One of the things that Podcasters rely on for monetizing their shows is sponsored ads. But how does podcast advertising work and how do you place a sponsored ad on your show?
This is what we will be covering in this episode. In this episode, you will learn some of the basics of podcast advertising.
Do listen till the end when I will share with you 2 platforms that can help you monetize your podcast using sponsored ads and how you can use these ads to increase the listenership for your show.
In the last 3 episodes, we spoke extensively about interview podcasts. If you haven’t listened to it then I would recommend that you do that right away before you start your podcast.
If you have any questions about running an interview podcast, just drop me a message and I will create an episode around it.
Now onto today’s topic – Podcast advertising.
Podcast Advertising – Why advertise on Podcasts?
I get this question a lot of times.
“Why would somebody want to advertise on a podcast especially when there is no way that the listener can take an action as they are listening to the episode?”
I am sure that’s a question that you too might be asking.
Podcasting has a very unique advantage in comparison to all other mediums – “Retention”.
Podcast ads are the best when it comes to, response from listeners. Podcasts have the most listener engagement and this engagement shows up in the ads that are served on podcasts too.
In a Nielsen survey, 70% of respondents reported that a podcast ad increased their awareness of a new product or service. Another survey said that about 76% of the listeners acted on podcast ads.
Now, isn’t that enough reason for brands to advertise on podcasts?
In this episode, we will look at some of the basics of podcast advertising.
This will help you understand how podcast advertising works and it can also be helpful if you are looking at sponsored ads for your podcast.
How are Podcast ads placed?
When it comes to placing ads on a podcast, it is done in 2 ways –
- Dynamic insertion
- Manual insertion, usually called Baked in ads
Dynamic insertion is an automatic way of placing the ads. You can place an ad on all your episodes in one click or, on select episodes that too in one click.
Dynamic insertion works at the hosting provider’s end only if they have an option of dynamically inserting ads into a podcast.
A baked-in ad is usually manually inserted. This means that the podcaster will have to insert this ad into the episode when he is editing and producing the episode.
These ads have their own pros and cons.
One of the major ones, is control over the duration that the ads are placed for. In a dynamically inserted ad, you can take off the ad at any time you want to by simply switching it off.
But in a baked-in ad, you don’t have that flexibility. The ad stays in the episode for as long as that episode is out there for people to listen to.
Types of Podcast ads
Podcast ads can be of different types. There is no standard categorization of ads but depending upon how the ad is placed, podcast ads can be –
- Programmatic ads
- Host read ads
- Live read ads
Programmatic ads are usually pre-recorded ads that are dynamically inserted into a podcast with the help of automation or, AI.
There is no manual intervention involved.
If a podcaster agrees to place ads on his show, these ads can be automatically placed on the podcast at different points.
Podcast advertising isn’t advanced enough that you have a lot of control over which ads to place but you still have some control on what to place and what not to place.
So, you can choose to place specific types of ads in your podcast.
Host read ads are also scripted ads. But they are not placed programmatically. They are manually inserted into the episode by the podcaster. In fact, the podcast host reads out the scripted ad and records it as part of the episode.
The advantage of a host-read is that it flows naturally with the flow of the episode. Since it is in the voice of the host, the audience wouldn’t feel interrupted when listening to the ad. If done well, these kinds of ads can have an excellent impact on the audience.
Live-read ads are similar to host-read ads but differ in the fact that they are not scripted.
Live-read ads are ads that are read out as part of the natural conversation. So they come in as a natural conversation and there is absolutely no interruption for the audience.
Again, all these 3 have their advantages. But the host-read and live-read ads are what can be more effective.
It involves additional effort from the podcast host and hence is always charged higher.
Podcast Ad Placement
As a podcaster, you don’t want to ruin your listeners’ experience which is something that mindless placement of advertisements can do.
As a listener, you don’t want to be interrupted. You lose the continuity in the thought flow and the experience can be bad.
But then, you also want to make money from your podcast.
How do you place your ads in such a way that it doesn’t impact your listener experience and at the same time can make money for you?
Based on studies, there are 3 common ad placement options that can help with keeping a balance in listener experience and ad profitability.
These are –
- Pre-roll
- Mid-roll
- Post-roll
As the name suggests, these are based on where the ad is placed.
Pre-roll is placed before your episode starts. Mid-roll is placed towards the middle of the episode and post-roll is after your episode ends.
The placement makes it quite evident as to which of these can have the most impact.
The pre-roll will be a must-listen for listeners because that is the one thing they hear. But the listener has an option of skipping the ad or, even browsing away from the episode. These ads are usually about 30 seconds at the most.
The mid-roll is the one with the most exposure. The probability of the listener browsing away is also minimal because they are already into the episode and wouldn’t want to leave before it finishes. These are the longer ones between 45-60 seconds.
The post-roll is the least effective of the three. The probability of people listening to it is minimal. So it is easily skippable. These ads are also usually about 30 seconds long.
Now, how much you charge for an ad and how much advertisers pay could also depend upon where you are placing the ads.
How to price your ads is something we will discuss in our next episode.
Resources mentioned in this episode
If you are interested in monetizing your podcast with programmatic ads, then you can try out Audry.io and Sponsoredbuy.io
Another good option is Ossa collective.
Here are some of the resources that I use and recommend in podcasting.
- Acast Podcast hosting – Acast is my recommended podcast host because of multiple reasons. I simply love their support, simplicity, and their monetization feature. You can start for FREE!
- Behringer Audio Interface – You will need an audio interface if you are using an XLR microphone. This is my recommended audio interface.
- Zencastr – Zencastr is the easiest option to record interviews, both audio-only and audio+video. This is a must for an interview podcast.
- Audacity – This is the best and the most feature-rich free audio editing software. It gives you a lot of options while editing your interviews.
- Blue Yeti USB Microphone – My recommended microphone
- Tidycal – My recommended calendar and booking solutions
Thank you for joining in
I hope you enjoyed the information that I shared in this episode.
If you did, then do recommend the show to your friends and social media circles. It will benefit anybody looking to start a podcast.
You can subscribe to the show on your favorite podcasting platforms. The show is available on almost all podcasting platforms.
You can find the links to the major ones below.
If you are new to podcasting and want to start a podcast, then you might want to join my FREE 10-day ecourse on “starting a podcast“.
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