Podcasher, the comprehensive podcast database, is launching a new platform to help publicists, marketers and PR firms better target which shows they want to appear on and funnel their ad dollars into. Launched in May 2017, Podchaser says it now has more than 1.4 million podcasts in its catalog and what it is calling Podchaser Pro will give users access to information such as reach, contacts, and demographics.
To help users sort through a sea of available podcasts and bring more transparency to the medium for outsiders, Podchaser has created a new “Power Score” metric. It assigns a unique score of a podcast's influence based on over 30 different data points including audience size, social influence, and other factors. Pro users will be able to browse, search, and sort podcasts by their Power Score, which the company says will make it easier to find the most influential podcasts within a niche. Podchaser says the combination of such data points will mean that marketers will no longer need to trust self-reported data provided by publishers.
"Podcasting is a secret weapon for marketers and communications professionals. What other medium lets you target and engage your niche for multiple hours?” said Bradley Davis, Podchaser co-founder and CEO. "With nearly 100,000 new podcasts being released each month on top of the massive number of existing shows, the opportunities are overwhelming. Discovering, qualifying, and contacting these podcasts is the tough part, requiring way too many browser tabs, wild guesses, and headaches. Podchaser brings the whole process together in one place, saving you time and bringing more wins to clients."
In addition to Podchaser Pro, the company has also created Podchaser Connect to grow its revenue. Podchaser Connect uses the millions of show credits now in its database to help people like marketing managers, book publishers, or publicists determine which show and genres they should target.
Early this year Podchaser secured $1.65 million in seed funding from a group of investors as it builds and expands a business geared toward helping the industry solve its discoverability hurdle. The latest round of financing has meant Podchaser has raised more than $2 million to date and Davis said their aim is to spend that money on further integrating with podcasters and publishers.