Here is what it takes to properly measure podcast campaigns:
1. Set the expectation that podcast ads can take up to eight weeks to reach their most significant impact. Podcasts are on-demand, meaning fans download episodes and listen when they want to. You cannot expect to receive a lot of traction the day after a podcast ad drops. You must give fans time to download an episode, listen to it, and then act on it. Here at TWiT.tv, most of a show's downloads occur in the first few weeks, which doesn't mean it was heard immediately. That's why we set the expectation that every ad that drops takes eight weeks because you have to allow for this process to happen.
2. Review the ad impressions that are provided to you during the campaign. This will show you how many episodes have been downloaded and will give you an idea of when ads were served. At TWiT, we update our reporting documents every Friday with audio, video, and YouTube impressions. This provides brands with how many downloads have happened and how many more are needed to fully satisfy the contracted impressions.
3. If you set up a unique landing page or offer code, review these metrics and remember that podcasts are on-demand. It will take time for fans to act.
4. Use podcast ad tech. Here at TWiT, we offer Spotify Ad Analytics (SAA), which is free and tracks our audio episodes only. We also offer Podscribe because they track video and audio, but we do not cover the cost. Ad tech will provide brands with insights on who downloaded an episode with their ad in it. This allows brands to track an IP address for 60 days and match it to those who visited its website. Because SAA only tracks audio, we provide a gross-up to count video downloads. We highly recommend using ad tech to see the traction of how many unique listeners visited a brand's website. We highly recommend this at TWiT because our fans are tech-savvy and will not visit landing pages or search for offer codes to get a discount. Our fans will google the brand's name and go straight to their website, and most of the time the offer is the same as a landing page. This is where ad tech can help provide metrics on traffic because you honestly can't track offer codes/landing pages to measure traction.
5. Advertise elsewhere. Be sure to pair your podcast campaign with other forms of advertising because it can take 7 - 15 touchpoints to convert a fan into a client. We recommend advertising in other podcasts, radio, TV, newsletters, social media, banners, and Google ads.
6. Brands must implement post-purchase surveys. This is the one tool left out of several campaigns, and it must be there. We recommend Faring.co, and there are plenty of others. This will show brands where fans heard about them after making the purchase.
Therefore, it takes more than one tool to gauge the success of a podcast campaign. We understand that ad tech can be invasive, and some brands choose to leave this out. That's fine so long as you implement all the other tools. If not, consider your podcast campaign to be a branding campaign because you cannot focus on one metric. It takes multiple tools to truly gauge the success of a campaign. If you sign up for a test utilizing these tools and you see traction, my recommendation is to renew for the next quarter because you are reaching fans who are interested in your brand, and traction/conversions should continue to increase.
If you are interested in partnering with us, then please reach out to advertise@twit.tv, and let's schedule a call to discuss your growth goals.