5 experts reveal their secrets

Are you one of the 7.8 million Americans who commute to work every day? If so, I’m guessing you’ve heard a podcast or two. You’re not alone. US podcast audiences hear an average of four to five podcasts per week, according to Infinite Dial.

The podcasting industry continues to grow year over year. In fact, Infinite Dial reports that 7 million more people listened to podcasts in 2021 than in 2020 alone.

This is why it is important to consider podcast advertising for your brand. Here’s everything you need to know about podcast advertising – from the best podcast advertising strategies to ad rates and networks.

Promotion strategies from podcast experts

Before you begin any podcast advertising, consider this advice from experts.

Use podcasting for brand awareness, not lead generation.

Rebekka Bek: As a UX writer for Ahrefs, Bek was commissioned to sponsor the podcast. She writes her advice on podcast advertising strategies in this medium post. Here are the most important findings:

• Podcast advertising is not a lead generation tool, but a tool to increase awareness and brand awareness.
• It’s not always about measurable ROI.
• Organic, unscripted mentions performed best.

Understand that your audience can have eclectic tastes.

Middle role: Midroll, a company that matches advertisers with shows, advises advertisers. Here’s the key to take away:

• It is advisable not to be too strict about one category. Don’t assume that comedy audiences aren’t business owners too, or that the listeners to a sports podcast aren’t interested in a comedy special. You may be surprised at how diverse and varied the tastes and needs of your audience are.

Ads read by the host perform better than third-party ads.

Jason Hoch: Former Chief Content Officer at HowStuffWorks, Hoch revealed in an interview with DigiDay what type of ads are best for their brand. Here are the most important findings:

• Ads read by the host perform better than third-party scripted ads placed on the podcast.
• Listeners feel like they are being yelled at with third-party advertisements.
• Consider creating organic mentions for better results.

Test and measure the success of your campaigns.

Kurt Kaufer: As a partner and CMO at Ad Results Media, a podcast advertising agency, Kaufer wrote a podcast advertising survival guide for this Forbes post. Here are the most important findings:

• Measurement is key to determining the success of a podcast advertising campaign. Use promotional codes, custom links, and post checkout surveys to track success.
• Rest assured that not every ad will work first, and that a multitude of shows need to be tested to see what works and what doesn’t.

The best way to measure the success of your podcast campaigns is with a tool like Casted, which gives you a comprehensive overview of critical metrics. The tool gives you access to behavior metrics, demographic data, and traffic information that will help you understand the real value of your content.

You don’t have to sponsor the biggest podcasts, you can reach the same people on smaller shows.

Sam Balter: Balter, a former podcast marketer at HubSpot, wrote about his insights into podcast advertising in this post. I also spoke to him about his best podcast advertising strategies. Here are the most important findings:

• Pre- and post-roll commercials are generally cheaper than mid-roll commercials and take less time. Additionally, most of the ads have some sort of call-to-action that prompts listeners to go to a specific url or use a discount code to get a discount.
• The popularity of podcasts and the audience will continue to grow, as will the opportunity to connect with people in new and novel ways.
• When sponsoring podcasts, trust the host to deliver a message in their own voice.
• It is better to bet on frequency than on range. Pick a podcast that can buy three to five ads versus one in a large podcast.

Podcast advertising prices 2022

The amount you pay for podcast advertising depends on the length and type of ad.

It’s important to know that podcasts have different pricing structures. Ads are sold at a cost-per-mille (CPM) or cost-per-acquisition (CPA). CPM is the cost you pay per 1,000 impressions or downloads. CPA is the cost you pay to get a customer. Most ads are billed on a CPM model.

The current average cost of podcast advertising is around $ 25 CPM.

AdvertiseCast advises that the average CPM for 30-second ads is $ 18 and the average CPM for 60-second ads is $ 25.

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Podcast advertising networks

A podcast advertising network is an agency that connects companies or brands with reputable podcasts for advertising. The aim is to remove the friction in podcast advertising by helping brands promote their products on podcasts and helping podcasters monetize their projects. Some examples are:

1. Midroll

Midroll, now part of SXM Media, is used by over 800 brands to purchase commercials in over 300 podcasts. With such a wide variety of shows, advertisers have the option to use audience-based purchases to ensure that ads are targeted to podcast topics that are most relevant to your brand, so you can target relevant users accurately and maximize reach.

Your ads can be pre-recorded or read by hosts. The ladder is a valuable tool for building brand trust as the audience trusts the hosts and sees them as a valuable source of social evidence.

Mid-roll pricing for ads on a CPM model so you pay based on the number of certified downloads each episode receives. The website advises that prices can range from $ 18 to $ 50 CPM, with more powerful shows being more expensive.

The advertiser portal also gives you an overview of campaign metrics and helps you view important data such as forecast downloads and ad placement costs per program.

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2. Podcast one

Podcast One has over 2.1 billion downloads annually and 350 different episodes produced each week, making it a powerful platform for podcast advertisers.

It offers pre-recorded and live host recommendations, and you can use its geo-targeting and copy-split capabilities to make sure you are targeting the right audience and choosing the placements for your ads that are most relevant to your business.

PodcastOne also gives you the unique opportunity to use visual integrations for your ads in the form of a sponsorship splash, advertising banner, or a forced video ad.

3rd megaphone

Megaphone provides powerful podcast advertising tools with the Spotify Audience Network to help you target the most relevant listeners who are likely to have the greatest impact on a wide variety of podcasts.

With the service you can:

• Reach listeners based on their interests, buying behavior, and things like apps, devices, and platforms they use.
• Get actionable campaign insights that will help you understand performance and make sure you have the right strategy.
• Use dynamic ad insertion to fill ads as they download, so the news is current and relevant.

Contact Megaphone for pricing information.

4. AdvertiseCast

AdvertiseCast has 2,300+ podcasts, over 150,000,000 monthly listener reach, and 4,200+ commercials available to choose from, making it a valuable tool for podcast advertisers as you can choose audiences that best suit your business.

You also have three different podcast advertising options to choose from:

• Baked-in Host Read Ads (the most popular option), where podcast hosts read your ads within the episode. The price depends on the length (60 seconds or 30 seconds) and whether you choose mid-roll or pre-roll placement.
• Dynamically inserted ads that are pre-produced, pre-recorded, and scheduled for inclusion in podcast content. The price is based on the average number of downloads in the first 30 days.
• Custom podcast ad units that you can be as creative as you want, such as:

AdvertiseCast also provides an end-to-end advertising campaign platform that allows you to manage your ads and view detailed metrics to help you understand campaign performance. You can also use the full-service solution where AdvertiseCast takes over the process for you.

Podcast advertising statistics 2022

1. In April 2021 there are around 2,000,000 podcast shows and over 48 million podcast episodes. (PodcastInsights, 2021)

2. 75% of the US population is familiar with the term podcasting, which has increased by 5% since 2019. (Infinite Dial, 2020)

3. Half of the podcast ads were 30 seconds longer. (Interactive advertising agency, 2021)

4. A survey of 300,000 listeners found that 63% of people bought something a presenter offered on their show. (WerbungCast)

5. Cost-per-mille (CPM) or cost-per-1000 listener is the most common pricing method for podcasts. (WerbungCast, 2021)

6. Dynamically inserted advertisements increased the revenue share from 48% to 67%. (Interactive advertising agency, 2021)

7. Audio streaming and podcasting are projected to be one of the fastest growing channels in 2022, up 17.8%. (Inside Radio, 2021)

8. Host read and pre-product ads increased the share of sales from 27% to 35%. (Interactive advertising agency, 2021)

9. Local advertising for streaming audio and podcasting outperforms targeted banner ads and TV shows. (Inside Radio, 2021)

10. US podcast advertising revenue is projected to exceed 2 billion by 2023. (Interactive Advertising Bureau, 2021)

Podcast advertising is a marketing tactic that continues to grow. With the majority of people listening to a podcast and engagement rates rising, brands can no longer ignore podcast advertisements.