When done well, podcast advertising can be a profitable and effective channel for your brand. Podcasts can help grow your brand, expand your reach into hard to reach audiences, boost user engagement, and generate new leads. But, if you are new to podcast advertising, it can be difficult to determine whether it’s the right time to get started or if it’s even a good fit for your brand.
Podcasts can be an effective channel for every brand, regardless of the industry you’re in or the size of your budget. That said, a small startup won’t be able to take the same approach of an established brand like Peloton and buy premium spots across top shows. To be successful, you must build a strategy that will make podcast advertising work for your unique brand, goals, and budget.
Why invest in podcasting
If the meteoric rise in podcast advertising over the past five years isn’t enough to convince you that it works and works well, there is an overwhelming amount of data and studies to ensure that you’re making a good investment. Here’s a few more reasons why podcast advertising is worth the investment:
- More than half of all Americans over the age of 12 have listened to a podcast
- More than one-third of listeners have made a purchase after being introduced to it via a podcast ad
- Compared to the average consumer, podcast listeners are more likely to have a college or higher education and $100k+ household income. reach consumers who have the ability, interest and money to buy
- Podcast growth is strongest among the 18-34 demographic, a historically difficult age group for marketers to influence
- Podcast ads are 4.4 times more effective than display ads
- Exposure to ads in podcasts leads to an average 10% uplift in purchase intent
- 27% of weekly podcast listeners discover new brands via voice advertising.
How to make podcast advertising work for your brand
Direct-to-consumer brands were trailblazers in the medium and still spend the most on podcast ads, but today industries across the board, from finance to education, have successfully incorporated podcasts into their digital marketing strategy. You don’t have to be a household name with a big budget to successfully advertise on a podcast. Small businesses have a unique opportunity to take advantage of podcasting. Here are a few tips to help make podcast advertising work for your brand.
Start with the goal of your campaign
The first step when planning a new podcast campaign is to set a clear objective. Is your goal to stay top-of-mind with audiences or is it to increase lead generation? Since podcast listeners skew young and tech-savvy, perhaps your goal is to further a proof of concept for your startup. Although podcast advertising is generally used for direct-response campaigns, it’s also very effective for brand awareness and lift. In fact, brand awareness ads make up 38% of all podcast campaigns.
Set expectations for the ROI
When it comes to calculating your campaign ROI, there are multiple ways to track attribution for podcasts, it’s just not quite as direct as other digital channels like Google and Facebook. For every listener that goes to the unique landing page when they make a purchase or use a show’s promo code, another listener may remember a few days later and just google the company directly. Which is why marketers will often apply a multiplier to account for any attribution spillage and give a clearer picture of a campaign’s true ROI.
Make your offer compelling
Whether it’s a free trial to your service or limited-time discount on your product, it’s crucial to have a unique and compelling offering when running direct-response campaigns. Not only do you want to have an offer that will get a listener to take the next step and make a purchase, you also want the listener to be motivated to use the promo code or unique URL when they do so it’s easier to track the performance of the overall campaign, as well as the individual shows.
Focus on the long-tail
You don’t need to buy ads on the biggest or most popular podcasts to see results. For smaller brands or those just starting out it’s important to focus on the long-tail podcasters. Instead of looking at the download numbers, look at the shows for who you’re trying to reach and who your customer is.
To get the most out of the budget you have, you don’t want to spend your money all in one place on shows with huge download numbers. It’s much better to spread your budget across a variety of smaller, strategic shows. Don’t discount a podcast just because it’s small, if your customers are listening to it, it’s a much smarter buy than a large show that appeals to a broad audience. One of the enormous benefits of podcasts is that they attract a niche, dedicated audience that is also highly targetable.
Launch your podcast campaign
If you are finding success in other digital channels, podcasting is a great way to diversify your advertising budget if you haven’t already. RedCircle’s Ad Marketplace enables brands to find and access thousands of independent creators and networks, making it quick and easy for brands to plan and launch their first campaign with a flexible budget. Sign up to learn more and get started advertising with RedCircle.
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