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Competitive Intelligence for Marketing Teams: Tracking Competitors Across Podcasts

Your competitors are appearing on podcasts, sponsoring shows, and getting mentioned in industry conversations. Every week, they're reaching audiences you might not even know exist — sharing messaging, positioning products, and building credibility with potential customers.


Most marketing teams have no visibility into this. You shouldn't be one of them.


Why Podcast Competitive Intelligence Matters


Podcasts are where industry insiders speak candidly. Competitors reveal:

  • Their positioning and messaging strategy
  • New product launches and features (often before official announcements)
  • Partnerships and integrations
  • Target customer segments
  • How they respond to market trends


When your competitor's CEO appears on a popular industry podcast, that's valuable intelligence — if you know about it.


Setting Up Competitor Monitoring


Create Competitor Alerts


For each competitor:

  1. Go to Alerts → Add New Alert
  2. Add their brand name and variations
  3. Add key executive names
  4. Add product names


Example filter setup for tracking "Acme Corp":

Acme Corp
"Acme Corp"
AcmeCorp
Acme Corporation


Use the Suggest similar keywords feature to catch variations you might miss.


Track Multiple Competitors in One View


Create a List called "Competitors" and add:

  • All competitor brand alerts (future mentions auto-add)
  • Competitor podcasts (track their new episodes)
  • Industry podcasts where competitors appear


Switch to Feed View to see a unified stream of all competitor activity.


Extracting Competitive Intelligence


Messaging Analysis


When a competitor mention surfaces:

  1. Click View full mention to see the transcript
  2. Note how they describe their product
  3. Identify claims and differentiators
  4. Document recurring themes across appearances


Tracking Competitor Appearances


Use People and Brands Search:

  1. Go to Search → People and Brands
  2. Search for competitor executives
  3. Sort by Most guesting to find frequent spokespersons
  4. See which podcasts they're targeting


This reveals their media strategy and which audiences they're pursuing.


Sponsorship Intelligence


Podscan extracts sponsor information from episodes. Search for your competitors to see:

  • Which podcasts they sponsor
  • How frequently they advertise
  • The size of audiences they're reaching


Use this for your own sponsorship targeting — or to understand their customer acquisition strategy.


Industry Monitoring Beyond Direct Competitors


Topic Tracking


Monitor industry trends that affect your competitive positioning:

  1. Go to Topics in the navigation
  2. Search for industry keywords
  3. Check Fastest Growing topics
  4. Add relevant topics to a List


When your industry starts buzzing about a new technology or trend, you'll know before it hits mainstream coverage.


Category Monitoring


Set alerts with Category Restrictions to monitor all discussions in your industry:

  • Restrict to "Business" or "Technology" categories
  • Use broad keywords like your industry vertical
  • Review weekly for emerging narratives


Competitive Reporting


Weekly Competitive Brief


Export competitor mentions weekly:

  1. Go to your Competitors List
  2. Click Export → CSV
  3. Include: Podcast name, episode title, audience size, sentiment, date


Summarize key findings for stakeholders:

  • Competitor appearance frequency
  • New messaging or positioning observed
  • Podcasts they're sponsoring
  • Share of voice trends


Audience Comparison


Use Demographics View on your competitor List:

  • See the aggregate audience profile across podcasts where competitors appear
  • Compare to your own podcast media strategy
  • Identify audience segments they're reaching that you're not


Acting on Competitive Intelligence


Counter-Programming


When a competitor launches a podcast campaign:

  1. Identify the podcasts they're targeting
  2. Check if those podcasts accept guests or sponsors
  3. Reach out with your own pitch or sponsorship inquiry
  4. Use the podcast's contact info in Podscan to connect


Content Strategy


Use competitor mentions to inform your own content:

  • Topics they're discussing are topics your audience cares about
  • Claims they make can be addressed in your own messaging
  • Questions hosts ask reveal audience concerns


Battle Cards


Maintain a competitive analysis List with key quotes and positioning claims. Export monthly to update sales battle cards and marketing messaging.


Getting Started


  1. Today: Set up alerts for your top 3 competitors
  2. This week: Create a Competitors List and add relevant alerts
  3. Ongoing: Check weekly digest for patterns
  4. Monthly: Export data for competitive reporting



Podcast conversations reveal what your competitors are really saying — unscripted, unfiltered, and directly to your potential customers. Podscan makes that intelligence accessible.

Updated on: 18/12/2025

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