Help! I'm new to podcast advertising…
With all the press this year about the coming of age for podcasting and the year-over-year doubling of podcast ad spend, we receive a lot of calls and emails from brands and agencies looking to familiarize themselves with the space. We have accepted that this is the nature of serving customers in an emerging advertising medium…even though (believe it or not) podcasts have been around for almost 15 years now. We seem to get the same set of questions quite consistently so we thought it was worthwhile to share a short FAQ..
Why are marketers going so crazy for podcasts?
With the fast-moving nature of advertising and marketing, brands and agencies are always looking for untapped, underpriced and high-leverage opportunities to drive awareness and customer acquisition. Innovative marketers have flocked to podcasts while their competitors are fighting for attention in traditional, often over-saturated (and over-priced) channels.
The main reason marketers are so excited about podcast advertising, however, is because it works... really, really well.
Can I geo-target my message?
With the advancement of ad delivery technologies in the podcast space, we now have capabilities to geo-target your ad by country, region, state, metro, and DMA. Contact us today and let us build you a geo-targeted podcast ad campaign.
What about other demographics?
Although the demographic data which can be obtained by podcast publishers and hosting providers is currently limited (Apple hasn't decided to give this up yet!). Most podcasts have a good handle on their typical listener profile through the use of listener surveys, social media engagement, and interacting with their audience. All podcasters make this information available to potential advertising partners to ensure their marketing message is reaching the right ears. This data typically includes age ranges, gender mix, education level and household income bracket.
Tell me about the costs...
The cost range of a typical 30-second podcast ad spot is somewhere between $10 and $50 (per thousand downloads). Expect to pay an even higher CPM for podcasts who have an audience which is in high demand by marketers, such as shows who target their content to business professionals or entrepreneurs.
There are also different types of spots you can buy depending on what is offered by the podcast. A short 10 or 15 second spot will carry a lower CPM rate and a longer 60-second spot will be more expensive. Depending on the complexity of your product and marketing message required, you can choose the spot length which works best for you.
Note that some podcasts also offer volume discounts because they are looking for longer-term relationships with advertisers. In addition to the cost savings, we have also found that repetition in your marketing message over the course of 4, 8 or 12 episodes of a podcast can exponentially improve the results of a campaign.
What about the creative?
The advice we give to brands on the creative is to give latitude to the podcast hosts to craft a message that they think will resonate best with their audience.
To achieve this, we recommend providing a set of talking points (not a script) which should be structured as follows:
- Start with a personal story
- Discuss the benefits and outcomes of the product or service
- Close with the call-to-action
Your talking points should highlight any must-have content such as your website or key information about the product or service being promoted.
One of the most attractive aspects of the podcast ad medium is the low effort and cost of entry on the creative side – after all, being creative is what podcasters do best!
Where do my ads air?
It's important to understand which platforms and apps/players your podcast ads will appear on. The one thing you must keep in mind when purchasing podcast ad space is to make sure your ad can be heard on all popular podcast listening apps.
Some of our competitors will sell you dynamically inserted ads that can only be found on their platform and listening app. When you purchase an ad spot from AdvertiseCast, your ad will be heard on ALL major publishing platforms and podcast players including Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Overcast, Pocket Casts, etc. If the podcaster has submitted their feed to Spotify and Stitcher, your ads will be aired on these platforms as well. Ask your account rep for details.
What else do I need to know?
The concept of the reach of a podcast can sometimes be confusing to those new to the space. Although there is not a strict industry standard, most podcast ad rates are based on CPMs charged on average downloads per episode within 30 days of it being published.
Since most podcast ads are 'baked into' the content of the show and delivered by the host, this means that your brand will often receive additional exposure outside of the initial 30-day window as well, as listeners consume old episodes of the podcast. This 'back catalog' traffic can be significant for some podcasts, with 30+% of their downloads coming from episodes older than 30 days.