Can you measure the return on investment of a podcast?

What are the performance metrics of a podcast? Like all marketing levers, you can't know what works... without TRACKING the results! Putting your ear to the data is the only way to tell a good podcast from a bad one.

Reason #1: Compare podcasting to other levers

Including podcasts in a marketing strategy is the best way to take advantage of their full power, by, for example, pitting them against :

• Facebook ads
• Google Ads
• Influence marketing

What do the figures say? Is podcasting the best marketing lever?

Reason no. 2: measure the impact of the podcast in achieving your objectives

Here we'd like to stress an important point: Measuring the impact of a podcast is necessary to assess whether or not you've reached your objectives.Nevertheless, measuring a podcast without linking it to the attainment of one of your objectives is pointless.Keep in mind that to measure the effectiveness of a podcast, it's absolutely essential to link it to the objectives you've set.This objective must be established beforehand and may be of the order of :

• Notoriety,
• Brand attachment,
• Prospecting.

Measuring the ROI of your branded podcast

Performance metrics for measuring podcast ROI

As the podcast industry becomes more professional, so do the tools for measuring podcast performance.

Measure your podcast with quantitative performance KPIs

Today, an advertiser or podcast creator will focus on :

• Number of listens (is the trend positive?)
• Session time,
• Retention rate (do listeners return to the podcast?),
• Completion rate (do listeners hear the episode through to the end?),
• YouTube: average viewing time

WatermarkingLogs, player tags, redirect links, promo codes

Measuring your podcast with qualitative KPIs

To go further (and you should) pay particular attention to qualitative metrics related to your podcast, for example :

• Audience reviews (does your podcast have 5 stars on Apple Podcast? Are the comments positive?)
• Influencer recommendations (how much word-of-mouth is your podcast getting? Is it recommended by personalities who already have an audience?)

Advice from the Calliopé team:

We're sorry to have to tell you this, but at the moment... there's no tool available to COMPLETELY analyze the success of a podcast!

Measure the ROI of your podcast internally

The advantages of measuring the ROI of your podcast internally

Measuring your podcast in-house is often the option chosen by those who like to "have control" over their communication efforts.This option is beneficial for several reasons.The budgetInthe long term, it's the best way to save money... But it's also the most expensive format upstream. On the other hand, by controlling the return on investment of your audio content, you can reduce or increase the budget allocated to this communication channel.Understanding the figures: invest and then measure the performance of internal communicationThisis one of the best solutions for quickly "learning by doing". With a "home-made" tool, you're obliged to keep abreast of developments in podcast streaming platforms, new KPIs and qualitative elements to analyze a podcast.

The limits of measuring podcast ROI internally

Time spent (not on business development)Lack of experience (not knowing what to measure)

The danger of measuring podcast ROI internally

It's not just about knowing the KPIs. It's also about making sure you're not comparing cabbages and carrots.For example, the Apple Podcast platform talks about "downloading", while Swedish streaming platform Spotify talks about "listening".Your dashboard needs to be built with the right data, using the right terms and adapting.Otherwise, you won't be able to get much out of it. A bit silly, isn't it?

How to measure the ROI of your podcast internally

Like all external communication strategies, it's important to measure the impact of an internal communication strategy, of which podcasts are a part.

Measure the ROI of your brand podcast with an agency

The advantages of measuring the ROI of your podcast via an agency?

We often tell ourselves that we're going to follow "what's good"... For example, this statistic shows that placing your ad in "pre-roll", i.e. before the start of the podcast, is the most effective.

But is this the reality for YOUR podcast? The question arises...Following this statistic blindly can lead you to make mistakes that, in terms of revenue, could quickly cost you dearly.And this is where a collaboration with a podcast agency is beneficial.Accustomed to this kind of situation, and to what also generates results in the field, the agency will be able to offer personalized support related to your project.In addition to this support for the creation of podcast, a podcast agency will have the benefit of you :

• Free up your time (to devote to your business)
• Error avoidance (preventing unnecessary actions on your audio content)
• Analyze results (in detail),
• Have a vision (and propose relevant recommendations).

Avner UZAN