lack the resources of larger podcast studios.
To help creators, Apple is now introducing five new hosting providers for delegated delivery. This feature allows creators to publish premium content directly from their chosen host’s dashboard. The new delivery partners include Audiomeans, Captivate, Podbean, Podspace, and Transistor. Several other platforms, such as Blubrry, Libsyn, Triton Digital’s Omny Studio, and RSS.com, already support delegated delivery on Apple Podcasts subscriptions.
This announcement follows Spotify’s recent partnership with Patreon, which enables listeners to access their Patreon podcast subscriptions directly on Spotify. Previously, listeners had to either use the Patreon app or a private RSS link to listen to premium content on their preferred podcast player.
Apple Podcasts is teaming up with Danish music analytics platform, Linkfire, to help podcasters effectively promote their work. With the upcoming integration of Linkfire for Podcasts, creators will have access to smart links that provide valuable insights about their listeners. This partnership aims to enhance engagement and visibility for podcasters, allowing them to connect with their audience, sell merchandise, and promote live events. The seamless integration between music and podcast consumption patterns highlights the need for creators to understand their listeners and maximize their reach. Through Linkfire’s dashboard, creators can track engagement metrics and gain a deeper understanding of their audience’s behaviors. Stay tuned for the launch of Linkfire for Podcasts later this year, providing podcasters with an innovative solution to elevate their brands.
Get ready to take your podcasting business to the next level with Apple Podcasts’ subscription analytics tools, providing you with valuable insights to optimize your content and engage with your dedicated listeners.