Episode Summary
There are over 2 million podcasts out there And for those who do listen to podcasts they average over 6 hours of listening each week
This presents a big opportunity for brands to advertise their products
But most small scrappy marketing teams at technology companies dont know how to get results from a podcast advertising campaign
So thats why Heather Osgood joined host Tristan Pelligrino on the show Heather is a podcast advertising specialist and is the Founder of True Native Media a podcast representation agency
In this episode Heather and Tristan get into what makes podcast advertising so special and how you can get started with your own campaign
Guest Profile
Name: Heather Osgood
What she does: Heather has been in the marketing industry since the early 2000s and in 2016 she founded True Native Media a podcast representation agency specialising in advertising Currently she is the host of the Podcast Advertising Playbook podcast
Company: True Native Media
Noteworthy: Podcast advertising really works I think 68 of podcast listeners say that theyve purchased something that they heard about advertised on a podcast
Key Insights
- Podcast advertising is very similar to influencer marketing Because of the relationship between the host and the listener having a podcast host do a host-read ad is basically influencer marketing Heather says So if youre able to identify hosts that will really like your product and speak to your product and add value that influencer piece is going to be way more powerful than just general brand awareness or just getting your name out there If you can find a host who is going to embrace your product who is going to communicate all of the value of your product theres so much there Something that podcasters get wrong is that they arent doing a good enough job of really partnering with the hosts and making sure the hosts realize that Hey were in this together you know I want you to understand and enjoy my product And on the flip side I want you to bring me customers she says
- Advertising on podcasts is effective because it creates a mental picture When you listen to a podcast ad in your mind youre creating this mental picture That mental picture is so much more powerful than someone serving the app a video or a social media ad or a banner ad just the things that pop up because those feel so intrusive No one asked for that ad to come up It feels intrusive Im not saying that podcast ads arent intrusive Nobody out there is asking for more advertising but when youve got a host and trust as a listener and they bring you a product theres this level of confidence that happens she argues
- Software ads tend to do really well in the podcast market Heather says one of her biggest surprises in the podcast advertising market is tech but she realizes now it shouldnt be surprising I would say software companies in particular work really well on podcast advertising and truthfully from the very beginning that has kind of surprised me Its changing as podcasting grows but podcast listeners do still tend to be a bit of that early adopter Weve had some online banking companies that have just done exceptionally well she says
Episode Highlights
The best place to run an ad is mid-roll
Ideally you would love to have your ad be somewhere within the content because Im listening to the show because I like the show and I want to hear their show Then if all of a sudden I hear an ad chances are Im engaged in doing something else I might be exercising or cleaning my house or commuting so Im less likely to fast forward through that ad because Im already engaged in something else Uh so thats why the very beginning isnt great because somebody has got their phone in their hands and its real easy to fast forward
Finding the right demographic is key to successful podcast advertising and that may require some work
Oftentimes shows might look from the outside like they could be a good fit for you but you need to do your homework and dig in and make sure that that listener base is really going to be in the market to purchase your products or services Podcasts demographic information is not up to par with other digital marketing formats so it is very easy depending on how you go about structuring your campaign for you to be like I think that this audience could be right but is it really So you need to make sure that youre as an advertiser or an agency getting that information from the host and digging in as much as you can to get that information
Start by advertising with podcasts specifically directed at your target audience
Look at it from a very kind of matching matchy perspective So for instance Im working with a client right now that has developed an app for moms So its very easy for them to say I need to reach moms So I can go through and I can say Im going to choose the mom podcast to advertise on Theres a lot of value in that because we know for sure who theyre targeting is going to be their target market
The issue with that is that it doesnt scale super well So if youre looking to to come in and say I really want podcast advertising to be a big lead generator for me youre going to want to scale it Youre going to want to go somewhere bigger Starting out with those moms shows is a really good option but then secondarily we need to say there are hundreds of thousands of other podcasts who reached my target demographic
When advertising on a podcast provide the host with three key things
If youre able to have the host actually use the product that youve created it makes a huge difference because theyre going to be able to really speak to the ad and to the product from a very authentic first hand experience type of way Really do everything you can to make sure that they try your product
Then youre going to want to give the host what we call talking points The ad shouldnt be scripted You dont want to give them a script but you do want to give them some guidelines I always look to what is that unique selling proposition that you have created Make sure that they have that make sure that they know what sets you apart from your competitors You want them to start by talking about the experience theyve had with the product but then you want them to get down to the you know the brass tacks about your company and why your company is actually different or again what that unique selling proposition is and you need to provide the host with that because theyre not going to know what to say Then you do want to also make sure that youre providing them with some sort of a call to action
Relationship building between the podcast host and the audience creates a unique opportunity for advertisers
There is this relationship element and this relationship building that happens I have had advertisers tell me that they get better quality customers from podcast ads than other forms So there are customers that are going to stay theres staying power with these customers because of the process to get to the place where youre listening to that podcast and engaging If theyre going to come over and theyre going to purchase your product theyre going to be a different caliber of customer than somebody thats like just maybe like Oh yeah Im just going to try that out real quick
