How to track and measure your podcasting activities: the 2021 podcast attribution recipe
There are no two ways about it: podcasts are here to stay.
By the end of Q1 2021, Spotify was hosting 2.6 million podcasts with over 25% of its 350+ million users regularly tuning in.
Even in the world of B2B, podcasts are making a splash. But as more companies ride the wave, the question of podcast attribution becomes more relevant than ever.
Let’s not kid ourselves, attributing podcasts to a high degree of accuracy is nigh impossible. Listeners can tune in and out anonymously, making it hard to track and identify.
But there are some workarounds that can help pick up as many of these listeners as possible. Which is much better than none at all. And in this post, we’re going to show you how. Stick around if you’ve wondered how does podcast attribution work?
What you will get out of this post:
The B2B marketing benefits of podcasts
An actionable 6-step recipe on how to set up tracking and make the most out of your podcasts
How to attribute revenue to your podcasting tactics and prove ROI
If you haven’t considered podcasts as a viable channel yet (or have some doubts going into this post), here are some at-a-glance 2021 stats to excite your marketing-happy heart:
54% of podcast consumers say that they are more likely to consider the brands they hear advertised on podcasts
Podcast ad spending is expected to hit $354 million this year
Podcast advertising revenue is expected to pass $1 billion this year
It’s little wonder so many marketers are jumping on the podcast bandwagon with numbers like that. Even so, the question remains whether or not these efforts actually pay off.
Enter podcast attribution. 🚀
What is podcast attribution (and is it worth it)?
Podcast attribution can be defined as the process of identifying how many conversions came as a result of your podcast advertising or presence as a guest.
If your company is investing time and effort into podcasts, you want to make sure those activities perform and give you a solid ROI. Which means you want numbers you can count on.
Problem is, podcasts are notoriously tricky to track and measure. After all, anyone can listen to a podcast without having to identify who they are. Attribution becomes a nightmare of anonymity.
Right, we hear you say, that’s the end of that then. If it can’t be measured accurately, does it even make sense to do?
And the answer is: Yes, 100%.
At Dreamdata, we pitch people from our own teams to appear as speakers on podcasts on a weekly basis. For us it’s been a great way to showcase our knowledge on specific subject matters, create and grow relationships with like-minded and influential people in our industry, and reach relevant audiences who already tune in to trusted shows.
Oh, and also because there is a hack for lessening the nightmare of anonymity. But more on this in a bit.
Why should you add podcasting to your content marketing strategy?
At its core, B2B marketing is all about getting the right message in front of the right people.
Podcasting is simply another channel to accomplish exactly that.
Think about it from your own perspective. What would you rather do on your morning commute? Scroll through a 50-page eBook, or listen to 20 minutes of the latest podcast episode that covers your area of interest?
The answer is obvious. Everyone’s busy. Really busy. And chances are a lot higher that people will tune in and consume your high-quality content when they can do it on-the-go.
Podcasts are a great channel for a variety of activities and goals: build awareness, thought leadership, standing out from your competitors, and a whole lot of value-add. That’s why a lot of the more successful B2B podcasts tend to follow a panel or Q&A format. This is also the format that works well for Dreamdata whenever we pitch our speakers to podcasts shows.
As with any vanity metric, it’s important to not stare yourself blind on having a huge audience that tunes in to listen. Just like any other content marketing channel, you want to hook and reel in those high-quality leads.
In other words, it’s better to capture those 50 perfect-fit listeners, than try to convince a generic audience of 10,000+ who aren’t remotely as invested in what you’re trying to sell.
Let’s get to it then.
Our 6-step recipe on how to set up tracking for podcast attribution
If you want to track whether podcasts might be driving pipeline and revenue for you, this is the tried-and-true recipe that we at Dreamdata follow:
1. Make a URL the focal point of new releases of episodes
Get into the habit of creating a separate (unique) URL for every podcast episode you make. Point all your marketing efforts towards this URL, e.g. your emails, SoMe posts. Here’s an example of a podcast we did with The ABM Conversations Podcast.
Doing this allows you to track everyone who lands on (visits) that specific page. After that, you can use a CDP (customer data platform) or attribution platform to connect those visits to pipeline and revenue later on.
Read more about how to track all relevant on-site customer data here. And about tracking in the post-ITP world here.
2. Implement a qualitative question whenever you’re in front of customers or sign deals
Now, this doesn’t fully cover all the bases for those consuming the podcast.
The podcast will be hosted on at least one of the podcast platforms such as apple podcast, where listeners will tune in. What’s more, if appearing on a guest podcast, the host will probably be marketing the podcast platform or even their own URL - this latter might be something you want to discuss beforehand, setting up UTMs on links directing back to your site is always possible.
But still, the gaps in the net are there. And some will no doubt slip through.
To try and sweep these up at a later stage, you can introduce the qualitative question into the process. In other words, ask them “Where did you hear about us?” At some point in your interaction - think sales call. Anytime they answer “on x or y’s podcast”, make a note of that in your CRM’s ‘original source field’. The revenue attribution platform will take care of the rest - more on this below.
3. Make a voucher or promo code that is only mentioned on the podcast
Another method of picking up those who slip through the URL net, is including a promo code in the podcast. By making it solely available to people who listen to your podcast you create a sense of exclusivity and urgency. It’ll also make it a lot easier for you to track what promo code pays off. Only make and offer vouchers if it makes sense for your brand and company setup, of course.
4. Tag the guest/host and their company in your CRM
This seems like such an obvious one, but it gets overlooked all the time. Anytime you’re a guest on someone’s podcast (or if you’re interviewing someone on your own show), make sure to add them to your customer relationship management (CRM) software. If they ever become a customer in the future, your podcast will get its rightfully deserved touchpoint on the customer journey.
5. Transcribe your podcast
Either hire an external service to transcribe the podcast episode you’re on or have someone in your company do it. Add the whole script (yup, the whole thing) to the URL you made in step 1, together with the actual podcast in audio-form. Not only is it great for accessibility, but it’ll ensure that page a ticket in the SEO lottery down the line as well. Win-win!
6. Practice patience and go with your gut
Just like with any other content marketing efforts, it may take a while before you reap the benefits and see the results (both pipeline and revenue) on your attribution platform. Keep an eye on traffic and ranking of your podcast URLs and run that past your gut feeling. Steady as she goes? Keep going. Too much effort with too little pay-off? Put your focus somewhere else.
How do you attribute revenue to podcasting tactics and prove ROI?
You’ve started tracking your podcasts. You make sure each podcast episode has a URL, gets traffic and comms pointed to it. You’re at the stage where each podcast is its own unique touchpoint.
Now what?
Tracking your podcasts alone isn’t enough. Being able to give it a touchpoint is great, but right now you have zero idea where that touchpoint exists on the complex customer journey known as B2B marketing. How do you get this touchpoint properly mapped? And how do you then connect it to pipeline and revenue?
Just as with other content marketing, you may want to resort to attribution models to find out the true value and contribution of all your activities. The main challenge of B2B is that customer journeys are often long, involve many stakeholders, and a lot of touchpoints.
This is where a revenue attribution tool or platform specifically geared towards B2B attribution will really shine. What sets those apart from B2C solutions is the fact that they consolidate all revenue-related data into one place. What does that mean? All your data (and we do mean ALL your data is parked in the same place: from on-site tracking to everything across your entire ecosystem (ad platforms such as Google or Facebook, CRM, automation tools, and so on).
Once all your data is joined and cleaned up (to ensure you don’t have any duplicate data or empty values), a revenue attribution tool or platform applies an attribution model that best fits your company setup and gives the right amount of credit to each touchpoint.
Including your podcast episode!
It’s at this point that you’ll get the most accurate and informative view of whether or not your podcast has had any impact on your pipeline and revenue. It’ll also allow you to identify at what point in the customer journey the podcast could make the biggest impact, and whether or not you should scale your podcasting efforts up or down.
Overall, a very powerful way of measuring value. Combine that with some of the earlier vanity metrics (traffic and ranking of your podcast URLs), and you’ve got yourself a recipe for what we like to call “approximate success”. Or, as George Box likes to say, “all models are approximations. Essentially, all models are wrong, but some are useful”.
Is it watertight and perfect? No. Nothing will ever be 100% accurate, but podcast attribution will point you in the right direction and not have you wandering in the dark. And we hope the points made in this post will at least help you on your way and get the most value out of it.
Happy podcasting! 🎧
