The best data source to understand what is popular in B2B media

Summary

MarTech Podcast // Marketing + Technology = Business Growth
Episode Overview: "The best data source to understand what is popular in B2B media"
Air Date: November 11, 2025
Host: Benjamin Shapiro
Guest: Charlie Grinnell, Co-CEO of RightMetric

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Episode Theme:

Demystifying Data Sources for B2B Media Trends

This episode spotlights the most effective data sources for understanding what’s trending in B2B (Business-to-Business) media. Benjamin Shapiro interviews Charlie Grinnell, a leading expert in external data signals used in marketing analytics and AI. Their conversation unpacks the nuances of aggregating actionable, granular data for B2B media, compares major analytics platforms, and highlights the role of video intelligence in shaping modern marketing strategies.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. No Single “Best” Data Source, but Clear Front-runners

• [01:49] “What is the best data source to understand what's popular in B2B media?”
  • Charlie Grinnell: There’s no silver bullet; however, SparkToro stands out for mapping audience behaviors across various content types.

    Quote [01:56]:
    “I like SparkToro because it shows what specific audiences are reading, watching and listening to. I think that is the gateway for B2B.” — Charlie Grinnell

2. How SparkToro Is Different

• [02:06] Contextualizing SparkToro vs. conventional sources:
  • Charlie Grinnell: SparkToro aggregates data from podcasts, content, social channels, and influential creators. It even segments by niche job titles—delivering granular, at-scale intelligence crucial for B2B.

    Quote [02:28]:
    “That level of granularity at scale right now is quite hard to find. And I think the sum of the parts starts to paint a really good picture of where does that audience spend its attention.” — Charlie Grinnell

3. “Deep Cuts”: Platform Comparisons and Preferences

• [03:03] Benjamin asks for lesser-known tools (“deep cuts”):
  • Charlie Grinnell:
    • SimilarWeb for web traffic data — Grinnell prefers it over Global Web Index due to innovation and team expertise.

      Quote [03:11]:
      “We like SimilarWeb. We think that their team is really advanced. The stuff that they’re building, they’re shipping really quickly. Their data is good.” — Charlie Grinnell

    • Tubular Labs for video intelligence — Tubular’s early mover advantage and unrestricted API access across major social platforms provides unmatched video data.
    • Video’s increasing dominance necessitates specialized tools for platforms like YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, and Twitch.

4. The Rise of Video Intelligence in B2B Trends

• [04:03] Video’s expanding role:
  • Platforms like YouTube are now the "world's largest streaming platform," making video data central to B2B trend analysis.

    Quote [04:03]:
    “If we think about, you know, YouTube being the world's largest streaming platform, there's a lot that we can learn from what’s actually driving views there, what’s being produced over time, what creators are really leading things, who's growing, who's shrinking, etc.” — Charlie Grinnell

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• [01:56] Charlie Grinnell on SparkToro:

  “I like SparkToro because it shows what specific audiences are reading, watching and listening to. I think that is the gateway for B2B.”

• [02:28] On the uniqueness of SparkToro:

  “That level of granularity at scale right now is quite hard to find...where does that audience spend its attention.” — Charlie Grinnell

• [03:11] On web data sources:

  “We like SimilarWeb. We think that their team is really advanced...their data is good.” — Charlie Grinnell

• [04:03] On video intelligence and its growing importance:

  “If we think about, you know, YouTube being the world's largest streaming platform, there's a lot that we can learn from what’s actually driving views there...” — Charlie Grinnell

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Timeline of Key Segments

• 00:25 – Opening remarks (skip)
• 01:15 – Introduction of Charlie Grinnell and the episode’s topic
• 01:49 – SparkToro’s unique value for understanding B2B popularity
• 02:06–02:28 – Detail on SparkToro’s multi-faceted, granular approach
• 03:03 – Other platforms: SimilarWeb (web), Tubular Labs (video)
• 04:03 – Discussion on video data and social platform insights
• 04:27 – Wrap-up and where to find more from Charlie Grinnell

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Takeaways

• Modern B2B media trend analysis requires multi-source, aggregated data—no single tool alone is sufficient.
• SparkToro is especially valuable due to its audience-level granularity, spanning social, content, podcasts, and job titles.
• Web traffic and video data tools (SimilarWeb, Tubular Labs) are essential for a holistic media intelligence workflow.
• As video content booms, specialized analytics like those from Tubular are crucial for understanding what’s actually popular and performant in B2B media spaces.

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For full details, actionable insights, and links to Charlie Grinnell’s newsletter or RightMetric, see the show notes at martechpod.com.

Transcript

[Podcast Announcer]

The Martech Podcast is a proud member of the I Hear Everything Podcast Network. Looking to launch or scale your podcast, I Hear Everything delivers podcast production, growth and monetization solutions that transform your words into profit. Ready to give your brand a voice? Then visit iheareverything.com.

[Benjamin Shapiro]

From advertising to software.

[Charlie Grinnell]

As a service to data, across all of our programs and clients, we've seen a 55 to 65% open rate. Getting brands authentically integrated into content performs better than TV advertising.

[Benjamin Shapiro]

Typical lifespan of an article is about 24 to 36 hours.

[Charlie Grinnell]

We're reaching out to the right person with the right message and a clear call to action. Then it's just a matter of timing.

[Podcast Announcer]

Welcome to the Martech Podcast, a member of the I Hear Everything Podcast network. In this podcast, you'll hear the stories of world class marketers that used technology to drive business results and achieve career success. Here's a host of the Martech Podcast, Benjamin Shapiro.

[Benjamin Shapiro]

I'm Benjamin Shapiro and joining me today is Charlie Grinnell, the co CEO of RightMetric, which equips marketers with external data signals that AI needs for true accuracy. And today Charlie is going to explain what we are getting backwards when it comes to the relationship between marketers and AI. All right, Charlie, I want to move on to our lightning round where I'm going to ask you a couple of questions about marketing and AI. And specifically you being like the world's expert in external data sources. I'm going to totally pick your brain about that. Are you ready?

[Charlie Grinnell]

Okay, let's fire away.

[Benjamin Shapiro]

All right, here we go. What is the best data source to understand what's popular in B2B media?

[Charlie Grinnell]

So there's no silver bullet, but I like SparkToro because it shows what specific audiences are reading, watching and listening to. I think that is the gateway for B2B.

[Benjamin Shapiro]

All right, this is a self indulgent question because I'm always looking to understand. We produce mostly B2B media for brands and we've got our data sources that we think are useful. A lot of what we're doing is scraping the web, looking at other publications and seeing the topics they're writing about. What is different between SparkToro and some of the other B2B data sources that you like?

[Charlie Grinnell]

Yeah, so I think SparkToro does a really good job of aggregating in different data sources. So while there might be a thing out like, you know, this is looking at content. SparkToro is able to pull in podcast listening, it's pulling in content stuff, it's pulling in Social channels. It's pulling in creators that, that, you know, over index and affinities for that audience, et cetera, et cetera. It's pulling in people who identify as a very specific niche job title. And so that level of granularity at scale right now is quite hard to find. And I think the sum of the parts starts to paint a really good picture of where does that audience spend its attention.

[Benjamin Shapiro]

SparkToro is a wonderful tool. Rand's been a guest on this podcast. It's well built, it's great data. Give me a deep cut. What else are you using?

[Charlie Grinnell]

A deep cut. So we are using similar web for our web traffic data. Again, it's kind of them or global web index are kind of the two. So it's, you know, do you like Pepsi or do you like Coke? We like SimilarWeb. We think that their, their team is, is really advanced. The stuff that they're building, they're shipping really quickly. Uh, their data is good. Um, from a video perspective, we use Tubular Labs and they kind of have the, you know, they're the de facto lead in, in video intelligence and Tubular, you know, they were very early and they have full unrestricted API access to all of the social platforms from a video intelligence perspective. And there's a lot of things that you can glean from there. And as video kind of starts to take over the Internet and, you know, an extension the world, that is a very, very powerful data set.

[Benjamin Shapiro]

When you say video, video intelligence, you mean what's happening on YouTube, what's happening.

[Charlie Grinnell]

On all the platforms, all the social media video platforms. So Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Twitch, et cetera. So yeah, and, and again, if we think about, you know, YouTube being the world's largest streaming platform, like, there's a lot that we can learn from what, what's actually driving views there, what's being produced over time, you know, what creators are really leading things, who's growing, who's shrinking, et cetera, et cetera.

[Benjamin Shapiro]

And that wraps up this episode of the Martech podcast. Thanks to Charlie Grinnell, the CEO and co founder of RightMetric, for joining us. If you'd like to contact Charlie, you could find a link to his LinkedIn profile in our show notes or visit martechpod.com you can also visit his company's website, which is rightmetric co. Charlie also has a weekly newsletter that tears down the external data world, giving the latest on what's working in marketing, content, channels, audience, competitors, a whole bunch of great stuff. WriteMetric Co newsletter. And if you haven't subscribed yet to this podcast, and you want a daily stream of marketing and technology knowledge in your podcast feed, hit the subscribe button in your podcast app or on YouTube and we'll be back in your feed next week. All right, that's it for today, but until next time, my advice is to just focus on keeping your customers happy.

[Podcast Announcer]

Thanks for listening to the Martech podcast and I hear everything. Production Looking to launch or scale a podcast like this one for your brand? Then visit iheareverything.com.