CoHost, a new podcast publishing, analytics and growth platform created by Quill Podcasting, has released the results of a survey of podcasters that says the biggest hurdle remains audience growth. Nine in ten (91%) of the podcasters it surveyed listed it as their top challenge. Eight in ten (82%) of podcasters said getting discovered by new listeners is also one of their biggest hurdles. Related, 58% said they need a better understanding of how listeners are finding their show. In fact a majority 55% of those surveyed said they “strongly agree” that growing a show’s audience is one of the hardest things about podcasting.
Against that backdrop, when asked which podcasting platform features podcasters valued most, 74% listed “analytics and listener insights” and 41% listed “campaign tracking to know which marketing links are actually driving downloads.” About half (49%) of podcasters said they also want a platform that distributes their show to all listening outlets and 46% are looking for one that automatically creates transcripts.
The CoHost survey found that three-quarters (76%) of podcasters currently monetize or have plans to monetize their podcasts, and nearly half (48%) of those are relying on sponsorships to do so. Among those monetizing their show, 37% said they sell advertising while 18% rely on donations and tips. Another 5% said they also offer subscriptions.
The CoHost survey also identified a serious gap: 73% listed analytics and listener insights as the feature they valued most in a hosting platform, and 82% agreed that understanding their show’s performance is confusing and time-consuming.
CoHost and Quill Podcasting invited podcasters to participate in the survey from April 18 to May 2. The findings are based on 155 completed surveys. Based on the survey results, Quill Podcasting sees a growing opportunity for its CoHost publishing and analytics platform.
“Over the past three years our team has launched and scaled hundreds of professional podcasts, and we realized that a lot of fantastic podcasters simply lack the experience and tools to grow and scale their podcasts. They’re fed up with wasting time logging into multiple tools and platforms to access siloed and confusing data,” said CEO Fatima Zaidi. “That’s why we built CoHost, the place that smart podcasters go to find reliable analytics and insights about their shows and audiences.”
Download CoHost’s 2022 Podcaster Insights Survey results HERE.