The “Top 5% Podcast” Doesn’t Mean Anything

Here’s a tactic used by some of our competitors:

“We guarantee to book you only on the top 5% of podcasts.”

Sure, it sounds cool but it’s also incredibly misleading.

Podcast databases like ListenNotes (dot) com created their own podcast ranking metrics.

And whilst I’d love to say that these metrics are at least directionally accurate, they aren’t.

My old podcast was in the top 5% (ListenNotes Global Rank) and I got like 3 listeners per episode.

Demand Gen U by metadata.io is in the top 10% (ListenNotes Global Rank) and I’m sure they get more than 3 listeners per episode.

So by following the 5% strategy, my podcast would qualify and the Demand Gen U podcast wouldn’t.

Rankings like these ignore both quantitative aspects (e.g. social media engagement), as well as qualitative aspects (e.g. relevance of previous guests).

Don’t get fooled into thinking that one metric tells the full story.

Unfortunately, it’s not that simple