Podcast Sponsorships and Measurement, Part 1: An Art and a Science

Issues have been raised everywhere from consumer press like The Wall Street Journal and The Economistamp160to ad trades like Digiday and AdWeekamp160In the latter though the storyamp8217s focus is on a possible solution via public radio broadcastersamp8217 collective effort to proffer measurement and guidelines amp8230 at least for the near termThe impressive results of the yearlong collaboration by entities including WNYC NPR MPR and others suggest best practices for counting unique downloads and call out the issues right from the introduction amp8220Measurement of podcast usage is at best the Wild West There has been no standard or even informal consensus around how to count downloads listeners or time spent listeningamp8221While some podcast companies took exception to the amp8220Wild Westamp8221 analogy Bryan Moffett GM of National Public Media a subsidiary of NPR and its sponsorship sales rep explained the description was not about a lack of measurement but the inconsistency in how it is approached So the group deputized itself to create a set of guidelines already adopted by many public media and podcast producers and offered it up for the greater goodCertainly many publishers and vendors have developed good measurement methods over the years but this is the first time publishers of some of the largest podcasts have agreed on a way of counting downloadsIn addition NPR and others in public media have also been working with the IAB39s digital audio committee which has been developing standards for the industry The inherent trust placed in public broadcasters and their long history in podcasting should carry enough weight to help the overall industry rally around the current suggestions they provided but they are still a bit of a BandAidThe issue is gathering accurate data that would increase agency confidence and drive greater ad spend by the Fortune 500 powerhouse brands As Westwood One CMO Pierre Bouvard said in an interview with Nielsen recently amp8220Getting an audience currency would take things to the next levelamp8221The how many the who the when and the how long they listened are the basics of that audience currency in part because once a file is downloaded by a user the ability to actually track listening is a big hurdle Thatamp8217s where thirdparty measurement services like Podtrac help amp8230 along with workarounds to assess some of those basicsFor now the increased listenership married to anecdotes and case studies has meant a sales process that is necessarily an art and a science As Jay Green Vice President Digital Sales and Content Partnerships at AdLarge and a coworker of mine says amp8220Brand investors are always evolving with their need for metrics ease of use and campaign evaluationamp160 Podcasting is no different and as the medium and standards have evolved so has the technology and measurementamp160What39s amazing about podcasting is that youamp8217re not limited to just one platform for consumptionamp160 Fans are able to listen on their favorite site app and between devicesamp160 But with that comes the responsibility of cultivating all of the listening data and in a way that our clients can easily digest and comfortably present to their brandsamp8221Right now that amp8220comfortamp8221 is derived from increasing agreement on those workaroundsamp160In other words measuring usage and audiences of a Pandora a Spotify even a Shaq Fu streaming radio is easier because itamp8217s on one platform With podcasting itamp8217s tougher to get accurate monthly uniques a goto metric of the digital community and downloads because people are listening on Tunein Stitcher ACast iTunes or any number of other apps and streaming andor downloadingA simple approach many companies use is to take one podcast episode and look at downloads over 14 or 30 days amp8220Weamp8217ve seen that the average listener tends to consume an episode onceamp8221 says Green amp8220So taking that measurement over 30 days can give us a good read into a showamp8217s unique listener baseamp8221He acknowledges and applauds the public radio guidelines which add a slew of refinements that help eliminate clear replication and even bot considerations That said downloads as a metric will grow less relevant as unlimited data plans ubiquity of smartphones and more listening apps with greater WiFi availability invite more and more streaming of podcastsThat move to increased streaming lets technology step up the dynamic ad insertion game which in turn enables the amp8220audience currencyamp8221 Westwoodamp8217s Bouvard and others are craving Real time adstitching and third party data tracking from companies like TritonTAP WideOrbit or DART and Sizmek can enable geotargeting and day date and time specificity in trafficking on demand audio ads So when someone chooses to listen to a amp8220Hidden Brainamp8221 or amp8220Jim Breueramp8221 or amp8220StartUpamp8221 podcast theyamp8217ll receive a timely targeted message and sponsors receive real time accurate measurement reportsNPR has enabled this for years but with legions of new producers uploading content that often goes viral quickly they ideally would be retrofitted with this new technology to really help maximize revenue when repamp8217d by a company like an AdLarge Midroll or PodcastOneCertainly one drawback even for a podcast offering dynamic ad insertion is that it can still be downloaded and that ad served at the time of download will live in perpetuityamp160 Still the amp8220workaroundamp8221 for that is to tout stats of most listening taking place within the first 48 hours of download maintaining campaign timelinessItamp8217s that combination of art and science thatamp8217s been satisfying an increasing number of digital agencies with at least some accountability and thatamp8217s where the art of the pitch comes inamp160 Right now advertiser perception studies show brand lift from podcast sponsorships and sellers are validated by getting repeat business from direct response advertisers whoamp8217ve seen offer codes redeemedWhat39s driven other industries like radio video and display is a great understanding of measurement guidelines and standardsamp160 As AdLargeamp8217s Green says amp8220The public media whitepaper was a great step in the right direction and as other platforms and membership organizations continue to work together there is no doubt that podcasting will continue its spending riseamp8221So is science on the cusp of overtaking the art or at least matching itComing up in Part 2 breaking news on the upcoming release of new podcast measurement data that could fill that Holy Grail a little moreImage at top courtesy of Corbis The opinions and points of view expressed in this commentary are exclusively the views of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillageMyersBizNet management or associated bloggers

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Podcast Sponsorships and Measurement, Part 1: An Art and a Science

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E.B. Moss

FEMA and the Ad Council Encourage AANHPI Communities to Enhance Disaster Preparedness in New PSAs - Ad Council InSites

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Podcast Sponsorships and Measurement, Part 1: An Art and a Science

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E.B. Moss

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