Millions worldwide listen to podcasts daily while exercising, travelling, or getting ready for work. It’s an exciting, convenient, and useful way to learn new things during your free time.
In the United States, popular shows have demonstrated amazing results thanks to the high number of views, comments, and reviews.
Since many people listen to podcasts every day, it’s one of the best avenues for marketing. Various research studies have shown that more than 65 per cent of podcast listeners positively perceive ads.
They tend to trust podcast ads more than any other form of advertising. This means they will likely explore the advertised products or services and make purchases.
In this post, we’ll show you how to unlock the power of podcast marketing.
What Is Podcast Marketing?
Podcast marketing involves promoting a podcast to get more audience and generate revenue. In our modern world, podcasts are among the leading forms of content that are usually distributed on the internet and listened to on a wide range of devices, such as laptops, tablets, and smartphones, to name a few.
Most people listen to podcasts using Apple’s AirPods. They are a popular iPhone accessory that has been designed to work seamlessly, but that only sometimes happens.
If you’ve been asking yourself, “Why do my AirPods keep disconnecting? A wide range of reasons, such as AirPods glitches, bugs, or faulty settings can cause connection problems.
Fortunately, there is a way to fix them to continue listening to your favourite podcasts.
Why podcast advertising is effective
Podcast marketing effectively allows you to discuss the value of a product or service, promos, discounts, and personal experiences with your listeners. If you follow the rules, you’ll get more audiences, gain trust, and generate more revenue.
You’ll get more leads quickly and improve your Return on Investment. Since most people listen to their favourite podcasts for free, they will likely perceive ads positively.
You can make the most of the popular podcasting platforms such as Spotify, iHeartRadio, and PRX to advertise your products.
How podcast advertising works
Thanks to programmatic audio, you can easily establish a special connection with your listeners. A podcast ad is usually a short video placed either at the beginning, middle, or end of the podcast.
Various studies have shown that more than 50 per cent of your audience is likelier to buy from a brand they heard on a podcast. The ad is usually 15 to 60 seconds long.
The amount of money you’ll pay for your ad to get a spot on a podcast will depend on audio length, reach, downloads, and impressions.
Success Tips for Podcast Advertising
Here are some of the most effective tips and tricks that you can employ to create and run a successful ad campaign on podcasts
1. Know your target audience
One of the most important things you should do as a marketer is understand your target audience. While it might make sense to have your ad seen by everyone, your ad is not suitable for everyone. Before you start promoting your ad:
Figure out who needs your products or services.
Write down the average age of your listeners, where they live, their hobbies, and occupations.
Once you have these pointers, create an ad around their values and interests.
2. Know the purpose of your ad
In the marketing world, podcast advertising has pros and cons, just like other platforms. Studies have shown that it is ideal for brand awareness and audience targeting, so these stats should form the foundation of your podcast ad campaign.
Podcast directories don’t usually have a button you can press during an episode.
This means you’ll have to make the most of discount codes or URLs that are easy for the audience to remember. Knowing the goal of your podcast ad will help you figure out the best direction to go with your ad. Storytelling is an effective way of creating a good ad.
Think of your goal as a guide. If your ad veers from your goal, make the necessary adjustments instead of releasing an ineffective ad.
3. Prepare according to the time slot
To advertise effectively on a podcast, you need to know the spot you’d want it to be inserted and write for that specific spot to boost its effectiveness. Common insertion points include:
- At the beginning of the episode (15 -20 seconds)
- During the episode (30 -60 seconds)
- At the end of the episode (10 – 20 seconds)
At times, ads are prepared for a particular slot and then get changed to a different slot. This ends up harming their effectiveness. Since you’ll be dealing with time constraints, you can create an ad that will fit your chosen slot perfectly. When it comes to time slots, you need to prioritize the episode’s flow.
An ad that plays in the middle of a podcast will sound different compared to an ad played at the end of a podcast.
4. Long campaigns vs short campaigns
Statistics show that ad campaigns usually work best in the long-term format compared to short bursts. Since podcast ads are focused on brand recognition and awareness, a long-term campaign will be more effective when it comes to exposing your brand.
While short campaigns have pros, you stand a better chance of achieving your goals with a long-term campaign.
5. Advertise on multiple podcasts
Advertising on one huge podcast is a great idea. They have more listeners, and you can easily track your performance. However, the bigger the podcast, the higher the costs you’ll incur while running ads.
The risk of being unmemorable is much higher, especially if multiple ads are running. Running your ad on many small podcasts will enable you to get more exposure and reach more listeners at a similar or lower price point. You’ll also have ample room to make necessary adjustments.
For instance, if you are advertising on a huge podcast, there’s nothing much you can do apart from adjusting CPM or cancelling your campaign.
If you run your ad on smaller podcasts, you can easily figure out which ones are underperforming and either make adjustments or drop them.
6. Make the most of your audience’s trust
Podcast advertising is an effective marketing tool since most listeners trust their hosts. Listeners tend to have a lot of trust in the hosts’ recommendations since they are usually the subject of the social relationship.
With this fact in mind, consider reaching out to the hosts and have them read the ad or create it if there’s room for it. Ads that the host reads tend to be more effective since they lean towards the trust that listeners have.
Ads also flow more smoothly since they use the same diction hosts use in the podcast. Since the host will use their style, the ad will feel more like a personal recommendation than an ad.
Measuring your performance
Impression is one of the most important metrics to measure your ad’s performance. When it comes to podcasts, the number of downloads is vital.
The more an episode with your ad is downloaded, the better it performs. For example, if the downloads were 200,000, it shows that your ad managed to get 200,000 impressions.
With these results, you can assess whether they are fulfilling your expectations. Another way to measure performance is through promo codes. You can share several promo codes in several episodes and find out whether listeners purchase and use the codes to get gifts or discounts.
This will help you determine which episodes and podcasts are helping you achieve your goals.
The cost of podcast advertising
As we said earlier, the price of an ad spot on a podcast will depend on the ad’s length, type, and platform that you use. In the world of podcast advertising, there is a pricing structure that you should be mindful about.
You need to use it to calculate the cost of your ad in a year, month, or day. Most platforms usually apply a cost per acquisition or cost per mile rate to sell ad spots on a site. You’ll pay $18 for a 30–second ad cost per mille and $25 for a 60-second ad cost per mille.
Podcast hosting is a huge market. According to your needs and budget, you’ll find the appropriate place for your ad. You should expect to pay anywhere from $100 to $500 for a spot on a basic platform.
If you choose to go for huge podcasts with a large audience base, you should expect to pay at least $ 2,000. Before you pay, research and discover the podcasts that meet your long-term goals and budget.
Conclusion
Running an ad campaign has a lot of costs and benefits, just like other avenues. Understanding the constraints of your chosen platform is essential since a single mistake can lead to failure.
Obtaining relevant information and taking baby steps will help you achieve your long-term goals.
There are many podcast editing software to help you create an outstanding podcast to make your listeners understand the scope of your podcast.
Oyundoyin Anthony
Oyundoyin Anthony is a blogger and an affiliate marketer that offers helpful contents to people who are looking for different products for their needs. He enjoys helping people to achieve success in their business.