In B2B podcasting, it’s common for companies to launch a solid show, get into a routine, and never know for sure if their efforts are actually working.
When this happens, frustration sets in, and podcasting becomes just another marketing task with no clear direction and little sense of whether the podcast is helping them achieve their podcast goals.
A lack of planning and vision can cause confusion, but getting on track can be simple with a thorough, well-executed podcast audit.
A strategic audit can help you review your show’s performance, evaluate what is and isn’t working, and adjust course accordingly. In this article, I’ll walk you through exactly what a podcast audit is, how to do one, and how you can leverage the insights you uncover to refine your content for maximum impact as you plan for the future.
Why you should audit your podcast.
At some point, even the most creative teams can lose sight of their original goals and the listeners’ needs. That’s when a podcast audit is most valuable.
Whether you’ve just published your tenth episode or your 200th, you can benefit from taking a step back to reevaluate. Doing so at regular intervals can lead to better engagement, more intentional strategy, and more impact within your industry.
Here are some other benefits that come from a podcast audit:
- Reignite your podcast’s purpose and mission: It’s easy to get so caught up in crafting episodes, securing guests, and editing that you lose touch with your podcast’s original goal. A simple audit can reconnect you to your podcast’s goal and help you stay on track to reach your goals.
- Create a stronger connection with your audience: Audits help you view your content from the listener’s perspective and give you new ideas for ways to add value that you might’ve overlooked before. Audiences also change over time, so intentionally reviewing your content can help you plan your next move and understand what your listeners need as they evolve, helping you earn their trust and position your brand as a reliable resource.
- Get clear on what’s working (and why): Analyzing performance trends and listener behavior is like popping the hood on your car and checking the engine. You don’t have to guess what’s going on underneath. Your podcast metrics can give you clarity on what is working and what to attribute it to. When you’re clear on the what and the why, you can stop throwing spaghetti at the wall and start confidently creating content, knowing it will resonate with your audience because you have the data to prove it.
- Unlock new growth and content opportunities: The clarity provided by a thorough podcast audit can inspire future content you might not have thought of otherwise. By looking at past episodes, you might uncover ideas you can expand on or repackage to add value and extend their life.
Audits might take time, but the insights they uncover can save your team a lot of energy and resources. The process doesn’t have to be overwhelming, either—they’re a chance to evaluate what you’re doing: which things to continue, and which to stop. When you have those answers, you can do more of what works and less of what doesn’t, so you continually improve and avoid stagnation in your show. Now that the value of an audit is clear, let’s break down exactly how to conduct one so that you can ensure your team’s investment in your content pays off.
Four steps to conducting a powerful podcast audit.
Audits sound intimidating, but they’re actually simple. In this section, you’ll get a clear roadmap to assess what’s working, spot what needs tweaking, and gain insights into your audience and performance, so you can create episodes that resonate and drive growth.
Step #1: Review performance metrics that matter.
Many podcasters put too much weight on their download numbers, but this metric only tells one part of the story. An effective audit starts with going beyond surface-level podcast data to metrics that matter, which can depend on your goals.
Podcast metrics can include, but aren’t limited to:
Reach & Engagement
- Unique episode downloads
- Total downloads across all episodes
- Episode starts and complete streams
- Total time listened per episode
Audience Insights
- Geographic location
- Age, gender, and other demographics
- Percentage of subscribed listeners
Listener Behavior
- Platforms, apps, and devices used to listen
But beyond the hard metrics, you can also track more qualitative factors, like podcast reviews and ratings, testimonials, social shares and recommendations, and digital or in-person feedback and engagement.
If your podcast has a dedicated website, you can track the number of visitors, their website behavior, and how they found it (paid, direct, organic, etc.).
If you have a newsletter, you can pay attention to opt-ins and open rates on your podcast-related campaigns.
If you have sponsorships, you can look at ad revenue and conversions for your ads. You can even evaluate how your podcast has influenced the networking or speaking opportunities you receive.
As you can see, you can track many data points, but which ones you decide to follow depends on how you define your podcast’s success.
Ultimately, podcast success is subjective and different for every business, so I find it more helpful to look at analytics through the lens of key performance indicators (KPIs), which you can learn more about here.
Step #2: Evaluate content & format.
After you look at your numbers, it’s time to zoom out and get a better idea of the content itself. Ask yourself the following questions to get a feel for the value of your content and where there might be areas for improvement or opportunities to double down and do more of what’s working:
- Do your episodes answer the questions your audience is asking? Solving the correct problems is a massive part of your podcast’s success. Review past content with a fresh perspective—what hits and what misses? Tools like Answer the Public, Quora, Reddit, and FAQ sections can help you determine what questions people are asking about your topic or product. Look for questions you haven’t covered yet or ones you could expand on to offer more value.
- Is your structure optimized to maintain listener attention? Listen to old episodes or review transcripts to see if your format keeps people engaged. Are you hooking listeners with a strong intro? Are you ending in a satisfying way, following the peak-end rule mentioned here. Some platforms even show when listeners drop off—use that data to adjust. Check your format and episode length: do episodes follow a familiar flow? Is the length right for your audience? This kind of consistency helps build listener loyalty and encourages habit.
- Does your podcast’s tone, style, and voice match your brand’s identity? It might seem small, but tone and voice matter. Your podcast should be a natural extension of your brand, aligned with your website, content, and overall personality. Listen like it’s your first time and ask yourself: Does this sound like us? Or, will people know this is mine even if my name isn’t on it?
It’s important not to get so focused on content that you overlook format and structure; sometimes, even little tweaks can change the direction of your content and make a big difference in how it is received.
Step #3: Identify production bottlenecks.
A podcast audit is an opportunity to streamline your workflow and identify areas that might be slowing the team down or could be done more efficiently. Here are some common bottleneck areas to look out for:
- Editing: If your team spends too much time in post-production, it can throw off your schedule. Sometimes, outsourcing editing is the best move (more on that later), but other times, improving audio during recording or using tools like Descript can streamline things.
- Guest coordination: Finding and booking guests can be a logistical maze. A more streamlined approach—like keeping a database of ideal guests and doing batch outreach monthly—can cut down on back-and-forth.
- Scriptwriting and outlining: Episode prep shouldn’t feel like reinventing the wheel. A simple, reusable outline can make planning easier and keep episode structure consistent.
- Episode promotion: Show notes and promotional assets are essential for discoverability, but they can be overwhelming. Focus on the channels that drive results, and consider using repurposing tools to lighten the load.
- Team roles and timelines: Clear communication is key. Use the audit to check in with your team—who handles what, and how does the process feel? If people feel rushed, it might be time to adjust your publishing schedule or build in buffer time for better content and less stress.
What tasks are draining you? If there are parts of the podcasting process you hate, the likelihood of the show being released consistently and on time isn’t good. This one question can be a quick and effective method of figuring out the best places to get support.
Step #4: Plan for the next phase.
Now that you’ve identified the areas of growth and opportunity for your future content, it’s time to plan ahead and implement the changes.
It can be helpful to identify one or two main goals for future content and see where your content should be adjusted to serve those ends. You might want to secure brand deals and sponsorships, attract more leads, or focus on growing your listenership. Once you identify your goals, you can identify a more focused direction.
Don’t look too far down the road–just take it three to six months out and take note of where you want to continue, and where you want to experiment with something new. These don’t have to be permanent changes; you can reassess at the next audit when you have more data about how the changes worked.
This last step is just about paving a path forward that feels a little more sustainable, effective, and connected to your purpose.
When it’s time to outsource (and why it’s okay to).
Audits can highlight how much work it is to produce a podcast, and by the end of one, you might realize your team would benefit from outside help. Outsourcing can be a smart strategy if you or your team start to feel spread too thin.
Maybe the audit revealed an area that’s a bottleneck, whether that’s post-production, graphic design, promotion, booking guests, interviews, etc. You can outsource the most demanding tasks and get back a lot of resources you could spend elsewhere.
Outsourcing doesn’t have to mean giving up creative control. It’s simply extra support and an investment in your vision. Working with the right partner could unlock growth potential in your content that you didn’t know existed because now you have the creative margin to spend looking for it. Outsourcing the time-consuming tasks of podcasting gives you more time to improve the content itself rather than hustling to meet deadlines.
To recap.
Sometimes, we’re so close to our own content that we miss obvious gaps and opportunities for improvement. Conducting a routine audit can be a powerful way to break the cycle and dramatically improve your show.
But to do an audit correctly, you need a roadmap. You also need to understand your key performance indicators, so you have a way to measure success. With a thoughtful approach, you can uncover hidden growth potential and apply the insights you find to create stronger content that is aligned with your goals and serves as the foundation of your other marketing efforts.
If you feel stuck in a cycle of producing episodes and are unsure how to measure the success of your content, schedule a free discovery call with me. I’d love to learn more about your business’s goals and how realigning your podcast can help you reach them.