Our goal is to give professional content creators the tools they need to make their podcast a success.
When you're just starting out with podcasting, you just want to know how many times your podcast has been listened to. But as your podcast journey progresses, you'll need more data. Data that will help you understand how to better connect your content to your listeners and followers.
And you start thinking about how you can convert all that reach to other channels. Because the thousands of listeners you have already reached might also want to receive your newsletter... right? You could send them a newsletter when a new episode is online.
Furthermore, we see many podcasters struggling to make soup for the contribution of a podcast episode to the sale of a product or a recommendation that was made, for example a book.
Well... in this update we launch the solution to all those challenges!
Content of this article
Advanced Podcast Analytics
For the marketing-minded podcaster, we've done a truly groundbreaking update, launching an Advanced Podcast Analytics suite. No other podcast hosting provider in the world offers such a comprehensive Analytics suite.
Please note: This module is only available to users with a Broadcaster package or higher.
- # Downloads total
- % Average listening time
- # Call to Action clicks
- # Optins
- # Downloads on timeline
- % Listened x Users
- # Minutes listened to
- When do listeners pause?
- When do listeners 'mute' and 'unmute'?
- When do listeners fast-forward or rewind?
- What hardware do listeners use?
- What software do listeners use?
- What kind of software do listeners use?
- What kind of devices do listeners use?
- What OS do listeners use?
- What brand of device do listeners use?
- On what days and times do your listeners listen?
With the Advanced Podcast Analytics module you can optimise your content in a data-driven way for maximum interaction with your target group. In this way you can easily find out;
- How listeners interact with advertisements, promotions or sponsor messages;
- where they drop out and what might have caused them to drop out;
- what their favourite time to listen is;
- which devices they use to listen.
How we get these data
The external players do not yet offer the possibility of retrieving this kind of data. However, we are currently in talks with a number of large podcast apps for in-depth integration.
What struck us was that still some 40% to 50% of all business podcasts are listened to via a website or mobile browser. And many of our users, use the Springcast podcast website or the Embedded player for that. And there, of course, we have full access to the data.
So we get the advanced statistics from those players. And because of the division of the market (Apple, Spotify and Google), more and more podcasters are directing their visitors to a neutral place... their Podcast website or a blog post with an embedded player of an episode.
It is expected that this year we will also be able to offer advanced data from the major players, so you will have even more accurate data in the Advanced Podcast Analytics module.
Listening to podcasts in the browser
After the big update we did a month ago, your listeners can also listen to podcasts from their browser... also on their smartphone and even when the screen is off!
This makes it easier to link to an episode from your newsletter, for example, without having to include 3 or 4 links pointing to Apple, Google, Spotify or another player.
Do users prefer the listening experience of Spotify, Apple or Google? No problem. We've made it as easy as possible for them.
Podcast Call to Actions
Please note: This module is only available to users with a Broadcaster package or higher.
Most business podcasters pursue business goals with their podcast. Sometimes it is to make money, sometimes to promote a product or service or to build/maintain a community.
Whatever it is... there comes a time when you, as a podcaster, overcome your listener's resistance to action. And that was difficult with a podcast until recently. Show notes were often referenced, but they weren't always available where someone was listening.
That is why we have added a Call to Action function to the Embedded Podcast Player. With this you can show a Call to Action on the timeline or make it disappear again. So you can simply ask your listeners to click directly, handy right ;D?!
This is how it works:
Improved ActiveCampaign, Mailchimp and Mailerlite integration
Previously, you had to copy a piece of code from your newsletter provider and paste it into the Springcast platform. Unfortunately, this did not work properly all too often. The layout was difficult to get right and sometimes certain elements of the podcast website did not align properly anymore.
That's why we've upgraded the integration, making it easier to integrate your podcast website with ActiveCampaign, Mailchimp and Mailerlite. Below you can see how that works for ActiveCampaign:
Under each field we have briefly described where you can find the necessary information for that field. Handy, right? 🙂
Not only does this make the form look a lot tighter, but soon listeners will also be able to subscribe via the Embedded Podcast Player!
Growing your mailing list and podcast subscribers has never been easier.
Hidden podcasts
This functionality has secretly been live for a while. It was the most requested functionality among authors, experts and people offering online courses.
You can now make a podcast hidden with just one tick. The podcast can only be found and listened to by people who know the link. It's great if you want to share exclusive content on a large scale.
This functionality is a nice addition to the 'private podcast' that can only be listened to by people whose e-mail address is on a whitelist.
Back to overview; duh! 🙄
A small, simple tweak to the podcast website...
Previously, if you clicked on an episode on the Springcast podcast website, you could only return to the overview if you clicked on 'previous' in the browser. Super amateurish of course and also not a good solution if you arrived at an episode via a search engine.
Fortunately, we have users who drop us a tip now and then 😉 So we fixed that right away.
Two Factor Authentication
Keep out hijackers by setting up Two Factor Authentication. Sure, you've already given a difficult password (right?), but with 2FA you add a whole new layer of security to your account.
It's hard to imagine someone taking over your account and sharing SPAM-like content with them.
I know... it can be really annoying sometimes, but set it if you want to keep your account safe. You do that by going to your user profile to go.
The podcast updates keep coming...
Of course we are curious what you think of the update, so feel free to leave a comment below about your experience. And do you have any good ideas for future updates? Share them with us!
In the near future, we will be working on even more cool features for our podcasters 😉 😉 We will be working on even more cool features for our podcasters.
Happy Podcasting!
