How to Get Podcast Sponsors

Let’s be honest: It’s tough-going running a podcast. From content generation to editing, there’s a considerable amount of effort involved.

Wouldn’t it be great if you could get paid for all this hard work? Well, you can if you secure podcast sponsors.

With the help of a podcast sponsor, you can monetize your show, grow your platform and, best of all, build long-term relationships with various brands. Below, I’ll show you how to find potential sponsors and go over some best practices for using sponsored ads in your podcasts.

How Do Podcast Sponsorships Work?

Before you look for your first sponsor, you need to understand how podcast advertising works.

Ad Format

A podcast sponsor, or advertiser, pays you to promote their goods or services over one or more podcast episodes. You’re free to get a little creative, but usually, hosts use one of two ways to run ads: radio-style or host-read.

Radio-Style Ads

With this format, a third-party marketing company creates the ads, and you place them somewhere in your episode. Is it effective? Well, according to Edison Research, 70 percent of listeners consider a product after hearing about it through a favorite podcast, so yes!

Some podcast sponsors only work with hosts who run radio-style ads, which is worth bearing in mind.

Host-Read Ads

Instead of inserting an ad, you talk about the product or service and why it works for you. It’s up to you to add the narrative; just make sure it sounds natural and flows well.

This is the most popular option, making up over 63 percent of podcast ads.

Whichever option you choose, consider the three places to run an ad:

pre-roll: right before the show starts
mid-roll: somewhere during the episode
post-roll: after the show

Sponsorship Model

Next, you should choose your sponsorship model: CPM, affiliate, or value-based.

CPM

With CPM, or “Cost Per Mille,” you’re paid for every 1,000 downloads. Here’s an example:

Your sponsor pays $20 per 1,000 downloads (you can charge, on average, between $10 and $50, according to HubSpot).
People download your show 100,000 times.
You earn $2,000 for that episode.

The problem? This model works best for big shows. Many sponsors won’t work with small to mid-sized podcasts through the CPM model.

Affiliate Model

Some brands let you sign up as an affiliate. You’re paid whenever a listener buys the products you’re promoting.

On the plus side, there’s flexibility over how often you promote the product, and there’s no limit to how much you can earn.

The downside? There’s no guaranteed income, and you could earn nothing. Affiliate marketing doesn’t work for everyone.

Value-Based Sponsorship

Are you a small to mid-sized podcast? Value-based sponsorship might be a good option for you.

Unlike with CPM, you’re not paid per the number of downloads. Instead, you negotiate a set rate with the sponsor (for example, $50 per episode). It doesn’t matter how many downloads you get: You won’t earn more (or less) than $50.

Clearly, it’s not a great model for large shows with high download rates, but it could be …read more

Source:: Kiss Metrics Blog