Future Podcast Measurement

In the final episode of the Showmakers analytics series, Ed Barker from Studio 1878 explores the future of podcast measurement. He discusses the limitations of current metrics and predicts significant advancements in attribution, brand lift studies, and sentiment analysis using AI. Ed emphasizes the shift from mere data collection to actionable insights that enhance both internal and external brand storytelling. By focusing on audience emotion, brand trust, and improved integration with overall marketing strategies, this episode presents a vision where podcasts become a crucial part of a brand's intelligence system.

00:00 Introduction

00:22 The Current State of Podcast Measurement

01:17 The Future of Attribution

02:50 Smarter Brand Lift and Sentiment Analysis

03:59 Measurement as Brand Health Indicator

05:04 AI and Automation in Podcast Analytics

06:38 Internal Measurement and Employee Engagement

07:01 From Proving Value to Using Insights

08:45 The Next Five Years of Podcast Measurement

09:53 Closing Thoughts

Ed Barker has been producing and recording podcasts since 2009. After a long career as a corporate marketing and strategy executive - and then a VC - Ed launched Studio 1878 in early 2025 with the goal of making brand and business podcasting much better. Ed is a Brit, working out of Seattle, and podcasting worldwide. 🌎

A podcast development studio for the modern brand. We believe everyone has a story worth telling. Specializing in business and brand podcasts, we’ll help build your story from ideation to distribution, transforming concepts to real connection with your audiences. We produce our own shows but our core proposition is in helping businesses and creators produce something truly compelling and authentic. We’d love to help you tell your story.

Contact

Web: www.1878.studio

Email: [email protected]

Mobile: 425-520-3483

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Building a Lasting Podcast Measurement System

In the final episode of Showmakers’ analytics series, Ed Barker of Studio 1878 discusses how to create a measurement system that endures leadership changes and budget reviews. He emphasizes the importance of turning data into a rhythm that the business understands and ensuring measurement becomes part of the working culture. Barker outlines the creation of a measurement stack, setting up a cadence, assigning ownership, and designing dashboards tailored for different audiences. He stresses the significance of incorporating feedback and institutionalizing the measurement system to future-proof it. Finally, Barker highlights the need for measurement to be a cultural pillar, driving better decisions and long-term success for brand podcasts.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction

00:19 The Importance of a Lasting Measurement System

01:40 Building Your Measurement Stack

02:51 Setting Up Cadence and Ownership

03:47 Creating Effective Dashboards

05:02 Feedback Loops and Continuous Improvement

05:56 Institutionalizing Your Measurement System

06:49 Leadership and Long-Term Value

07:46 Measurement as a Cultural Practice

08:27 Conclusion and Next Steps

Ed Barker has been producing and recording podcasts since 2009. After a long career as a corporate marketing and strategy executive - and then a VC - Ed launched Studio 1878 in early 2025 with the goal of making brand and business podcasting much better. Ed is a Brit, working out of Seattle, and podcasting worldwide. 🌎

A podcast development studio for the modern brand. We believe everyone has a story worth telling. Specializing in business and brand podcasts, we’ll help build your story from ideation to distribution, transforming concepts to real connection with your audiences. We produce our own shows but our core proposition is in helping businesses and creators produce something truly compelling and authentic. We’d love to help you tell your story.

Contact

Web: www.1878.studio

Email: [email protected]

Mobile: 425-520-3483

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Balancing ROI and Creativity in Brand Podcasts

In this episode of Showmakers, Ed Barker from Studio 1878 discusses the tension between proving ROI and maintaining creativity in branded podcasts. Ed explains why ROI should not dominate the planning phase and how focusing too much on it can stifle creativity. He introduces the concept of ROI through financial, behavioral, and reputational lenses, emphasizing that true podcast success builds trust and familiarity over time. He advocates for thinking of a podcast as an ecosystem with inputs, outputs, and outcomes, and provides practical advice for presenting ROI to budget owners without sacrificing creative freedom. Ed concludes by affirming that a successful podcast is one that feels human and not just like another sales tool.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Showmakers

00:53 The ROI Dilemma in Branded Podcasts

02:10 Understanding Different Types of ROI

03:28 The Challenge of Attribution in Podcasts

04:23 Connecting Creativity to Commercial Outcomes

05:27 The Compounding ROI of Podcasts

06:20 Protecting Creativity in Podcasting

07:28 Reporting ROI Effectively

09:20 Key Conversations with Budget Owners

10:55 Conclusion and Next Steps

Ed Barker has been producing and recording podcasts since 2009. After a long career as a corporate marketing and strategy executive - and then a VC - Ed launched Studio 1878 in early 2025 with the goal of making brand and business podcasting much better. Ed is a Brit, working out of Seattle, and podcasting worldwide. 🌎

A podcast development studio for the modern brand. We believe everyone has a story worth telling. Specializing in business and brand podcasts, we’ll help build your story from ideation to distribution, transforming concepts to real connection with your audiences. We produce our own shows but our core proposition is in helping businesses and creators produce something truly compelling and authentic. We’d love to help you tell your story.

Contact

Web: www.1878.studio

Email: [email protected]

Mobile: 425-520-3483

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Beyond the Numbers: Turning Podcast Analytics into Actionable Insights

In this episode of Show Makers, Ed Barker, founder of Studio 1878, discusses the critical step of interpreting podcast analytics to drive creative and marketing decisions. He emphasizes moving beyond mere data collection to derive meaningful insights in three key areas: content, audience, and impact. Ed highlights the importance of understanding the narrative behind the numbers and offers practical tips on identifying patterns, assessing audience demographics, and measuring the real impact of your podcast. By connecting data to business activities and treating each episode as a test bed, you can turn analytics into actionable strategies that enhance your podcast's value and effectiveness. Ed also shares advice on presenting data to leadership in a compelling way and previews upcoming topics in the series on analytics and ROI.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction

00:45 Data Isn't the Story

01:27 Three Layers of Insight

03:06 Understanding Retention

04:16 Turning Insights Into Action

04:59 From Reporting to Learning

06:18 How to Report to Leadership

07:04 Closing Thoughts

Ed Barker has been producing and recording podcasts since 2009. After a long career as a corporate marketing and strategy executive - and then a VC - Ed launched Studio 1878 in early 2025 with the goal of making brand and business podcasting much better. Ed is a Brit, working out of Seattle, and podcasting worldwide. 🌎

A podcast development studio for the modern brand. We believe everyone has a story worth telling. Specializing in business and brand podcasts, we’ll help build your story from ideation to distribution, transforming concepts to real connection with your audiences. We produce our own shows but our core proposition is in helping businesses and creators produce something truly compelling and authentic. We’d love to help you tell your story.

Contact

Web: www.1878.studio

Email: [email protected]

Mobile: 425-520-3483

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Aligning Podcast Goals with Business Strategy

In this episode of Show Makers, Ed Barker from Studio 1878 discusses the importance of setting clear business-focused goals for branded podcasts. He explains common mistakes like chasing the wrong metrics and emphasizes designing podcast formats that align with specific business objectives, such as awareness, authority, engagement, and advocacy. Ed introduces a framework for measuring success across different horizons, ensuring that podcast efforts are tied to real business outcomes such as reputation, revenue enablement, and retention. He also shares insights on communicating podcast value to leadership and building a strategy that integrates seamlessly into the business growth model.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction

00:25 Launching Without Clear Goals

01:05 Chasing the Wrong Numbers

01:50 Start with the Business, Not the Show

02:31 Connecting Goals to Show Design

04:25 Intent-Metric-Message Framework

05:33 Three Horizons of Measurement

06:48 Aligning Strategy with Leadership

07:53 Setting Realistic Targets

08:40 The Pyramid of Purpose

09:19 Building Goals into Your Workflow

10:10 Wrap-Up and Next Steps

Ed Barker has been producing and recording podcasts since 2009. After a long career as a corporate marketing and strategy executive - and then a VC - Ed launched Studio 1878 in early 2025 with the goal of making brand and business podcasting much better. Ed is a Brit, working out of Seattle, and podcasting worldwide. 🌎

A podcast development studio for the modern brand. We believe everyone has a story worth telling. Specializing in business and brand podcasts, we’ll help build your story from ideation to distribution, transforming concepts to real connection with your audiences. We produce our own shows but our core proposition is in helping businesses and creators produce something truly compelling and authentic. We’d love to help you tell your story.

Contact

Web: www.1878.studio

Email: [email protected]

Mobile: 425-520-3483

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Measuring Podcast Success: Metrics That Truly Matter

In this episode of Showmakers, Ed Barker - founder of Studio 1878 - breaks down how to measure podcast success in ways that actually matter. Too often, brands treat podcast analytics like ad campaign data, chasing downloads and impressions that don’t reflect real impact. Ed explains why defining your why comes before defining your KPIs - and how to use metrics that align with your show’s purpose. You’ll learn which core health metrics to track (like completion rate, retention, and returning listeners), when to introduce advanced measures (like purchase attribution and brand lift), and how to tell a clear story with your data when reporting results to leadership. Ed also shares how often you should review metrics, why quarterly reviews reveal more meaningful trends, and how a data-driven narrative can help secure long-term buy-in for your podcast.

Next episode: How to Turn Your Podcast Into a Content Engine - extending your show’s reach without losing story integrity.

Chapters

00:00 - Introduction: Measuring Podcast Success

00:46 -The Problem with Traditional Podcast Metrics

01:42 - Define Your Why Before Your KPIs

02:25 - Core Health Metrics That Matter

03:52 - Advanced Metrics for Mature Shows

06:06 - Turning Data Into a Story

07:13 - Measurement Cadence

07:47 - Wrap-Up & Next Episode Preview

Ed Barker has been producing and recording podcasts since 2009. After a long career as a corporate marketing and strategy executive - and then a VC - Ed launched Studio 1878 in early 2025 with the goal of making brand and business podcasting much better. Ed is a Brit, working out of Seattle, and podcasting worldwide. 🌎

A podcast development studio for the modern brand. We believe everyone has a story worth telling. Specializing in business and brand podcasts, we’ll help build your story from ideation to distribution, transforming concepts to real connection with your audiences. We produce our own shows but our core proposition is in helping businesses and creators produce something truly compelling and authentic. We’d love to help you tell your story.

Contact

Web: www.1878.studio

Email: [email protected]

Mobile: 425-520-3483

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Building Listener Loyalty in Brand Podcasts

In this episode of Showmakers, Ed Barker from Studio 1878 discusses the importance of building deep engagement and loyalty in branded podcasts rather than just chasing reach or vanity metrics like downloads and followers. Ed explains how loyalty, consistency, and respecting your audience's time are key to creating a podcast that listeners return to regularly. He emphasizes the value of designing episodes to reward listeners, involving internal audiences, creating habits, encouraging participation, and leveraging other marketing channels for a two-way dialogue. Finally, he highlights the importance of focusing on listener loyalty to naturally drive growth and build meaningful connections.

00:00 Introduction 

00:33 Building Listener Loyalty

02:05 Designing Valuable Episodes

02:53 Nurturing Internal Audiences

03:29 Creating Habit-Forming Shows

04:10 Encouraging Audience Participation

04:37 Utilizing Signature Segments

05:31 Integrating with Other Marketing Channels

06:16 Common Mistakes in Podcast Growth

06:52 Final Thoughts on Loyalty

07:20 Preview of Next Episode

Ed Barker has been producing and recording podcasts since 2009. After a long career as a corporate marketing and strategy executive - and then a VC - Ed launched Studio 1878 in early 2025 with the goal of making brand and business podcasting much better. Ed is a Brit, working out of Seattle, and podcasting worldwide. 🌎

A podcast development studio for the modern brand. We believe everyone has a story worth telling. Specializing in business and brand podcasts, we’ll help build your story from ideation to distribution, transforming concepts to real connection with your audiences. We produce our own shows but our core proposition is in helping businesses and creators produce something truly compelling and authentic. We’d love to help you tell your story.

Contact

Web: www.1878.studio

Email: [email protected]

Mobile: 425-520-3483

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Redefining Podcast Distribution: Building Reach and Reputation

In this episode of Showmakers, Ed Barker from Studio 1878 emphasizes the importance of effective podcast distribution. He explains that distribution goes beyond simply uploading to platforms like Spotify and highlights the concept of 'audience design' which involves targeting where listeners already spend their attention. Ed also discusses the multi-layered approach to distribution, integrating podcasts into overall brand campaigns, leveraging guests and team members as micro distribution channels, and measuring the real influence of a podcast. He concludes by underscoring the importance of reactivating and resurfacing archived content to maintain relevant brand assets.

00:00 Introduction to Podcast Distribution

00:38 Understanding Distribution as Brand Architecture

01:33 The Shift in Multi-Platform Discovery

02:14 Integrating Distribution into Campaign Planning

02:52 Leveraging People as Distribution Channels

03:33 Measuring Podcast Influence Beyond Downloads

04:16 Reactivating Your Podcast Archive

04:53 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

Ed Barker has been producing and recording podcasts since 2009. After a long career as a corporate marketing and strategy executive (and then a VC), Ed launched Studio 1878 (www.1878.studio) in early 2025 with the goal of making brand and business podcasting much better. Ed is a Brit, working out of Seattle, and podcasting worldwide. 🌎

A podcast development studio for the modern brand. We believe everyone has a story worth telling. Specializing in business and brand podcasts, we’ll help build your story from ideation to distribution, transforming concepts to real connection with your audiences. We produce our own shows but our core proposition is in helping businesses and creators produce something truly compelling and authentic. We’d love to help you tell your story. 😈

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

From Raw Talk to Brand Narrative

In this episode of Showmakers, Ed Barker from Studio 1878 explores the crucial role of editing in corporate podcasting. Rather than just trimming and adding music, editing transforms raw conversations into a narrative that mirrors your brand's intelligence, empathy, and perspective. Ed discusses how emotional architecture, pacing, and narrative structure can enhance the story, making it more impactful and authentic. By treating editing as a form of authorship and reputation management, brands can craft podcasts that not only sound good but also reflect their identity and values.

00:00 Introduction

00:22 Editing as Strategy

01:08 Emotional Architecture

01:54 Editing as Reputation Management

02:43 Reordering for Clarity

03:29 Sound as Brand Identity

03:55 Protecting the Host's Humanity

04:43 Closing Thoughts & Next Episode

Ed Barker has been producing and recording podcasts since 2009. After a long career as a corporate marketing and strategy executive (and then a VC), Ed launched Studio 1878 (www.1878.studio) in early 2025 with the goal of making brand and business podcasting much better. Ed is a Brit, working out of Seattle, and podcasting worldwide. 🌎

A podcast development studio for the modern brand. We believe everyone has a story worth telling. Specializing in business and brand podcasts, we’ll help build your story from ideation to distribution, transforming concepts to real connection with your audiences. We produce our own shows but our core proposition is in helping businesses and creators produce something truly compelling and authentic. We’d love to help you tell your story. 😈

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Keeping Your Solo Podcast Energy High

In this episode of Showmakers, Ed Barker from Studio 1878 shares practical tips on maintaining high energy levels while recording solo podcast episodes. Ed discusses the importance of visualizing a real listener, recording while standing, using a bullet point script, varying your pacing, and breaking content into segments. He emphasizes the power of storytelling and advises recording in short bursts to keep energy high. Ed wraps up by highlighting the value solo episodes bring in building intimacy and trust with listeners.

00:00 Introduction

00:22 Why Solo Energy Matters

01:10 Tip 1: Picture a Real Listener

01:41 Tip 2: Stand Up and Move

02:14 Tip 3: Script Smart

02:58 Tip 4: Vary Your Pacing

03:53 Tip 5: Break Into Segments

04:21 Tip 6: Include Real Stories

04:59 Tip 7: Record in Bursts

05:28 Closing Thoughts

Ed Barker has been producing and recording podcasts since 2009. After a long career as a corporate marketing and strategy executive (and then a VC), Ed launched Studio 1878 (www.1878.studio) in early 2025 with the goal of making brand and business podcasting much better. Ed is a Brit, working out of Seattle, and podcasting worldwide. 🌎

A podcast development studio for the modern brand. We believe everyone has a story worth telling. Specializing in business and brand podcasts, we’ll help build your story from ideation to distribution, transforming concepts to real connection with your audiences. We produce our own shows but our core proposition is in helping businesses and creators produce something truly compelling and authentic. We’d love to help you tell your story. 😈

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.