Even though podcasting is still a relatively new medium, there is already a profusion of conventional thinking in advertising within podcasts. This conventional thinking of how to advertise within a podcast stems from best practices within similar advertising mediums such as blog posts and talk shows.
However, podcasting is a different platform with a different audience, so we must keep experimenting to find more effective podcast advertising tactics. But, to improve on existing methods, you must first understand current best practices.
5 Best Practices for Writing Ads for Your Podcast
Writing effective ads in your podcast can directly impact the income your podcast produces. You can also use an effective ad as a way to onboard more lucrative advertising opportunities. Overall, effective advertising on your podcast allows you to grow. Get started writing your next ad with these five best practices.
Understand Your Podcast Demographics
The demographics of podcast listeners are quite consistent from episode to episode. This consistency allows you to gain a deep understanding of your audience. You can use this understanding to write ads specific to their needs and concerns.
Targeting your ads can significantly improve their effectiveness. While you cannot show different advertisements to different viewers, you can still write your ad so it speaks directly to your audience. Instead of writing generic benefits of a product you’re promoting, talk specifically about the benefits the product can bring to your niche audience. For example, if you’re advertising a cell phone, a podcast with a non-technical audience should talk about its ease of use while a podcast with a tech-savvy audience should talk about its capabilities.
Connect with Brands that Relate to Your Podcast
There’s a near never-ending number of businesses. So, always look for advertisers that at least somewhat relate to your podcast. While your advertiser might not operate directly within your podcast topic, seek out advertisers that are at least loosely related.
Advertising a product related to your podcast helps you avoid showcasing products that your audience has no interest in. It also increases the likelihood of your audience finding value in the products you advertise. This benefits both you and your advertising partner.
After a successful campaign, you can even look for larger brands within the industry to find a more lucrative opportunity!
Find Inspiration From Other Podcasts
When starting out writing an ad, it always helps to look at the competition and see how they write their ads. Start by finding other podcasts within your niche and take note of their advertisements. Of course, you cannot directly copy their script, but you can use it as a starting point.
With your starting point, differentiate your ad based on the product you’re advertising and your specific audience. You can also use this same technique for finding potential advertisers.
Understand the Size of Your Podcast
The size of your podcast can significantly change the way you incorporate ads into your podcast. For a large podcast, they typically need to set aside a specific time slot for advertisements and follow the talking points provided by the company. But, smaller podcasts with smaller advertisers can usually fit the advertisement more naturally into the overall episode.
Understanding this dynamic between large podcasts and small podcasts can help you tailor your ads to the overall growth of your podcast. Incorporating too many ads in a new podcast can reduce audience engagement and growth. So, when growing a new podcast, look for highly relevant advertising opportunities and limit ad time as much as possible.
Research the Product or Service You are Advertising
Always research the products or services you advertise on your podcast. Start with verifying the credibility of the business. The last thing you want is to promote a business that follows unethical practices to an audience you care for.
Once you verify the business’s credibility, understand the selling points of their product or service and incorporate those points into your ad. You can also look at reviews to see how the business benefited actual customers.
Decide What Type of Promotions You Want to Offer
Podcasts can promote products and services in a wide variety of ways. This includes:
- Native Ad: A common marketing method involves creating a brief audio clip that mentions the goods, services, or another campaign related to the company. This clip can be in the form of an advertisement and often lasts about thirty seconds or less.
- Sponsored content: Sponsored content is when you pay a fee to a podcast’s production staff for them to produce engaging content on a subject that gets linked to the firm’s business sector. Even if the content may not directly address the product, the podcast speakers will note that the company sponsored the podcast and will most certainly include a few details regarding the product or service that the company offers.
- Paid Interview: In this form of sponsored content, an industry professional employed by or otherwise connected to an advertising brand is asked questions in exchange for the endorsement.
- Product Placement: It is a type of paid advertising in which podcasters get compensated to promote the product in passing during the conversation on the show.
- Direct Response Ads: This type of native advertising reads like a short screenplay created by the advertiser and has the appearance of product placement. The host instructs listeners to take action at the end of the advertisement, such as visiting a link or using a promotional code.
Final Tips for Writing an Effective Ad for Your Podcast
It is time to focus on the content now that you have decided what kind of advertisement you would like to run and where it will appear.
To attract the listener’s attention and lessen the possibility that they would fast-forward through the advertisement, start the speech with a provocative or attention-grabbing comment. Provide a brief personal anecdote detailing why they like the product. Make a strong call to action for the listener to finish the advertisement.
After the script’s final draft is completed, you can provide it to the business for final approval. During the post-production phase of the show’s development, incorporate the recorded advertisement at the specified insertion time.
Conclusion
While advertising on podcasts gives businesses and podcast hosts a lucrative opportunity, you still need to write an effective ad to fully capitalize on your advertisement. Start off writing your next advertisement with these five best practices to create ads that entice your audience.
