Advertising on podcasts can increase awareness of a brand, improve its image and help consumers remember it, but accounting for the return on investment can be tricky. For brands thinking about buying ad slots on podcasts, it’s important to make sure that the results will be measurable so that you can see if the ad spend was worth it in the end.

While podcasts have been popular for quite a while, some businesses are just starting to incorporate podcast ads into their marketing strategy. If you’re not sure how to set your podcast ad buys up for success, see what these 10 experts from Forbes Agency Council have to say about ensuring measurable ROI.

1. Make Sure The Listeners Are Your Best Audience

Make sure the podcast listeners represent your best audience, and that the content and host fit with your brand. You can then connect your ad to a unique code, URL or offer. With podcast ad spend continuing to increase, you can also consider putting your marketing dollars to work by sharing what you know best in your own podcast: your industry expertise, your brand awareness and your audience insights. - Megan Devine, d.trio marketing group

2. Monitor Lower-Funnel Channels

We advise our clients to monitor their lower-funnel channels to determine the value of awareness tactics such as podcast advertising. We attempt to measure the lift to other channels during the campaign period compared to before the campaigns had launched. Some of our brands can very clearly see the impact, while others need a more refined testing strategy to measure the results. - Samir Balwani, QRY

3. Create Supporting Tracking Mechanisms

As with any marketing or ad campaign, always create the supporting mechanisms to track the ROI of those efforts. Use unique URLs, landing pages, unique phone numbers or other methods to track the conversions from the ads. Without basic tracking methods and conversion tactics, it’s very difficult to quantifiably gauge success. Everything else is just opinion and feelings. - Jason Wilson, Strategy, LLC

4. Start With A Short-Term Offer

The long-term impact for the brand is always hard to measure, but you should start off with a short-term offer to see the effective reach of the ad. Launch the ad with an offer tied to a unique URL so that you can measure the immediate pickup in the ad’s reach, the impressions and the conversion of those customers. - Darrell Keezer, Candybox Marketing

Forbes Agency Council is an invitation-only community for executives in successful public relations, media strategy, creative and advertising agencies. Do I qualify?

5. Meet The Audience Where They Are

Alignment here is key. Address your ideal persona by speaking to them in the context of where they are listening. Align your message with the context of where it is being heard. While this is very hard to measure, a unique call to action accompanied by a URL could yield better metrics on the ROI. - Fran Biderman-Gross, Advantages

6. Create A Specific Landing Spot

Create a specific landing spot for that targeted ad. Set up a link, landing page, number or other trackable element and include it in the podcast ad, then track the ROI based on the listener count and how many interactions you get after the ads start running. Awareness is hard to track, particularly when you’re running multiple channels or campaigns, so redirection is a solid tool. - Dmitrii Kustov, Regex SEO

7. Assign A Vanity URL Or Promo Code

Finding the ROI for awareness-focused ad types can be tricky, as most consumers aren’t likely to take immediate action the moment they listen to a podcast ad. But some consumers do, allowing you to track their activity. This can be done by assigning either a vanity URL or a unique promo code to the ad. Being as specific as possible helps increase your granularity when it comes to reporting and ROI. - Donna Robinson, Collective Measures

8. Promote A Lead Magnet

Having a lead magnet that you promote in your creative will help track your ROI while allowing you to continue to reach out to potential customers. Too often, companies don’t think through their funnel process before executing PR or advertising campaigns. This could ultimately result in leaving money on the table. - Adrian Falk, Believe Advertising & PR

9. Do A Giveaway On Every Podcast You’re On

I always love doing a giveaway of a specifically chosen book, swag or gift card for each podcast I’m on. This allows me to direct traffic exactly where I want it to go. I can have them reply via SMS or email, go to a specific landing page or follow specific accounts on social media. All of which can be tracked or monitored. - Brian Meert, AdvertiseMint

10. Make Sure Your Ads Are Made For Audio

Make sure your ads are made for audio and that they are hitting the right ears. As you would with any ad, go where your audience is, leverage the platform’s user experience and if bandwidth allows, make it bespoke. Your message, approach and audience will be different during Joe Rogan’s podcast than if you placed the ad in Serial or Michelle Obama’s. - Marc Becker, The Tangent Agency