This article fits nicely with our other blog posts dedicated to helping advertisers get the most out of their campaigns, including:

• 5 Tips & Tricks on Running a Successful Podcast Ad Campaign
• Advertisers, Set Your Hosts Up for Success!
• Programmatic Advertising for Podcasters 101
• Podcast Advertising for Small Businesses

Types of Podcast Ad Formats

There are two main types of Ad Formats in podcasting: Programmatic Ads and Host-Read Ads. These two formats differ quite drastically in multiple aspects and are often used for different purposes. In addition to Programmatic and Host-Read Ads, there’s also Branded Content which often integrates the brand into the entire podcast episode experience. Let’s take a closer look at what each of these formats entails.

Programmatic Ads

Programmatic Ads are typically professionally pre-recorded advertisements. Similar to old-school radio ads, these ads range from a large variety of categories including entertainment, education, real estate, technology, and more. 

These ads are usually pretty short (about 30 seconds max) and are provided by an agency or advertiser. On RedCircle, these ads are dynamically inserted across hundreds of different podcasts in Pre-Roll, Mid-Roll, and Post-Roll positions (we’ll get to what these positions mean in the next section.) 

Host-Read Ads

Host-Read Ads are essentially what they sound like – advertisements read in the voice of the podcast host. Advertisers commonly provide podcasters with pre-written ad copy, resources on and about their brand/products, and any additional information they think will help create the best possible read! (For more advice, check out our blog post on setting up podcasters for success!)

These ads are longer in length and have a more conversational feel to them. Podcasters often have tried out the product, or are loyal customers already, and share their true experiences with your brand and/or product with their audience. The key to making this type of ad work for all parties involved is to treat it like a partnership. Work with the podcaster to make it a memorable and trustworthy ad!

These types of ads are mostly placed in the Pre and Mid-Roll positions as those tend to have the highest impressions.

Branded Content

This is a much newer form of podcast advertising but still worth mentioning! Branded content can mean an advertiser sponsoring an episode, a series of episodes, or even an entire dedicated podcast. 

For branded episodes, take a look at this excellent example from the podcast “My Brother, My Brother, & Me”. Totino’s worked with these hosts to create an episode all about their pizza products. But what made this branded episode a success wasn’t just the sponsorship, but the fundamental understanding Totino’s had about this podcast. They understood the hosts’ audience, their content, and allowed them to create an episode around their product and brand. This led to successful brand recognition and engagement.

What’s key about branded content is the alignment between brand, podcast, and audience. Brands that align well with the podcast and their audience can create a non-intrusive and overall entertaining experience, all while building awareness and engagement!

Where to Place the Ad

There are three places in a podcast where ads can be played: the beginning, middle, and end. These positions are known as “Pre-Roll”, “Mid-Roll”, and “Post-Roll”.

Pre-Roll is the very beginning of the episode. Ads in the Pre-Roll position can be played before the show’s introduction or after the show’s introduction depending on the podcaster’s preference. Ads assigned to the Pre-Roll position are played within the beginning 25% of the episode.

Mid-Roll is the middle of the episode. Many podcasters create a special break specifically for ads in the middle of their podcast. They lead in with something like, “and now let’s hear from our sponsors this week…” Ads assigned to the Mid-Roll position play 25% to 75% of the way through the episode. On RedCircle, podcasters can manipulate where in the episode they want Mid-Rolls to be.

This position generally has the highest impressions due to listeners often being engaged in another activity while listening. This reduces the chance that listeners skip over the ad. Host-Read ads do well in this position!

Post-Roll is at the very end of the episode. Ads assigned to the Post-Roll position play during the last 25% of the episode. While many may believe this position isn’t ideal, it’s still valuable especially when ads are placed before podcasters sign off. These ads are also effective when listeners “binge-listen” to their favorite podcast. Rather than skipping to the next episode, they just allow the Post-Roll ads to finish and wait for the next episode to automatically start playing. Similar to Mid-Roll, many listeners are engaged in another activity so they may not want to fool around with their device just to skip.

Where you decide to place your ad is up to you! Keep your budget and goals in mind to help you select the most optimal spot.

How to Choose the Right Ad Format

This might feel like an impossible task but evaluating what’s most important for your ad campaign can help you make this an easy decision. There are several factors to consider when choosing the right ad format for your campaign. It’s up to you, though, to weigh them out and decide which are the most pressing.

Advertising Goals

What are your goals for the campaign? Do you simply want to reach as many ears as possible, or do you want to build trust and authenticity with a specific set of people?

Budget

How much are you willing to invest in podcast advertising? The budget for your campaign can help determine which ad format to move forward with. Host-Read Ads tend to have higher CPMs when compared to Programmatic Ads, but they have the benefit of authenticity and higher listener engagement. On the other hand, Programmatic Ads allow for more testing and are a more cost-effective way to reach a larger audience.

Target Audience

Who are you looking to reach? If you just want to spread awareness of your brand and reach as many folks as possible, then Programmatic Ads would be the more appropriate option. But if you want to reach a more niche audience, one with high engagement, then pursuing Host-Read Ads would be ideal. For Host-Read Ads, choose shows that align with your product and your target audience’s interests. If you’re a sporting brand, then select shows that dive deeply into specific sports and teams.

Brand Alignment

One difference between Host-Read Ads and Programmatic is the ability to select the exact shows you want your ad campaign to run on. Selecting specific podcasts that align with your brand may get you better in touch with your ideal audience.

Ad Performance Metrics

Providing podcasts with a specific promo code or vanity URL can help you easily track the effectiveness of your campaign. You can view which customers visited your website after hearing your podcast advertisement campaign in comparison to your other methods. 

Reviewing your goals and figuring out what’s most important to you will help you select the perfect format for your campaign.

But why stop at one or the other? Both Host-Read Ads and Programmatic Ads have their advantages, and a combined strategy can help boost your brand awareness and bring in customers. You don’t need to commit forever to only one format; you can experiment with them, figure out what works best for your brand, and spend some time understanding the landscape of podcast advertising.

Ready to begin your adventure into podcast advertising? Let us be your trusty guide!

The post Advertisers Guide to Podcast Ad Formats appeared first on RedCircle Blog.

Released last month, Teams for Advertisers allowed brands and agencies to provide specific permissions and add unlimited team members to build, manage, and report on podcasting campaign performance. 

With our August release of Multi-Script, brands and agencies can now manage unique scripts per campaign and per podcast providing unlimited personalization and on-the-go creative updates. RedCircle’s platform can also ingest a single script and generate infinite personalized versions for each participating podcaster with their unique promotion code. Brands and agencies can save significant time and energy on creative production and ensure more personalization for every read.

Not only have we made it easier for our advertising partners, but we now automatically provide a CTA and promotion code link for podcasters to include in their show notes during script creation. With single-click opt-in, they can reliably push listeners to their show notes and know their active promotion codes are up-to-date. With more prominent CTAs, podcasters can help improve performance and save the headache of managing their promotion codes alone.

We’re excited to continue to push the boundaries of what’s possible with Host-Read Ads and bring scale to the ad format. When RedCircle started 5 years ago, many industry experts said it was too hard to scale the Host-Read Ad format, but with each product update, we’ve proven time and time again that it’s possible. 

Sign up and try RedCircle for Advertisers today to see how your business can benefit! 

If you’re a podcaster and looking to make more money with Host-Read Ads, then try RedCircle for Podcasters.

The post Introducing Multi-Scripts: Create Infinite Personalized Scripts In Minutes appeared first on RedCircle Blog.

We had the pleasure to sit down with a couple of our podcasters who consistently have stellar Host-Read Ad performances and picked their brains about their process. What did we learn? Well, it turns out the major differentiator is how much effort is put into a campaign. 

Both Les from Balanced Black Girl and Sarah from Andy’s Girls: A Real Housewives Podcast go above and beyond when crafting their Host-Read Ads. From scripting, to recording, to engagement, these women put a great amount of care into their campaigns. They also always keep their audience top-of-mind when creating the ad reads. Ensuring that the product is a good fit for their listeners.

The first step to putting together a fantastic ad is to spend time with the product and the brand. Both Les and Sarah noted the importance of understanding the key message that the brand wants to get across to listeners. They give themselves ample time to use the product and to understand what the brand is trying to convey to their audiences. Thoroughly reviewing scripts and talking points to ensure they know exactly what the brand wants to highlight.

But they also take time to think about the message they want to share with their respective audiences. Crafting narratives that reflect their true experiences with the products and the brands they work with. This is why both Les and Sarah write their own scripts for their Host-Read Ad campaigns, even if given one by the brand! They know their audiences well and create the ad in their own voices. Brands trust you as the podcaster to know what your audience is going to like and what they won’t. Don’t be afraid to tweak the script in order to better fit your show!

Les writes scripts as if she’s holding a conversation with a good friend, while Sarah focuses on making the experience of the ad feel like one of her episodes. The common thread between the two is creating a script that feels casual and conversational in nature. They’re not simply just talking to their audiences, they’re making them a part of the conversation. They share stories, experiences, and bring a level of authenticity that radiates even through headphone speakers.

After understanding the brand and its key message, and crafting an authentic script, recording comes next.

We were surprised to learn that neither Sarah nor Les practice their scripts before recording. Instead, they opt to just go with the flow. Doing so allows them to maintain that conversational tone. In fact, practicing too much might even end up impacting your ad negatively. Making you sound more robotic instead of natural.

Technology plays an important role, too. But not as much as you might suspect! Both simply use external microphones to capture their voices. And both rely on Garageband to edit the ad. Sarah did note, though, that wireless microphones seemed to provide lower quality audio! You may have heard that having top-of-the-line technology helps to create the best ads, but it’s only a small component to the formula. Focusing on the content and yourself is what turns a good ad into a great one.

When it’s time to select a spot for the ad to play, both choose a moment where it feels the most natural to insert. Using our Dynamic Insertion tools, Sarah and Les select a moment in their episodes that feels natural for an ad break. You want to be careful and not cut yourself off mid-sentence, or skip to an ad break during an engaging moment. Choose a time in your episode that lulls like when switching topics or the conversation naturally peters out.

You may think that your role in the campaign is over when you upload your audio and assign it to episodes, but going above-and-beyond really sets your performance apart from others. Both Les and Sarah share the promo codes/vanity URLs in their show notes. Sarah also engages with the brand on her social accounts. Les engages on social media, but also includes the brand in her scheduled newsletters and the blog posts that accompany her episodes. Both widen their reach through the use of social media and other platforms. Utilize your own reach by placing promo codes and vanity URLs for your campaigns through your different mediums!

From start to finish, these two incredible women put in a significant amount of effort to craft Host-Read Ads that not only please the brands they work with, but provide a wonderful experience for their audiences. The recipe for a wonderful Host-Read Ad keeps these crucial things in mind:

• Understanding the key message of the brand, and the message you want to share with your audience
• Creating a script that feels casual and conversational
• Not overthinking recording and just going with the flow
• Using good technology to capture your voice, but focusing more on content of the ad read
• Choosing a natural time in your episode to place an ad
• And going above-and-beyond by promoting the brand through other mediums

Finally, each host has a final piece of advice to help any podcaster (new or seasoned!) create a great Host-Read Ad.

Les says not to overthink it. If you get into your head too much about creating the perfect ad, then you’ll inevitably make it much harder on yourself to make it.

Sarah recommends not being afraid of going beyond the 30-60 second guideline. Give the ad enough time to tell the story you want it to and to make it feel unique.

Happy Podcasting!

Thanks again to Les from Balanced Black Girl and Sarah from Andy’s Girls: A Real Housewives Podcast for setting aside their precious time to speak with us. Check out their shows to hear awesome examples of amazing Host-Read Ads!

The post No Sweat! How to Create an Astounding Host-Read Ad appeared first on RedCircle Blog.