Metrics - Metrics - Metrics - PodcastingTricks.com
Michael Geoghegan from Gigavox has a great post on his blog about radio metrics. This brought up some interesting points that caused me to leave a comment at Michael’s site. That is the genesis of this post.
If you want to sell ads for your podcast, you will eventually have to deal with metrics. Advertisers need some way to measure your success in order to place a value on your content. Since advertisers are only interested in one thing, i.e., getting a good deal, they want as much metric measurement as is possible.When in comes to podcasting, most advertisers want us to provide metrics that they can’t get from any other ad medium. How is that fair?
I have been telling podcasters for two years to stop letting the ad agencies push them around on this. The agencies accept the Arbitron numbers as Gospel. In smaller markets, as few as 50 diaries are mailed out. That doesn’t mean 50 are turned in. And careers and companies are on the line.
When someone asks me how I know a listener who actually downloaded my podcast really listsned, I respond by asking them if they hold radio to the same standard. How do they know someone listened to the ad they ran on their local radio station? They don’t. But it doesn’t stop them from buying the ad.
We need to stop letting advertisers hold us to a higher standard than they do other media. Period.
I’ve heard lots of back and forth over which stats we get are real. It doesn’t matter. What matters is getting a STANDARD like the Arbitron ratings, that the advertisers will buy into. We need less talk about whether hits, downloads, subscriptions or RSS feeds are accurate, and more talk about creating a unified, industry standard that we can provide the advertisers access to through a third party. Everytime you hear someone touting their new metrics capability, ask them one question - “Will the advertisers support it and is it open so everyone can access it?” If the answer is no to any part of that question, then the appropriate response for you is to yawn.We need a reliable standard that everyone can agree on and that everyone can access. The person or company who solves this problem will end up winning a great deal of support in our industry - from all sides.
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Scott Bourne is an author, lecturer, teacher and new media pioneer, and the president of Podango Productions in San Francisco, CA. He is the founder of the world's first Internet-only radio network, Netradio, and is a co-host on several prominent podcasts including MacBreak Weekly, Apple Phone Show, the iLifeZone and GMT. Bourne has also been a featured speaker at events such as Macworld Expo and the Podcast & Portable Media Expo.
Given that radio is such an openly shady advertising market and magazine circulations are usually things of fantasy, it’s frustrating to be held more accountable than them. However, as a podcaster and advertiser I’m open to the idea that we need to be more open and honest with our numbers. I think 10 listeners to a podcast is worth far more than 10 to a radio program. As an advertiser I know this. As a podcaster interested in selling advertising I know that other advertisers don’t quite comprehend that. Ultimately what matters is if advertising on you podcast will move product. prove that, and you’ll have advertisers. Time for my Pzizz…
Andrew makes a good point. Maybe a better model is the verified circulation of trade magazines — which often have much smaller readerships, but much more sought-after ones.