Podcast FAQ

sponsor a podcast

by Gabriella Rosenbaum DDS Published 2 years ago Updated 1 year ago
image

How to get sponsors for a podcast?

  1. Join a podcast network. By joining a podcast network, it becomes easier to be seen by an advertiser. ...
  2. Get an offer from your media host. Bigger and more established podcast hosts provide the option of running advertisements to the podcasters registered with them or partner with big ...
  3. Get approached by a sponsor. While this may seem a bit far-fetched to a new podcaster, a podcaster with a strong listener’s base may be approached by a sponsor ...
  4. Approach sponsors yourself. You can also take the first step and contact sponsors who fit your niche. ...

Full Answer

How and why to sponsor a podcast?

  • Record at least 10 episodes before launching. There are few things worse than an interesting podcast that launches and then makes its listeners wait until the next episode. ...
  • Pre-promote your podcast to your existing audience. ...
  • Create a podcast-specific landing page. ...
  • Once you launch, encourage reviews. ...
  • Consider launching in video. ...

How to get a sponsor for your podcast?

Steps in Getting Your First Podcast Sponsor

  1. Know your audience. Before you start pitching businesses to sponsor your podcast, you first have to know your audience inside out.
  2. Create your pitch. A pitch is an email you send to prospective sponsors giving them information about your podcast. ...
  3. Set your price. ...
  4. Follow up your pitch. ...

What do sponsors pay for podcasts?

Sponsors pay on a cost per mille basis (mille is Latin for “thousand”). Rates range from $18 to $50 CPM, though hugely popular podcasts can pull in a lot more. You can price your ads differently depending on where you place them within your episode.

Should I sponsor a podcast?

Yes, there are several ways to make money from a podcast outside of sponsors, including but not limited to creating your own products or services or promoting an affiliate’s products or services. How Many Listeners Should Your Podcast Have Before Looking for Sponsors? You can start looking for sponsors as soon as you feel ready.

image

How much does it cost to sponsor a podcast?

Prices for podcast sponsorships are typically based on the number of average downloads. Sponsors pay on a cost per mille (CPM) basis. Rates range from $18 to $50 CPM, though podcasts like This American Life or HowStuffWorks with millions of listeners can pull in a lot more.

How much do sponsors pay podcasters?

Sponsors pay on a cost per mille basis (mille is Latin for “thousand”). Rates range from $18 to $50 CPM, though hugely popular podcasts can pull in a lot more. You can price your ads differently depending on where you place them within your episode.

What does a sponsor do for a podcast?

A podcast sponsor, or advertiser, pays you to promote their goods or services over one or more podcast episodes. You're free to get a little creative, but usually, hosts use one of two ways to run ads: radio-style or host-read.

How do you sponsor a podcast?

If you want to get sponsors for podcast episodes, they'll need to know how much they're going to have to pay. Rates are typically calculated as a CPM (more on that in a second). That rate is usually determined either by the size of your audience, or who they are - which makes step 2 all the more important.

Does Spotify pay you for podcasts?

Streaming platforms like Spotify and Apple Podcasts pay out for streams, but the payout tends to be very low. Podcast sponsorships are one way, but for new podcasts, the likelihood of finding a high-paying sponsorship is slim unless you're already a well-established figure.

Do podcasts on Spotify make money?

According to AdvertiseCast, average 30-second CPM (cost per 1K listeners) rates are $18, while 60-second CPMs are $25. The Ringer had about 420 million downloads in 2018, earning $15 million in ad revenue (paywall). Amy Schumer got a $1 million payday just to create a show for Spotify.

How do I monetize my podcast?

How To Monetize A Podcast DirectlyAsk for donations. The simplest way to monetize a podcast is to ask people for money. ... Create paid membership tiers. ... Sell sponsorships or ads. ... Join an advertising network. ... Sell premium episodes. ... Gate your back catalog. ... Sell repurposed content. ... Syndicate your show to YouTube.

How do I find a sponsor?

How to Get a Sponsorship: 8 Key TacticsResearch potential sponsors. Look at your existing supporters. ... Tell your organization's story. ... Provide sponsor incentives. ... Reach out to established companies. ... Use data to legitimize your pitch. ... Find the right contact. ... Build a connection over time. ... Follow up.

Should I sponsor a podcast?

You can often get even lower prices by committing to, say, a three-month sponsorship. Since a podcast's audience isn't geographically limited, podcasts are a great advertising vehicle for web-based businesses such as e-commerce companies. They may be less effective for companies that rely on a local customer base.

How many listeners do you need to get sponsors on a podcast?

How many podcast downloads do you need to get sponsors? Many podcast sponsors are looking for at least 5,000 downloads per episode, and they often pay based on the number of downloads each podcast episode gets (in increments of 1,000).

How many listeners do podcasts need to get sponsored?

Sponsorship type It can be CPM, value-based, or affiliate. In the CPM (Cost Per Mille) approach, a sponsor pays for every 1000 downloads or views. If your CPM rate is $30 and your podcast is downloaded or listened to 10,000 times, you get paid $300.

What is podcast sponsorship?

Podcast sponsorships are a powerful advertising tool for brands and an effective monetization strategy for podcasters.

How to find sponsors for podcast?

These three methods are the best, most proactive ways to land deals that work for your podcast's unique stage of growth. 1. Pitch directly to brands.

What is Acast podcast?

Acast is a podcast network and ad marketplace. Brands can collaborate with creators on the network to create unique ads that reach their target audience.

What is Buzzsprout affiliate marketplace?

The Buzzsprout Affiliate Marketplace simplifies the process of connecting with sponsors by offering you exclusive partnerships with high-quality brands all within one platform. We think it's the best way to get your start in the sometimes complicated podcast monetization world.

What is a podcast network?

Podcast networks connect podcasters with sponsors and make it easy for advertisers to connect with the right audience. By joining a network, more advertisers see your content and are more likely to approach you with sponsorship opportunities that fit your audience well.

What does CPM mean in podcasts?

CPM stands for "Cost Per Mille," with mille meaning "thousand" in Latin. With a CPM model, companies pay you to insert pre-roll ads, mid-roll ads, and post-roll ads into your episodes. The more downloads a podcast episode receives, the more money the podcast host makes.

What is value based sponsorship?

The value-based sponsorship model is almost identical to the CPM model but for one crucial difference: rather than being paid based on the number of downloads an ad mention receives, the podcast host negotiates a flat rate with the sponsor.

How to sponsor a podcast?

Here are some key takeaways: 1 Podcast sponsorship works because the audience and topics are highly targeted. 2 Podcast ads, when done well, are part of the content, as opposed to interruptions. 3 $25 per 1000 downloads is the typical CPM rate for podcast sponsorship – however, there are no set “rules”. 4 The optimal position for an ad in a podcast episode is in the middle. “Pre-rolls” (before the episode starts) are second-best, with the least effective being “Post-roll” (after the episode ends).

Why do podcast sponsors work?

Podcast sponsorship works because the audience and topics are highly targeted.

How Long Would I Need to Commit to a Podcast Sponsorship?

If you decide to go ahead and sponsor a podcast, you should agree with the host on how long it'll run for.

What factors affect podcast pricing?

The positioning of your advert in a podcast episode can also be a factor in the pricing.

Why do podcast advertisers write off the medium?

Many potential podcast advertisers write off the medium because listener figures are often in the hundreds or low thousands.

What is the key factor in a podcast?

They're a part of it. A key factor here is that the advertiser/product and the show topic/ethos are a good fit for each other. The podcast host must fully endorse what they're selling to their audience. If the host uses your product or service, they can build a short story around it.

How to track clicks on podcast?

Tracking clicks – you can use tools like PrettyLink to create memorable URLs to be read out on the show. For example, yourbusiness.com/podcastname. This way you get an idea of how many listeners are checking you out.

How to sponsor a podcast?

If you like the idea of introducing guests to your podcasts, an easy way to offer sponsorship is to have a representative from your sponsors participate in your show. They might be there to field questions from listeners, or you might use an interview format. You can take things further by working in partnership with a sponsor to create a pop-up event of some kind, or contribute financing for you to do a live podcast from a relevant site like a trade show, popular mall, or even a bar or café if your podcast is a little edgier. In other words, the sky’s the limit.

How to reach out to a sponsor for a podcast?

Mention your name, the title of your podcast, any accolades you’re received, and what your show is about. That’s it.

How Do Podcast Sponsorships Work?

Not to sound flip, but how a podcast sponsorship works is between you and your sponsors. It provides you with an opportunity to explore your options and see how far you are willing to go with what you are willing to sell. For some, sharing the spotlight is not an appealing idea as it might steal their thunder. In this case, sponsorship might be more limited to things such as explaining to listeners why they should be pumped about a certain product or service. In other cases, you might look for opportunities to allow a sponsor to reach your audience in other ways such as via your email list or on social media.

What is the Difference Between Sponsorship & Advertising?

There really is quite a bit of difference! Podcast advertising is an out and out paid marketing tactic that can include:

What is CPM in podcasts?

CPM (cost per thousand): This is based on the number of downloads for your podcast but can also be applied to other sponsorship opportunities such as views of a video or livestream, social media impressions, etc. This is an easy way to put a dollar value on your audience so to speak. It also provides a measurement for ROI. Higher audience shows that don’t depend so much on engagement will usually make more money with this method.

What is podcast advertising?

Podcast advertising is an out and out paid marketing tactic that can include: Pre-Roll “spots” that appear as a sort of intro ad before the podcast begins. Mid-Roll ads that tend to annoy listeners as they are inserted mid podcast. Post-Roll which as you can guess appears at the end of the podcast.

Why do sponsors take advantage of audiences?

As with any form of sponsorship opportunity, sponsors take advantage of audiences to help meet their goals. Commonly sponsors are looking to either sell more products, find more customers, or increase brand awareness for a specific purpose or just in general.

How many people listen to podcasts in 2009?

In 2009, only 9% of Americans listened to podcasts. Today, that number is nearly 40% with 24% of total Americans listening to a podcast monthly. That’s nearly 60 million people. This presents a unique opportunity for the savvy CMO.

Can you sponsor a podcast?

That brings up another, newer option: sponsoring your own show. In this case, you don’t approach an existing podcaster, ask them to let you sponsor an episode or two, wait while they pencil you in, and hope that their audience makes sense for your show. Instead, you partner with a creative studio to produce a full-length podcast that is put out by your company in every case.

Different Types of Podcast Ads

Before looking at the different types of podcast ads, you need to know that the majority of podcasts offer three slots for ads. Your ad can appear in the first 10% of the episode (known as a pre-roll ad), in the middle of the episode (known as a mid-roll ad), or towards the end of the episode (known as a post-roll ad).

Average Ad Rates

When it comes to podcast advertising, there are different ways that the pricing can be structured. Most commonly, it will be a fixed rate or calculated using the cost-per-mile (CPM) model.

Information For Brands Looking to Advertise on Podcasts

If you’re interested in exploring podcast sponsorships, you can either manually shortlist a number of shows and reach out to them on your own or use the services of a company that links businesses with possible podcasts. If you pick the latter approach, you can, for example, try Midroll.

Information For Podcasts Looking to Get Sponsors

While there’s no set method for attracting sponsorships, there are a couple of proven strategies. Initially, you’ll find that you’ll need to put in more work to get sponsors, but as your podcast becomes more popular it will become less work and brands will start to reach out to you directly.

Frequently Asked Questions

People love podcasts and they’ve become increasingly popular in recent years. The number of active podcasts nearly doubled in the span of two years, while almost 60% of all US consumers older than 12 listen to podcasts, according to Statista. Thanks to its popularity, podcasts are excellent for advertising.

How to get sponsors for a podcast?

There are 4 ways how to get sponsors for a podcast. All of them can be equally effective in getting ads on your show. When you use intermediaries , of course, you need to share profit, but usually , this is the only way when your show is smaller .

How Does Podcast Advertising Work?

Before I discuss more, let me elaborate on a few podcast advertising terms that are critical to our discussion.

How effective is podcast advertising?

Generally, podcast audiences are in favor of ads on a podcast, and at least doesn’t consider those ads to be as intrusive as ads on other media.

Who should monetize podcasts with advertisements?

Advertising is an excellent source of revenue for podcasters who are focused on creating podcasts and do not sell their own stuff through their episodes. They are free to pitch the products and services of someone else to their audience.

Why are podcast ads not skipped?

Ads are very effective, and listeners approve of ad messages. Also, due to the nature of podcast consumption, many ads are not skipped on podcasts as opposed to other media. This allows for engaging shows to be a very attractive medium for podcast sponsors and advertisers.

What happens if you get picked up by Apple Podcast Algorithm?

For instance, if you get picked up by Apple Podcast Algorithm and rank on their charts, or rank among the most popular podcast on any other platform, there are high chances of advertisers approaching you themselves.

What is ImprovePodcast?

I'm the owner and creator of ImprovePodcast.com, the site dedicated to providing actionable solutions for podcast creators. My goal is helping people to develop their podcasts into effective marketing and sales tools.

Podcast vs Traditional Radio Shows

Why should you advertise on a podcast when you can as well place ads on radio shows? After all, is a podcast not essentially radio on the internet?

Why are Podcasts More Efficient for Advertisement?

Stop for a minute and think about the times you played broadcast radio. If you are like most people, you weren’t paying keen attention throughout the broadcast. Instead, you let it play in the background while you do something more “important.”

Pros and Cons of Sponsoring a Podcast

Like every other investment, sponsoring a podcast has its upsides and downsides. Anyone who’s ever asked, “Should I sponsor a podcast?” needs to pay close attention to this section because this is where you’ll decide whether or not to invest your money in a podcast.

The Upsides

Guaranteed existing audience: Podcasters already do the heavy lifting for your brand. You don’t have to scout for a niche audience if you sponsor a show that’s related to your brand. And if you choose a podcast with a large number of listeners, your chance of getting massive returns on your investment goes through the roof.

The Downsides

Can be pricey: In many cases, sponsoring an existing podcast may not be very cost-effective, especially if you consider that the show may not be related to your brand’s niche. The price varies depending on the podcasts and because there isn’t any specific industry standard for ad rates, you could be dealing with arbitrary prices.

Pros and Cons of Sponsoring Your Own Podcast

If the downside of sponsoring an existing podcast makes you have second thoughts, perhaps you could consider sponsoring your own show!

Conclusion

Should I sponsor a podcast? Or should I stick to website and social media advertising? These are common questions that brands seeking better promotion and visibility are always asking.

image
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9