Why 50,000 Podcast Downloads Is Kind of a Big Deal

Earlier this month, the Frankly MSP podcast crossed 50,000 all-time downloads. Next month, we’ll release our 50th episode, where we’ll celebrate both milestones.

Big deal, you say?

Yeah, kind of. Here’s why.

When we launched Frankly MSP in Oct 2017, we weren’t sure what the response would be. Auvik had never done a podcast before. But we had done our research and thought there was space in the market for a well-produced show focused on helping managed service providers succeed.

We began consistently publishing bi-weekly episodes, searching for guests with diverse backgrounds and unique perspectives. We started from scratch, with an average of 0 listeners and downloads (as every podcast does!), and we watched that number slowly grow.

Then the number started growing a little more quickly. Episode over episode, and month over month, our downloads went up—and they’re still going up.

One of the key metrics in the podcast world is a show’s 30-day average: how many downloads one episode gets, on average, in its first 30 days of being released.

Our 30-day average has been trending steadily upwards since launch and now sits at about 900. Based on current growth rates, our 30-day average should hit 1,100 in August.

Why is this significant?

Libsyn, one of the biggest podcast hosting providers in the world, regularly releases aggregated stats about the shows on their platform.

A couple of months ago, their stats revealed that if a new episode gets more than 1,100 downloads in its first 30 days, that episode is in the top 20% of all podcasts. Full stop.

If you want to look at podcasts by number of ratings and reviews, we have more than 20 ratings globally. Sounds like a small number until you learn that 90% of podcasts have fewer than 10 ratings. Put another way, Frankly MSP is in the top 10% of all podcasts for number of ratings.

We’ll never be Hidden Brain or TED Talks Daily, shows that can get tens of thousands of downloads per day. Frankly MSP is definitely a niche podcast for a niche crowd. So for us to crack the kinds of numbers I’ve been talking about here feels pretty amazing.

The best part of all this?

Putting out 50 episodes—Auvik is in control of that. If we want to publish an episode, we do.

Fifty thousand downloads, however—that’s all you.

A rocking 30-day average—all you.

The five-star ratings and reviews—all you.

The enthusiastic feedback our team hears when speaking to MSPs on the phone and at events—all you.

Thank you! Together, what all these things tell us is that the show is resonating and providing value, which has been our goal from the start.

Here’s your chance to win $50 for Podcast 50.

From here, we hope to keep getting better and better, and we’d love to know what that looks like for you. Who would you like to hear us interview? What topics are you hoping we’ll cover? What can we do to increase the value you get from Frankly MSP?

Please take a few minutes to answer our 2019 listener survey. As thanks, we’ll enter your name into a draw to win one of three $50 Amazon gift cards.

Here are a few other ways you can share your feedback:

• Leave a rating or review on Apple Podcasts
• Leave a comment on the show notes for a particular episode
• Join the Frankly MSP Community on LinkedIn and join or start a conversation
• Email me at [email protected]

By the way, did you know you can find Frankly MSP on just about any listening app? You’ll find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Play Music, Castbox, and many, many more.

You can even command your Google Home to play us.