Podder vs. Podtrac

First, our credits to Podtrac, who’ve put in a commendable effort. However, if you want detailed podcast analytics & insights, read through our Podtrac review & claim free account.

To claim a free account with Podder today click here.

Today, we’re sharing more details on which tool can offer you exactly what you want.

TL;DR -Side-by-Side Comparison Table

Podder Podtrac
Starting Price $0 $0
Apple Chart Rankings Tracking
Podcast Growth Metrics
Downloads Tracking
Reporting ✔ (customizable) ✔ (non-customizable)
Ad Campaign Attribution
Demographics Enrichment
Personalized Suggested Advertisers
Competitor Analysis
Collaborations With Other Shows/td>
AI Audience Enrichment
Audience Interest & Buying Intent
SmartLinks
Spotify & Apple Integration

What is Podtrac?

Podtrac provides information on the performance of podcasts, including data on downloads, listener demographics, and ad metrics.

Some specific types of data that Podtrac's analytics platform provide include:

Podcast Traffic Measurement

Podtrac’s traffic measurement is a reliable & IAB-certified service.

Example data you get with Podtrac’s traffic measurement.

  • Key metrics report with rolling 30-day numbers.
  • Show Overview report with a summary of key data points and trends for your shows
  • Reports by episode, platform (client) and country.
  • Unique monthly audience counts.
  • Aggregated data from all podcast sources
Source: http://analytics.podtrac.com/podcast-traffic-measurement/

Podcast Audience Demographics

Podtrac offers a we-based survey for podcasts that can be used to understand your audience better.

Example data you get with Podtrac’s audience demographics survey:

  • Demographics data of your podcast audience (age, gender, education, income, job function, company size, industry employed, listening behavior and more)
  • Ability to review changes in your audience over time.
  • Your choice between a comprehensive survey (40 questions) and an abbreviated version (15 questions) to send to your listeners.

Ad Attribution For Publishers

Podtrac Attribution For Publishers allows you to see how your podcast ads perform in generating new listeners and downloads to your show.

Example data you can expect on Podtrac’s dashboard:

  • Delivered impressions
  • New audience members from that show
  • New downloads from those new audience members
  • Conversion rates
  • Cost per action

Podtrac Conclusion

Pros Cons
Cheap & reliable measurement for your podcast show with IAB certified data. If you want your analytics tool to be also your growth tool, you cannot do that with Podtrac.
Easy to use, widely recognized. Reporting customization is very limited due to the small variable of data they have.
Reliable ad attribution for publishers. If you are looking for in-depth analytics, you’ll have to get a separate tool for that.

What is Podder?

Podder is an independent & AI powered podcast analytics platform. It allows you to leverage your shows’ insights to identify growth opportunities, find & serve advertisers, 

Some specific types of data that Podder Insights provide include:

Traffic Measurement 

Podder’s traffic measurement is reliable and follows IAB guidelines, but is not officially certified yet.

Example data you can see on your dashboard:

  • Key metrics report with rolling 28-day numbers.
  • Show overview report with a summary of key data points and trends for your shows.
  • Reports by episode, platform (client) and country.
  • Unique monthly audience counts.
  • Aggregated data from all podcast sources

Audience In-Depth Demographics

Podder gets its audience data directly from the prefix, so it’s much easier to collect it.

Example data you can see on your dashboard:

  • Demographics data of your podcast audience
  • Location + location heatmap
  • Audience household - Income level, savings, car ownership and # number of children.
  • Audience home - Home area, home size, building age, home type and home ownership.
  • Additional Audience data - educational level, their employer company size, level of tech-savviness and life stage.
  • Ability to review changes in your audience over time.
Source: https://www.podderapp.com
Source: https://www.podderapp.com/
Source: https://www.podderapp.com

Audience Enrichment (personality)

Podder uses artificial intelligence (AI) to analyze your podcast audience's personality traits. It does this by examining how people discuss your show online and comparing the results to the widely recognized Big Five Personality traits. The result is a better understanding of your audience's personalities.

Example data you can see on your dashboard:

  • 85 out of 100 your podcast listeners are Cheerful
  • 76 out of 100 your podcast listeners are Gregariousness
  • 71 out of 100 your podcast listeners are Self-conscious
  • 69 out of 100 your podcast listeners are Fiery

Review tracking

Podder gathers the reviews that you receive on Apple Podcasts and presents your performance in various formats, including sorting your reviews to identify your strengths and weaknesses.

Example data you can see on your dashboard:

  • Total reviews received for + average ratings per country or period.
  •  Filtered reviews that you should pay attention to improve your show.

Charts Rankings tracking

Podder shows your ranking in various categories and countries on Apple Podcasts. You can also filter the charts by country and date.

Example data you can see on your dashboard:

  • Ranked #19 under the “Business” category in the US (-10 since last the last 7 days)
  • Ranked #29 under the “Health & Fitness” category in the France (+5 since last the last 7 days)
  • A line chart with rankings for all categories and countries over a selected period of time.

Fully-customizable reports.

With Podder, you can customize a report, save it, and send it to advertisers.

Customized reports can save time and effort by consolidating data and presenting it in a clear and organized way. This can be especially useful when communicating with advertisers, as it allows you to quickly and easily provide the information that they need.

Customized reports can also be used to track overall performance and identify trends and patterns. For example, you can use a report to see how your show is performing in different categories or countries or to compare your performance to other shows that you own. A cool way to use customized reports if you own more than 1 show is to find overlapping audiences between your shows so you can do collaborations between them.

Podcast networks also find these features useful, as they can create combined reports for all of their shows. 

Overall, customized reports are a powerful tool for understanding and improving your podcast's performance.

AI-generated audience persona

Podder creates a profile of your most likely audience persona based on your show's historical data. This persona is a composite, meaning it is compiled by taking the most prevalent component of each characteristic that Podder tracks.

Source: https://www.podderapp.com

Audience Interests & Buying Intent

Podder provides data that demonstrates the interests and purchasing intentions of your podcast audience in various categories. This data can be shown to advertisers to persuade them to advertise on your podcast.

For instance, you might see that your audience is interested in topics such as weight loss, quitting smoking, and natural medicine, and has a buying intent for products such as life insurance, footwear, and cosmetics.

Source: https://www.podderapp.com

AI-powered Competitor Intelligence Tools (BETA)

Podder has a beta version of an AI competitor intelligence tool that provides information about similar shows to yours, how you compare to them, and what you can learn from them.

For example, Podder might tell you that show X is rated 9/10 in terms of similarity to your show, which is about "Technology Reviews." Your top 5 similarities with this show are "detailed product analysis," "expert opinion," "honest reviews," "in-depth research," and "up-to-date information." The three things you can learn from show X are "how to structure a review episode," "how to research products thoroughly," and "how to build a strong relationship with listeners through honest reviews."

AI-powered Advertisers Scouting (BETA)

Podder's advertiser scouting tool, which is currently in beta, can recommend potential advertisers for your show, provide a brief overview of their products or services, explain why they would make a good sponsor for your show, and offer creative sponsorship ideas.

Audience Social Data (BETA)

Podder gives you information about what websites your audience visits, the social accounts they follow, the hashtags they use, the YouTube channels they subscribe to, the other podcasts they listen to, the press accounts they engage with, and the subreddits they follow.

SmartLinks

Podcast SmartLinks are a great way to make it easy for your listeners to find and listen to your podcast, regardless of which podcast app they use. They are marketing landing pages to promote your podcast show across email, social, or pretty much anywhere on the internet. Once a listener has clicked on a link, they'll always automatically be directed to their preferred streaming platform. This ensures reduced drop-off rates, more listeners and more shares. Using SmartLinks will also give you better insights into analytics and marketing channels that are driving the most downloads so you can make adjustments to your marketing strategy accordingly.

  • Use them in your social media bios. Social media platforms like Twitter and Instagram only allow you to include one link in your bio, so a SmartLinks is a great way to let people listen to your podcast without having to choose a specific app.
  • Include them in your email signature. When you send an email to a potential listener, include a link to your podcast in your email signature. This will make it easy for them to listen to your podcast right away, without having to go searching for it.
  • Share them on your website. If you have a website, be sure to include a link to your podcast SmartLinks on your homepage and in other key areas of your site. This will make it easy for visitors to your site to listen to your podcast.
  • Use them in your marketing materials. If you're promoting your podcast, be sure to include a link to your SmartLinks in any marketing materials you create. This could include things like flyers, posters, and even business cards.

By using podcast Smartlinks in a variety of ways, you can make it easy for people to find and listen to your podcast, regardless of which podcast app they use. This will help you to reach a wider audience and grow your podcast listenership.

Apple & Spotify Integrations

This feature allows you to connect your Podder account to Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Once you have connected your accounts, you will be able to see the following information in Podder:

  • Episode Consumption: You'll be able to see episode consumption (listen through) rates for your listeners who are using the Apple Podcasts or Spotify apps.
  • Episode Downloads, Plays and Streams: The number of times your episodes have been downloaded on Apple Podcasts and steamed on Spotify.
  • Demographics: The demographics of your listeners like age and gender.
  • NEW breakdowns: Breakdowns and enrichment for the charts not available directly from Spotify and Apple

By utilizing this feature you can:

  • Track your podcast's performance across multiple platforms: By connecting your Podder account to Spotify and Apple Podcasts, you can get a complete view of your podcast's performance across all platforms.
  • Identify your most popular episodes: The Apple Podcasts Analytics and Spotify Analytics sections will show you which episodes are performing the best, so you can focus your marketing efforts on those episodes.

Conclusion Podder

Pros Cons
Automatically collects in-depth audience data, doesn't require a survey Ad campaign attribution for enterprise clients.
Offers wide range of analytics and insights. Traffic measurement follows IAB rules, but is not officially IAB-certified.
Provides customizable reporting options. Some features are still in beta and not accessable by everyone.
Uses AI technology for audience enrichment.
Offers free and paid plans with additional features.
Tracks reviews and demographics enrichment.
Has SmartLink and other growth tools.

Summary

Podder and Podtrac are two podcast analytics platforms that offer tools for tracking and analyzing the performance of podcasts. Both platforms offer basic analytics features such as traffic measurement, Apple chart rankings tracking, and downloads tracking.

However, Podder offers more advanced features such as customizable reporting, reviews tracking, demographics enrichment, and competitor analysis, as well as AI-powered audience enrichment and personalized suggested advertisers. Podtrac, on the other hand, offers ad attribution for every publishers, but does not have as many customization or growth-focused features. Podtrac's traffic measurement is IAB-certified, while Podder's traffic measurement follows IAB guidelines but is not officially certified. Podtrac is a well-recognized and easy-to-use platform, but may not be as comprehensive as Podder for those looking for more in-depth analytics.

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Dimitar Petkov
May 15, 2023