I’ve been working on a few new sponsorship deals for my podcasts recently and so I was really excited to point my newest client towards the recent draft standards put out by the ADM. The client in question is looking at trying out new ways of acquiring customers through non-traditional advertising. He had a lot of questions about what I mean by a download and how I measure my podcasts statistics.

I said, “Great questions and I’ll answer them for you. First, I am a member of the Association for Downloadable Media and they have just released the first draft of their advertising and measurement standards. You should take a moment to go over to their site and take a look at the standards and definitions they use to define these important concepts.”

His response to me was classic.

“I didn’t even know there was an ‘Association for Downloadable Media.’”

I chuckled and told him, “That’s ok. The good news for you is that the ADM’s purpose is to provide the resources that make it easy for you and the podcast producers out there to talk the same language. Download and look over the two pdf files and then please comment back if there is something you want changed or clarified. This is as important for you as it is for podcasters like me.”

“Thanks for giving me this information,” he said. “The ADM is a great resource for me to know about!”

Ok, I may have added the extra excitement in the response, but here’s what I’m excited about. I was able to point a curious sponsor to an advertising standard for podcasting. He doesn’t have to wonder if I’m giving him credible statistics on my shows’ downloads. I have a published standard to back up my numbers.

That means that he does, too.

Here’s what I know about the effect those standards have for me, an independent podcast producer:

• My client was pleased to know that there were standards for the medium in which he was tasked to advertise.
• He was pleased to know that the podcast he had chosen to take that step with was in step with those standards.
• He was pleased to know that he had a document to take back to his boss to back up his research into the new medium for their marketing dollars.

I’m pleased to know that there is an ADM to back me up. Knowledge is power!