How Füm Scaled Podcast Ads 830% with Podscribe

Feb 20

This case study delves into Füm's journey with Podscribe, highlighting a partnership that not only overcame stringent FDA advertising restrictions but also unlocked remarkable growth and efficiency in podcast advertising.

Füm’s Podcast Ad Journey

Füm emerged as a pioneering force in the wellness industry by introducing a distinctive alternative to traditional vaping. At the core of its mission lies the commitment to fostering health-conscious habits through innovative consumer products, offering a natural and effective solution for those aiming to minimize their reliance on inhalants.

Navigating the digital marketing sphere, however, presented significant challenges for Füm. The wellness sector, especially for products positioned as alternatives to vaping, is tightly regulated. This scrutiny turned traditional digital advertising channels into a labyrinth of restrictions, severely limiting Füm's ability to reach new customers and increase brand visibility.

Acknowledging these obstacles, Füm was compelled to explore new avenues — specifically podcast advertising.

This decision to embrace podcast advertising marked a strategic shift, promising not just an escape from the confines of digital marketing regulations but also an opportunity to chart a new course for growth — a decision that would redefine its trajectory and success.

The Challenge

However, as Füm ventured into podcast advertising they encountered a series of hurdles that threatened their growth, impact, and the vision they had of podcasting being an efficient and scalable acquisition channel:

As a new advertiser in a heavily regulated space, Füm needed to ensure their ads ran correctly, on time, and adhered to FDA guidelines. Initially, Füm had to manually find and listen to each ad in order to ensure they followed guidelines, a process that was manual, cumbersome, and prone to error. This necessary but human-error-prone process risked missing non-compliant ad reads and ad errors that could waste spend and affect performance.
- Manual Verification Pitfalls: Like most brands Füm was forced to manually find and listen to ad reads to ensure they ran correctly. Consistently however they would find ad errors and more over they knew many others were most likely missed.
- Legal and Performance Risks: The potential for legal issues from non-compliant ads and the misrepresentation of their product loomed large, threatening FDA compliance and their ability to scale high-performing host-read endorsement ads.
Füm required an innovative, automated solution for identifying and addressing these ad errors preemptively and avoid legal complications.
Reliance on promo codes and vanity URLs for attribution misrepresented performance and hindered their ability to optimize, improve, and scale.
- Competing Onsite Offers: Like most brands, Füm would run multiple promos at a time. However, this became an issue when the discount offer in their podcast ads was lower than the offer on-site.
- Unattributable Conversions: Overreliance on promo codes and vanity URLs, which are usually only used by 20-30% of podcast listeners left ~70-80% of conversions unattributed. This made it incredibly difficult for Füm to justify not only existing spend but increasing it.
- Limited Data: By solely relying on promo codes Füm wasn’t able to get early insights into campaigns or measure performance outside of these indirect bottom-of-funnel metrics.
- Optimization Challenges: Without a clear understanding of listener engagement and the path to conversion Füm had no way to isolate variables or understand what levers they needed to pull to improve performance. In turn, it left them with no way to optimize.
Without a marketplace or centralized discovery platform scaling ad placements and finding suitable podcast partners was challenging.
- Discovery Tool Deficiency: With the lack of a comprehensive research and planning tool Füm struggled to uncover new podcasts that aligned with their target audience and scope, limiting their advertising reach.
- Need for Show-Level Demographics: Like most advertisers, the key to podcast advertising is buying on shows that align with their target audience. However, initially, Füm had no way to asses or vet the audiences of these shows before they bought.

The Solution

Podscribe's suite of solutions addressed Füm's challenges head-on:

Pixel-Based Attribution

Automated Airchecks & Verification

Show Research & Discovery Portal

Pixel-Based Attribution & Full-Funnel Reporting

Podscribe’s PULSE became a fundamental element of Füm's marketing strategy, offering real-time, full-funnel pixel-based attribution. This advanced form of attribution surpassed the capabilities of traditional promo codes and vanity URLs, enabling Füm to trace the customer journey from initial ad exposure to the final conversion with results they could not only measure but trust

Pixel-Based Attribution: Podscribe’s ability to track user interactions(site visit, add to cart, purchase) after ad exposure provided Füm with detailed insights into direct conversions and engagement driven from their podcast as. This pixel-based approach allowed Füm to account for +70-80% of conversions that were previously unattributed, offering a more transparent and complete understanding of how their podcast ads were driving new customers.
Comprehensive View of Customer Journey: PULSE’s analytics provided a comprehensive view of the customer's experience, from their initial encounter with a podcast ad through to their decision to make a purchase. With Podscribe’s Multi-Touch Attribution Füm was able to better understand the true impact of their ads, showing precisely how each placement contributed to achieving their business objectives.
Real-Time Insights and Optimizations: Leveraging Podscribe’s accurate real-time data, Füm was able to identify which campaigns or ads were generating sales or driving website visitors at efficient rates. This insight enabled more informed, data-driven decisions, allowing them to optimize ad spend and improve their ROI.

By integrating Podscribe’s PULSE into their marketing toolkit, Füm not only streamlined their advertising efforts but also unlocked new levels of precision and efficiency.

Automated Verification. Real-Time Assurance.

VERIFI, Podscribe’s automated verification solution, revolutionized Füm's approach to ad issues and compliance. By providing real-time alerts for any ad discrepancies or content that didn't meet FDA guidelines, VERIFI ensured that Füm's ad placements remained compliant and allowed them to address errors proactively before they could affect campaign performance — saving them over $100K in ad errors.

Automated Airchecks: With automated airchecks and verification, the need for manually reviewing ads was removed saving significant time and resources for Füm. This automation streamlined the verification process, making it more efficient and less prone to human error.
Error Detection and Compliance: VERIFI's advanced system promptly identified errors in ads and non-compliant copy, allowing Füm to rectify issues before they could escalate into legal challenges or affect performance and brand integrity.
Ad Performance Optimization: Beyond compliance, Podscribe provided insights into ad performance, helping Füm understand the factors impacting each ad’s success or failure and guiding strategic adjustments to enhance effectiveness.

Expansive Show & Advertiser Research Database

Podscribe’s SCOUT portal provided Füm with the tools to overcome scalability challenges through a comprehensive portal filled with insights on new podcast opportunities, competitive intel, and much more. This allowed Füm to expand their advertising reach strategically and effectively.

Expansive Show Database: With access to Podscribe's extensive database of over 25,000 shows Füm was given a broad spectrum of potential advertising venues. Each listing came with detailed demographics and performance insights, helping Füm make informed decisions about where to buy next.
Targeted Discovery: Leveraging Podscribe, Füm could identify shows with listener demographics that matched their target audience. This targeted approach ensured that ad placements were not only relevant but also more likely to resonate with the intended listeners, maximizing impact.
Strategic Channel Expansion: Podscribe enabled Füm to scale beyond traditional podcast platforms, considering options like simulcasts and YouTube channels. This strategic move broadened Füm's reach, connecting them with new audiences and enhancing engagement across different media formats.