Podcast Advertising - 10 Questions to Ask

We have entered the golden age of podcasting. Listeners now have a wide variety of high quality, deeply engaging programming to choose from, and listen habitually at high rates of completion. So marketers have begun to take notice, driving ad spending on podcasting 86% over 2016. However podcasting still remains a relatively uncluttered advertising environment, with 26% of the population listening to podcasts on a habitual basis, and only .15% of media dollars spent on it.

Another reason I like podcasting, is the high value a trusted host can bring in delivering your message -- particularly if they use your product. There are still no independent, third party metrics for it, so podcasting has been limited to use in branded content and awareness campaigns. Is it right for your businesses? Read the advantages and Disadvantages and ask your agency the 10 questions listed below.

The Advantages

• Uncluttered advertising environment

• High value in a trusted host delivering your message

• 80% listen to completion

• Habitual listening and capable of deep audience engagement

• Reaches attractive demographics (High income women, Millennials)

• Low production cost

• Fast to execute

• Wide range of niche topics and personalities to leverage

​The Challenges

• CPM's $18-$50+

• Murky metrics -- The lack of Independent, third party listening metrics that measure listener action. iTunes Analytics in Beta only measure % of audience skipping your ad. (It's low).

• Advertising campaigns limited to branded content and brand awareness

• Recall is typically lower for messages delivered without visual reinforcement

10 Questions to Ask

1. Does our product lend itself to spoken words or does it need to be communicated visually?

2. Does the host use our product? Would they be a raving fan if they did?

3. Can we story-tell by evoking powerful, concrete, made-to-stick images…using words?

4. Can we use sound to our advantage?

5. Does the purchase of our product follow or coincide with peak podcast listening -- during the work day, peaking at 4pm?

6. Do the economics make sense? Size of audience, trend, cpm? What if we can't easily measure it? Is it worth the time of my small staff?

7. Are there podcasts that fit our demographic target?

8. Are there topics that are contextually relevant to our product?

9. Are there hosts that are a good fit with our brand personality....Will they elevate our brand or detract from it?

10. Is the audience growing from one episode to another?