How To Make Your Podcast Attractive To Advertisers

0:01
Working with advertisers is the most common way to make money with your podcast. And if that’s something you want to do, then it’s important to start planning as early as possible. Even if your show isn’t quite ready for advertisers yet, there are some things you can still do to make your podcasts more attractive to advertisers. So you’ll be ready when the time comes. Take it away, Mister radio man. Podcast Your Business.

0:36
Hello, everybody. And welcome to another episode of Podcast Your Business. I’m Sunny Gault. I’m a podcast coach and mentor. And I’ve been podcasting for a while now. 17 years. I’m also the founder and CEO of Independent Podcast Network, you can check us out at https://independentpodcast.network. And we do a whole bunch of things for podcasters. I am super passionate about podcasting and helping you guys get your voice out there. And so we put out a lot of free content, including this podcast, and all the episodes that are in it. But also free handouts, entire courses. And all of that is available at Independent Podcast Network. But today, I am here to help you create amazing podcasts. And we do focus more on creating podcasts for your business. But anyone creating podcasts in general can benefit from the show. So how do we create amazing shows we do this by mastering the five Ps of broadcasting. Yeah, so the five Ps, this is a concept or you know, something that I created when I did my first podcasting course, which was back I think in like 2020. But I was thinking about, okay, how do we explain how to podcast and the whole course was about how to have a successful show. And I thought, well, there’s really five P’s to podcasting, you prep, right? So you figure out should you even have a podcast, right, some of those initial questions and maybe some research that you do in the beginning, then you plan. So if you make the decision that yes, you need a podcast, you need to figure out the look and feel for your show. And then you move on to produce you create the content around it, whether it’s audio or video, or perhaps both, then you promote it. That’s the fourth P, you tell everybody about it. And then hopefully five comes around, which is something that everybody wants, which is profit, right? You want to be able to make money, and especially if you’re doing this for your business, somehow it has to tie into helping your business. And usually our businesses grow because we make more money, right? So it ties in to profit. So Mister radio man in your lovely radio voice? Which of the five P’s are we talking about today? Profit.

2:55
Yeah, so when we’re talking about advertisers, we’re talking about making a profit or at least making money, hopefully, you’re making a profit too. If you’re not, there’s a big problem there. And by the way, I have done episodes on what you should charge for advertising. So if that’s something you’re interested in, please go back and just do a search on our website for you know, making money podcast and the episode will pop up. But today, we’re going to talk about what you can do with your show to make it more attractive to advertising. But we’re not just going to talk about that, because we need to explain some other things. Before we get into that. First of all, we’re going to talk about why advertisers are even interested in podcasts. Because there is a surge, it is still growing. We’re getting more and more advertisers into the space. But what is it about podcasts that are so interesting to advertisers? We’re also going to talk about why listeners are usually okay with ads being put into podcasts because I know this is a big concern for many podcasters out there. Because usually ads kind of you know, there’s like this negative connotations like Oh, another ad fast forward, right? If you do it, right. And if the advertiser is properly aligned with your brand, you should have less and less of that. Our people are some people just going to do that no matter what Absolutely. But you should have less than less of that if you’re doing it the right way. So we’re going to talk about that. We’re also going to discuss the process of matching advertisers to podcasts. So let’s say an advertiser is interested in working with podcasts. What is the process for them finding the right shows, and it does vary. So we’ll discuss that. And then finally, we’ll talk about ways to make your podcast more attractive to advertisers. So what do you need to do with your content? Right, but we’re not just talking about content. We’re talking about things like your podcast host provider, are you with the right podcast host provider because that could determine what kind of ads you run on your show. And we’ll talk briefly about the type of ads that you could have on On your podcast, because you do have some choices. All right, well, we’re gonna get started with all this right after this quick break.

5:08
So why are advertisers interested in podcasts? There’s a lot of products and services out there that need to be promoted. Right? Why would these companies select podcasts over, let’s say, television? Or not even that maybe it’s nothing, you know, not like a big medium like television or radio? Maybe it’s a blog? Or maybe it’s a YouTube running some YouTube ads or something like that? Why are they more interested in podcasts? Well, if you are a podcast listener, you should already know the answer to that question, because it’s probably why you listen to podcasts, as opposed to, you know, other mediums out there. And the answer is authenticity. They are something that people get with podcasts are, they should, at least for the successful podcasts out there, because there’s been a lot of people who have tried to create podcasts and have, quote, unquote, failed. And most of those people fail, because they don’t really get the whole podcasting space. They are trying to take content that they would create for television for radio and simply repurpose it. And that usually does not work. And the main reason why is the authenticity behind it. So what am I talking about here, when you have a podcast, you telling your own stories, you getting personal, you expressing yourself, revealing more about yourself, it creates a bond with your audience. Because they truly you might get a little bit of that on, like maybe reality TV, but that’s, that’s so staged anyway, so you’re probably not gonna get any authenticity in regular television. Radio, you know, there are some long form content like NPR, where I think you are getting more authenticity. And it’s by no coincidence that NPR is also doing really good in podcasting. So there is a correlation there. But if you are going to express yourself and be real and open and provide something different than what people are getting on all these other platforms, you know, blogs started this, right, people started really revealing themselves and their personal experiences through blogs. But blogs are just words, and maybe some photos. But what you get with a podcast is you hear people’s inflection with their voice, you can sense their happiness, you can feel their pain or their anxiousness. And that resonates on a very personal level, it helps us feel that’s what we want to do. We want to connect with other human beings, we want to feel we want to embrace this whole thing called humanity. So if something seems very stale, we are not going to gravitate towards that we are going to go to things that make us just feel, that’s the word that just keeps coming to my mind. We need to feel and embrace who we are. And that could be good stuff and bad stuff. That’s okay. As long as it, you know, helps us to connect with one another. That’s what people are looking for. And you really end up creating this one on one relationship with your audience.

8:26
Think about this, and I have said this before on the show, but maybe you haven’t heard it. When you’re listening to a podcast, most of the time, it’s a very personal experience, you are listening through earbuds, maybe your air pods doesn’t quite matter. But it’s not like, Oh, I’m sitting down and listening to a podcast with my friends and family. It’s not like a television show. Like you remember that like the old me, you probably don’t remember if you’re listening to this podcast, but a while back before we even had television, they would have radio shows, and people really would sit down in front of a radio box and listen to something that does not happen anymore. Everything is individualized, right? So when people put on those earbuds, it’s like the host is talking directly to them. Now, as a host, you have to be careful because this doesn’t automatically happen. It’s about your delivery. So you never want to act like you’re projecting to a large group of people when you’re hosting your podcast. It should sound personal. Right? Hopefully right now, as I’m talking to you, you feel like I’m talking to you, and not however many people that might actually, you know, listen to this episode down the road. This should be a personal experiences, experience. And advertisers get that, okay. And that’s what they’re after too. Because think about it. What are they trying to do in their ads. They want the audience to feel special, like they’re talking directly to them. And the beauty of podcasts is not only you doing this through earbuds and just the mechanism of listening or watching a podcast. But also it takes a lot less money to produce a podcast. Now, I’m not saying you can’t spend a lot of money doing a podcast because there have been companies that have proven you can do that. However, most of us are doing this on a shoestring budget, if we have a budget at all, right. And we’re still doing it. And because it doesn’t cost a ton of money, we can get more granular with our topics, which is more of a benefit to advertisers. So for example, I have a friend that runs the horse Radio Network, okay, this is a real thing. And if you haven’t, you know, listen to the Horse Radio Network, and you are a fan of horses and racing horses and riding horses, please check them out. It’s a great network. And their advertisers really appreciate that that is their demographic. So if I am selling anything having to do with horses, I know to go to the horse radio network, because that is my target demographic, hands down, hooves down. That’s my target demographic. It just makes sense. So that’s why advertisers like podcasts, they are getting something unique and you are connecting them with people they may never be able to reach otherwise, at least more of a niche type group. Right.

11:29
So now let’s talk about why listeners are okay with ads and their podcasts. First of all, quick disclaimer, can you tick off your audience with ads? Absolutely. Okay, this is definitely a song and dance. So you have to figure out the right amount of ads, how to display ads and your show how to make it sound as natural as possible. Because you don’t want to disrupt your flow. I’ve said it a million times, if you do not have an audience for your show, you pretty much don’t have a show you have to protect your audience. But most audiences are okay with a reasonable amount of ads and podcasts. Because the idea is the podcast, this is what’s going on in the minds of your listeners or your viewers. The podcast needs it to survive. Granted, there are some shows out there like the Joe Rogan show and some NPR shows and with big networks, you know, the ones that have celebrities attached to them. We know those people are not surviving on their podcast alone. Okay, but for most podcasts out there, there is an understanding that this person has chosen a different medium to express themselves, one that doesn’t have as many roles, they are very authentic with their audience, like we talked about. So they are you’re giving them not only you’re giving them content, but you you’re giving them you, right, it’s very personal. And so to do all of that most people realize that ads are needed to make money. And because they have this personal connection with you as the host, they are willing to overlook certain things. So whether or not they’re cognizant of this or not, that is the mentality of if an audience or a person really bonds with a podcast, and they really like the podcast host, then they are going to be okay with ads because they want that show to survive. Not only that they want it to, you know, do really well because they don’t want the show to end. They care about the podcast. And some people actually feel personally invested in the podcast, especially if you do a good job as a host. If you bring your audience in, for example, you know, maybe you’ve got segments on your show, or they can participate or you read comments on your show and you do things like that, well, then your audience is going to feel more connected to your podcast. And they’re not going to just, you know, stop listening because you run some ads. Most people understand that. Yeah, if we could get through life without ads. We might choose to do that. Okay, I think Netflix and Hulu have have established that people will pay more to not have ads. But that really hasn’t worked in podcasting yet. Right. We are still reliant on advertising as the primary way that a lot of podcasts are making money.

14:29
So let’s talk about the process of matching advertisers to podcast because if you’re thinking about getting into this, you should kind of know the process. First of all, and this is definitely from the brand or the advertisers point of view because as a podcast host yes, you could do the outreach and, and I do encourage you to do that. If there are brands and products and services that you love. Please reach out to them. It can’t hurt and if not, hopefully they’ll give you some valuable feedback as to why they’re not quite ready to advertise with you. But the points that I’m going to give you today are really more from a brand perspective. So the brand, meaning the company, the advertiser, obviously, they have to know what their target demographic is, at least for this campaign, which may slightly vary from other things that they do. Right. So the brand itself may have a more general demographic, but they produce this one product, let’s just say it’s more focused on breastfeeding moms, since I know a lot about that. So that demographic is very, very specific. And if I were advertising or finding ways to advertise for this campaign focused on breastfeeding moms, well, then the demographic is going to be smaller than perhaps my business in general, which is just focused on parents make sense. So they have to know their target demographic specifically for the campaign, it can be broad, it can be specific, it really doesn’t matter. But they have to have that in their in their head, then there is a process of reaching out to podcasts that fit that demographic, they may do this on a one on one basis. So if you’ve got some good SEO for your podcast, you know, I have brands reaching out at least a handful every month. And I choose most of the time to pass them along. Because we do have advertising agencies that we work with that can represent us. And if I’m really swamped or something, I will just pass it off to, you know, the agency to handle it and try to make the deal. But if like I said, if you can be found online, and doing some searches, they may reach out to you directly. If not, they are going through an advertising agency. Most of the large brands are using advertising agencies. And really, it just simplifies the whole process for them. It’s kind of it’s good, and it’s bad, right? From their perspective, I totally get it because they have other things they need to do. And, and they need an advertising agency to, you know, handle a specific campaign. They can’t do everything. But it does limit the type of podcast they can work with. Because then if a podcast isn’t part of an agency or isn’t wrapped by an agency, then they’re probably never even going to hear about that campaign. And that could have been a really good show for the advertiser. Still, it is what it is right in some way. The brand is going to find podcasts that fit that demographic for that campaign. And by the way, this does not have to be matchy matchy. And what I mean by that is if I have a parenting podcast, let’s go back to the breastfeeding example. Okay, well, my product is for breastfeeding moms. But breastfeeding moms listen to other podcasts besides podcasts about breastfeeding. Do you notice that we don’t just have a one track mind. I may love true crime. Not really I don’t. But I might, I might like comedy podcasts. I might like fashion podcasts, or podcasts about coffee or wine, you see where I’m going with this. So it doesn’t have to be matchy matchy. I will say that depending on your demographic, it can help to get as matchy matchy as possible. Because they are, you know, for example, the breastfeeding product, you know, they may want to make sure they just get in front of breastfeeding moms. And if that’s the case, you better find a breastfeeding podcast. But it doesn’t have to be. Okay.

18:37
And then together, the host of the podcast and the advertiser, decide if they want to work together, there may be a third person in there, right? If you’re working with agencies, you’re working with multiple agencies, there may be a few extra people involved. And you know, it can get kind of sticky there. But sometimes it’s just the host of the podcast in the advertiser, those are usually my favorite campaigns to do. I’m working on a couple of them right now. And it’s just nice, because I know the product and I trust, you know, I trust the CEO, or you know, the owner of the company, and it’s just more intimate. And I have found that those people are usually repeat advertisers. When you go through agencies, a lot of times, it’s just about the campaign, it’s just about the numbers. There’s not a lot of personal interaction. So unless the campaign is performing poorly, you know, they’re really just interested in fulfilling those numbers. And moving on. You know, so an advertiser could do a campaign with you, and then the campaign is over and you never hear from them again, even if they had amazing results. That doesn’t usually happen happen. If you are working directly with the advertiser, there’s usually more back and forth and a decision to continue working on a you know, for a longer period of time, which is really nice because you want those longer campaigns. So that’s kind of the point process of how all the magic happens, right? It’s not too complicated. Sometimes there’s third parties involved. But that’s how the advertiser finds the podcasts. Now, for you, as someone who is creating a podcast, you probably want to make it as attractive as possible to these advertisers. Because here’s the thing, you never really know who is looking at your stuff. I mean, it could be your listeners or your viewers, right, your audience, which is fine. Obviously, that’s why you create the content. But these advertisers may be looking at your website in any you know, at any given time, or, you know, pulling up an episode. So you obviously always need to be on your A game.

20:46
So how do we make our shows as interesting as possible to these advertisers, the first thing I would say is, you have to be with a reputable podcast hosting platform. And we have done whole episodes on hosting platforms. And I know we’ve done some blog posts on this in the past, if you want for more information, please go to independent Podcast Network and do some searches. But just as a real quick overview, if you’re going to work with advertisers, you have to have a podcast hosting platform that is going to provide you with quality stats, because usually, if the platforms are free, usually they are going to reduce the amount of statistics that they will give you and these stats are important, because you’re going to have to share them with advertisers. There are some advertisers that may want to make sure that you are with an IAB certified podcast host, we did a whole episode on that as well, because then the metrics are more similar, and they’re comparing apples to apples, you know, otherwise, you know, the numbers could really vary from one podcast host provider to another. So this creates some standards for the advertiser to be able to compare and see if campaigns are really working. They may also be specifically looking for a hosting platform, or podcasters, that are hosted with platforms that allow for third party tracking, as well as custom prefixes. Because they want to track their campaigns, they want to see how well things are going not all advertisers. But if you can’t even offer it, then they may not be interested in working with you. I would also say that it is smart to go with a podcast host provider that does allow for dynamic ad insertion, done a lot of episodes about that, in fact, we have an entire free course that teaches you about it, and how to incorporate you know how to format your show for dynamic ad insertion and the benefits for both the podcast and the advertiser. So be sure to check that out. If you need more information on that. Some advertisers may only want to work with dynamic ad inserted shows. Okay, why real quickly, I’m just going to run through some of these, because advertisers usually want ads to be swapped out easily. If you sign up and do a campaign with an advertiser, it is rare that you’re just going to create one ad and that is it for the entire campaign. Hopefully, it’s for multiple months. And each at least each month, you’re changing up the ad campaign. And you also want the ad to go out on as many podcasts as many as many episodes as possible. Because if you don’t use dynamic ad insertion, the other option is just to record an ad and put it in your most recent episode. But it’s only going out to those people that listen to that one specific episode. If you have 100 or more episodes, wouldn’t you want the ad message to go out to all of those people, because you can charge for all of those people, not just the people that are listening to your most recent episode. Also, advertisers may want some parameters put on who listens to the ad, a lot of times, you may have an advertiser that is only interested in a specific geographic area. And if you have a big enough show, you can accommodate that you can say yes, you know, we’re just going to send the ad out on people in this zip code or in this area of the world or the country, whatever it may be. And you can also do that sometimes with different demographics. So again, the advertiser may want the ad to be as specific as possible and only go out to certain people. Yes, going out to your general audience may help limit that down. But if there’s other criteria that they can use to really, really get in there, and only have the people that really want to hear the ad. Hear it? Well, then that’s just one more benefit for you and your show. And don’t just think about it as a numbers game because obviously the more granular you get with this, the fewer people are going to hear it but If they’re the right people, you can charge more money for it. Okay, so it’s not that you’re necessarily losing money, you’re actually providing another benefit, an added benefit for the advertiser. And you can usually charge more. So again, having the right podcast hosting platform is one way to attract advertisers.

25:04
You’re also going to attract them with your downloads and impressions. Okay, there’s no way around it, guys, you knew we were gonna have to bring this up. Because I know podcasters are like, Ah, gotcha, stupid download numbers. Yeah. Because they need to know that their message is getting out there, you could be the best podcast host in the world. But if your message, you know, that they’re paying you to say isn’t getting out there, it really doesn’t matter too much. Right? So what’s your download numbers need to be? Well, I will tell you just based on my own personal experience. So for my parenting podcast, the first sponsor, I got, I got when my episodes were right, around 1000 downloads per episode or 1000 impressions per episode. Okay. Does it have to be that high? No, probably not. I mean, I was a very persistent podcasts are trying to make money with my show. And that was a long time ago, okay. But it was a $500 spot, I interviewed the person, I put like a short, you know, four to five minute interview, kind of in a commercial break spot on the podcast. And that was it. But at the time, the shows, you know, each episode was getting about 1000 downloads per episode. For IPN, my company Independent Podcast Network, we require if we’re going to work with a podcast, we require them to have at least 5000 downloads across all of their episodes per month. Now, that number is more when you’re focused on dynamic ad insertion, when you hear per episode, that’s more about baking in ads in your show. And, you know, they’re really only, you know, putting an ad in your most recent episode or whatever. So then the downloads per episode are a lot more important. But if you’re thinking that, hey, we’re using dynamic ad insertion, and the ad is going out to all of the episodes, then the minimum number that at least our network requires is 5000 downloads per month, I have seen a lot higher than that, for example, to work with an agency. If you want an agency to rep you many times it’s 10,000 downloads per episode, which I know can seem a little overwhelming, okay. So you don’t have to be at those numbers necessarily. There are other options out there. You can always, like I said earlier, reach out to advertisers directly. But I’m just trying to give you an idea of what brands are looking for when they’re specifically reaching out to podcasts.

27:56
Okay. Now, let’s talk a little bit about content. And some of this is going to be review. But you have to make sure you’re hitting certain things with your content. The first thing and again, this is review is that authenticity we talked about earlier, in your content, and through your episodes and the topics you discuss and the experts that you have on your show. Are you developing deep connections with your audience? Or is this pretty superficial? You know, you guys are chit chatting, but you’re not really providing really great information, you’re not really sharing stories that really matter, you know, because we can only hear what you did over the weekend, so many times before we get bored out of our mind and switch to another podcast. Okay, that is not what I’m talking about. When I say a deep connection, we need more of those real experiences, because from an advertisers perspective, that could translate could translate into lifelong customers. For the advertiser, if they’re going to stick around. If your audience is sticking around, because they have this connection with you, well, then, hey, maybe this advertiser could also take advantage of that in a good way, in a good way, right. And that way, is through becoming a lifelong customer. And hopefully, they’ll continue to advertise with you. So you can benefit from that as well. And honestly, they may check the advertiser, or the ad agency may check to see if you are developing these relationships with your audience. So it’s not necessarily just that you sound like you’re doing it in your episodes, but a lot of times they want social proof. So they may check social media, they may check other communities, if you have separate communities, they may go into those communities and just see what is the interaction? And are you really providing a benefit for your audience? Or is this something that is obvious that you’ve already checked out? Okay, if you’ve already checked out of your podcasts, and you just happen to have a lot of subs scribers still are people following the podcast? Well, you’re probably not going to be around much longer, because usually, podcast audiences are very savvy, and they will pick up on that. But it’s just not attractive to advertisers, right, they just want to know that you care.

30:17
Also, consistency with your episodes is really important, you need to follow a consistent release schedule. And if that means that you release everything and seasons, and then you take a break, and you let your audience know that you’re taking a break, fine. But that is going to be more of a challenge, if you’re working with advertisers, because you don’t necessarily know when these advertising campaigns are going to come your way. So it’s much easier, you know, if you’re trying to make money through advertising to always have content out there, just in case an advertiser comes along, what if a great brand wanted to work with you, and you’re in the middle of a hiatus, and you don’t have plans to go back for a while, I mean, I guess you could change your plans. But still, they may not even reach out to you, if they see that you haven’t produced for a couple months, let’s just say. So staying consistent with your release schedule is really important. Now think about this, because when they choose to work with you, this is really a partnership, you have to be able to count on them, there is a level of trust, a lot of times these ad agencies and these brands don’t pay upfront, that is very unusual. So you are trusting them, that they are going to pay you after you’re able to deliver on whatever you’ve agreed to. Or maybe you know, you can invoice in different ways, you know, after each month, if it’s a longer campaign and things like that, but still a partnership, and you have to trust each other. And if they can’t even trust that you’re gonna put out an episode, like who wants to invest in that, right.

31:53
The other way to stay consistent. Besides your release schedule is staying consistent with your brand and your voice. I can’t tell you how many times I have looked at a podcast, these are usually podcasts that, you know, we’re thinking about approaching to be on our network. So I’ve checked out a podcast and they are all over the map as far as their branding is concerned and the topics they pick and the format of their show, it’s all over the place. Well, an advertiser isn’t going to want to work with that. Because usually advertisers are very specific, again, like we talked about who they want to reach out to. So if they can’t figure out who you are reaching out to, and if you’re not using the same type of voice, not physical voice, but I guess it could be physical voice, but the brand voice, you know, if you’re not consistent with your logos and your colors, and you know, if every episode sounds like it could be part of a different podcast, why would they want to work with you, they are looking for consistency, because they are trying to reach the same audience. And they have to have faith that you can reach that audience. And then finally, we kind of touched on this already is the drive that you have behind your podcast. Because passionate people are infectious people in a very good way we get excited about working with passionate people. It makes us excited. But if you’re like, Oh, I’m at home at home years, another advertiser, Yawn Yawn Yawn, like boring. And obviously that can’t come out, you know, can’t come out in your podcast, or no one would listen. But even as you know, in the way you interact with advertisers, you know, if you’re not responsive to their request, if you, you know, don’t make changes to an ad, when they ask you to make changes, things like that, trust me, this is a small enough industry, that word will get round, I promise you. So show that you are capable. Here’s the thing, guys, those of you that are doing this, for your business, this will really resonate with you treat your podcast, like your business, it should be an arm of your business, right? Because that is your brand. And if you treat your podcast like your business, then you’re going to treat it with respect. Because you want it to grow. You want it to be healthy, right? And you want to improve upon it. So if you treat your podcasts like your business, then people will know you’re serious, these advertisers will want to work with you more and more. Okay, I’ve got a great free handout for you guys. So I will tell you more about that on the other side of this quick break.

34:34
So let’s say you’re able to sign a campaign order with an advertiser. Well, the next step is to create the ad great the spot, right, so we’ve got a great handout for you guys. It’s called What to Consider When writing ads for your podcast. And it comes down to four different things. I’m not gonna give it away here, but four different things that I’ve learned now this is a stretch Gee, I use every time I write an ad for one of our podcasts or a podcast that’s on our network. So it will take you step by step how to do this things to consider. Because not only do we want to land the deal with the advertiser, but we want them to come back for more, right. And we want this to be beneficial, not just for us and making some money, because that that won’t last long, guys, you need to make it beneficial for the advertiser. So they come back and you also need to make it beneficial for your listeners, or your viewers, your audience. Don’t negate that, okay. The product has to make sense. There’s a lot of things to consider. Okay. And we have wrapped everything up into this beautiful PDF ready for you. The link is in the description below. And we have a ton more, a ton more a ton of more. I don’t know the exact phrase. We have a lot more resources available on our website, which is Independent Podcast Network. This includes free blog posts, which I think are usually free, right. So that was a little redundant. podcast episodes like this one. We have videos and handouts. And if you’re new to podcasting, we have free how to podcast courses. And like I said earlier, if you’re ready for that dynamic ad insertion, we just added a course a few months ago that people are loving, that really takes them through this process step by step. Again, completely free. Just pick the videos you want to watch. It’s all on the website. Until next week, remember, podcasts are awesome!