There are all sorts of things scratching and clawing for your most precious resource: time. TV shows, movies, and video games no longer have a monopoly on your attention as podcasts have boomed.
In the last decade, podcasts have gone from a quiet little audio-only niche interest to a mainstream media juggernaut on par with—and sometimes surpassing—legacy media outlets. But why? And more importantly, how can your podcast marketing strategy tap into this growing medium?
Why Podcasts Have Become Mainstream
An easy way to understand the power of podcasting is to think about the way people connect to music. The intimacy of listening to music translates to the way we listen to podcasts. The level of an immersion can make you feel like you know the host. Like you’re in the room or in the car, or wherever, with an old friend that just “gets you.”
Podcasting has managed to pair convenience and variety with the same amount of effectiveness as Reese’s when they matched peanut butter and chocolate. You can listen to a podcast almost anywhere and, whether it’s sports, pop culture, true crime, and much weirder topics, you can find a podcast about anything. That kind of range creates near limitless audiences to target and tap into.
Why You Should Advertise on Podcasts
Podcast ad effectiveness is particularly high due to the intimate nature of the medium, and there are several key reasons why.
A Form of Passive Media
Most podcast listeners consume it passively, which is to say that they listen while doing something else, like driving, working out, or cleaning. Unlike some other forms of media like video games or written text, a podcast doesn’t require your undivided attention. That means people have way more time in their day to consume podcasts than anything else. With all these mediums vying for consumers’ time, podcasts have cracked the background code.
Increased Brand Awareness
Many brands have leaned so heavily into this medium that they’re entirely synonymous with it. You’ve undoubtedly heard of companies like Dollar Shave Club, Magic Spoon, Harry’s Razors, or BetterHelp, even if you’ve never used these products or seen them in a store. These are some examples of brands that have leaned so far into advertising on podcasts, that when you tune into one, you’re almost anticipating hearing from these companies.
Hyper-Specific Targeting
Understanding podcast listener demographics helps you target with unprecedented precision. There are roughly 497,947,948,519,839 podcasts. We know this because the most annoying person in the office keeps recommending them. Each one is more niche than the last. With such hyper-specific content, your advertising can become more targeted than ever. It no longer matters how small the market for your product is because you can target that audience with the pinpoint precision of a Luxe Bidet (foreshadowing).
Ad Placement
Before figuring out what kind of ad you need, it’s almost as important you’ve got to know where to place the ads. Ad placement on podcasts plays a gigantic role in listener engagement, not to mention pricing of the ad. Think about ad placement the way you would say real estate. The stuff by the water is always going to cost you more.
Pre-Roll
This is an ad that plays at the beginning of the episode, before the “real” content starts. It’s the first ad the listener hears, making these ads effective because they air when the audience is most attentive. These ads tend to be 15 to 30 seconds, but being so early in the show makes this valuable ad space. Podcast advertising expenses for pre-roll spots typically command premium rates due to this prime positioning and higher listener engagement.
Mid-Roll
This ad plays during a break in the episode. This ad placement is typically the most common and be integrated naturally throughout the flow of the show. Mid-roll ads are the longest of the broadcast, as long as 90 seconds, and are therefore the most expensive.
Post-Roll
As the name would suggest, this ad plays at the end of the episode, after the content of the episode has ended. These tend to be as long as pre-roll ads, but are less valuable as there are inevitably fewer listeners at the end of an episode than at the beginning. Ads here can give listeners a friendly reminder of your brand and can be used to offer a final call to action.
Ad Delivery
Another key factor in podcast advertising is how your ads will be delivered. This refers to how the ad is technically inserted into an episode and the method of delivery to the listeners.
Integrated Ads
Integrated ads (also called baked-in, hard-coded in, or embedded ads) are internal parts of a given podcast’s episode. Once they are recorded and inserted into an episode, they’re there forever. Yep, forever ever. The advantage of this kind of delivery means your message will continue to reach both new and repeat listeners for as long as the episode is available for streaming or download. Going with an integrated ad can also help determine your strategy as it relates to messaging. These ads should be evergreen in nature; no mention of specific dates or seasonal references. It’s also best to avoid using this delivery method for limited time promotions.
Dynamic Ad Insertion
Unlike integrated ads, dynamic ad insertion (DAI) offers far more flexibility when comes to timing and targeting your ad. Programmatic advertising technology can automate the targeting of ads into specific episodes as they’re being downloaded or streamed. DAI helps ensure your ad reaches its target audience, offering scalability and control you couldn’t get otherwise. Need to adjust messaging due to pricing changes or other unforeseen circumstances? It’s no problem with DAI. This kind of delivery is also perfect for short-term promotions or seasonal events.
When developing your podcast marketing strategy, consider these different advertising approaches to find the perfect fit for your brand.
Ways to Advertise on Podcasts
Despite being an almost entirely audio medium, podcasts have several approaches to advertising—probably more than you thought. So, depending on your needs and your budget, there’s something available for all businesses.
Ad Reads
“This blog is brought to you by Raid Shadow Legends.” That’s it. That’s an ad read. The podcast host reads copy provided by either the company that’s advertising, or an agency on their behalf, but there are different flavors of ad reads.
Pre-Recorded
This ad is a fully produced ad that your host can read verbatim, which is then edited into the episode. The greatest benefit of this method is ensuring brand consistency and ultimate control over messaging. If you don’t like a read from a host, then you can provide feedback and fine-tune it until it’s perfect.
Organic Integration
This is an endorsement from the host that they seamlessly (one would hope) work into conversation. For this type of ad, you require a pretty talented host capable of weaving the ad into the natural flow of the episode. These ads should feel personal or more conversational than a more traditional pre-produced spot.
Call to Action
This is when a host makes an explicit call to listeners to take a specific action. This could be visiting a website or using a promo code. While effective at driving more conversions, they can come off a little pushy if they’re overdone.
Testimonial Read
The host shares their personal experience with your service/product, which adds a layer of authenticity to the ad. This kind of ad can be powerful, to be sure, but there are a couple of things worth considering. You need to get your service/product to the host, and more importantly, make sure they actually like/enjoy it. If the endorsement doesn’t feel genuine, then it’s probably worth investing in one of the other forms of advertising at your disposal.
Live/Improvisational Read
Keep in mind, these people are entertainers, and a live ad read may not exactly be verbatim what is written in the copy. A little improvisation may naturally work itself into the ad read. For example, while doing an ad read for the Luxe Bidet company on his podcast, Conan O’Brien was slightly taken aback by what he was reading, and reacted accordingly. Was it a 1:1 read of the copy? No. But have we gotten Luxe Bidets out of our minds since? Also, no.
Banner Ads
Audio Ad With a Banner Image
Audio-first platforms like Spotify are giving listeners a bit more when it comes to advertising with the addition of visual elements. A pre-produced 15- to 30-second spot can be accompanied by a banner image of your product.
Spotify also has a user interface (UI) feature where it shows the user logos for the companies of the most recent ads they’ve listened to. This is accompanied by a “Learn More” button that links to that company’s site.
While it’s great that podcasts can be consumed while multitasking, the drawback is that they can’t always immediately engage with the ads. This feature reminds users of ads they’ve already heard, and gives them a way to act.
Title Sponsors
Title sponsorships, while carrying higher podcast advertising expenses, offer unmatched visibility by integrating your brand directly into the podcast’s identity. Your logo appears on the podcast’s cover art, and hosts typically include a ‘presented by’ or ‘brought to you by’ message at the start of each episode. This premium form of podcast sponsorship extends beyond active listeners—your brand reaches anyone browsing podcast directories or scrolling through platforms. Think: tiny but effective billboard that works 24/7.
Integrated Video Ads in Podcasts
Spotify has also started to experiment with video podcasts, and it comes as no surprise that video ads have also made their way to the platform. This allows you to take previously produced video spots and share them on podcasts.
Podcasts Are Here to Stay
Listening or not, podcasts aren’t the future. They’re the “hear” and now, with 42 percent of Americans listening to a podcast in the past month. With podcast listener demographics showing steady growth, it’s important to understand all the different ways to tap into those massive audiences and which types of ads best serve your brand, and its unique needs.
As podcasting grows, so does their E.T. like reach. Whether you’re interested in podcast sponsorship or targeted ad campaigns, now is the time to act. Fill out the form below, let us know what time works best for you, and chat with a genius.”