B2B Podcasting ROI: The Three Numbers a CFO Will Actually Accept

If you've got a budget review coming up and someone with a spreadsheet is about to ask what your B2B podcast actually does for the business, downloads won't answer it.Downloads tell you people are listening. That does matter. But a download doesn't sit next to a cost. And that's the only kind of number a CFO can do anything with.I'm Neal Veglio, and this week on B2B Podcasting Insights, I'm showing founders, CMOs and business owners exactly what to bring into that room instead: a fully loaded cost number of your own, and the three counts that show what your podcast has changed in the business, not just what it produced.We look at why bringing your download chart turns your podcast into a media buy judged on cost per thousand, why founders either overclaim or shrug and say "brand awareness", why your own hours belong on the cost sheet, and the three counts that work as genuine buying-trigger evidence: deals where a prospect mentioned an episode unprompted, episodes your sales team sent instead of booking a call, and inbound that names the show.There's also a simple rule for when you go looking and find nothing at all: say zero, then say how you'll measure it next quarter. Plus a Founder FAQ from Tamsin in London, who wants to re-record her cringe-worthy episode six, and a quick tip on checking your show at 1.5x speed.Useful linksPodcast Value Scorecard (where you stand out of five, plus the three numbers on one page) https://podknows.co.uk/numberB2B Podcast Growth Diagnostic https://podknows.co.uk/diagnosticPodcast Audits https://podknows.co.uk/auditsPodknows Website https://podknows.co.ukIs Your Podcast Doing Its Job? (the one this picks up from) [LINK]Leave a voicemail question https://podknows.co.uk/voicemail Or email neal@podknows.co.ukTimestamped summary00:27 The question someone with a spreadsheet is about to ask00:55 Why downloads are the one number a CFO can't use01:43 How downloads turn your podcast into a media buy02:12 Overclaiming, underclaiming and Janet the CMO02:49 First: bring your own fully loaded cost number04:30 Yes, your own hours go on the sheet05:06 Second: a number your podcast changed, not produced05:44 Count one: deals where a prospect mentioned an episode06:11 Count two: episodes sales sent instead of booking a call06:52 Count three: inbound that names the show07:11 Why you don't need an attribution model for this07:52 Third: if the number is zero, say zero08:29 What to measure next quarter09:04 Why a CFO trusts a zero with a method09:46 Would your sales conversations get longer without it?10:25 Founder FAQ: should Tamsin re-record episode six?12:48 Quick tip: check your show at 1.5x speed13:49 Final thoughts: line item or asset?14:12 The scorecard and the Podcast Growth Diagnostic