4 Different Ways To Find Podcasts To Advertise With

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[00:00:28]Heather Osgood: [00:00:28] Hello, and welcome to the podcast, advertising playbook. I'm your host, Heather Osgood and today show we're going to be talking about how to find podcasts to sponsor and advertise with. Now, I talk with prospective advertisers on a regular basis, and one of the things that comes up again and again is that if, advertisers or companies are brand new to the podcast space, they really don't know how to go about really finding the podcasts that they should be connecting with to advertise with. And I think the first [00:01:00] natural step to take, if you're looking for podcasts to advertise with is that you go to the podcast right. Um, but that can be really daunting. So on today's show, I wanted to talk to you a little bit about different strategies that you can take as a prospective podcast, advertiser in finding the right podcasts that are going to be a good fit for you. So the natural first step, as I've mentioned, is to take a look at the podcasts that you're most interested in.

[00:01:28] If you have podcasts that you know are going to be a good fit for you. Based on maybe just listening to those podcasts. Of course, it's not a bad idea to go ahead and make a list of the podcasts that you're interested with or interested in. So you can go to their websites and you can see what kind of information you might be able to find on their website about their show, about sponsorship, about advertising.

[00:01:53] And then of course you can contact that podcast individually and talk to them about sponsorship. Now, one of [00:02:00] the things that's nice about working with individual shows on an individual basis is that you get a really close relationship with that host and with that show. So if you are not working with an agency yourself and you are a brand or a company that is interested in podcast advertising, when you go directly to the host, you're able to talk.

[00:02:21] One-on-one oftentimes in the advertising space. When we add agencies in it can. Sometimes feel like a game of telephone, right? We've got a lot of different layers happening and that can be a challenge for some advertisers. And if you're looking to really create very tight bonds specifically with hosts, that can be a really good thing for you to do, to go directly to the show.

[00:02:47] I've also found that when you go directly to their show, what you might end up, what might end up happening is that that host might over-deliver what they would in a, uh, you know, a [00:03:00] normal circumstance. So if you go directly. To the host, the host knows. Gosh, I could go ahead and throw you on my social media.

[00:03:06] I could put you on my Instagram. I'm going to go ahead and throw you in my newsletter. And so there can be lots of opportunities that can only really be negotiated when you're working with the host directly. And I do think that there certainly are benefits in working with the host directly. The other thing that's cool is that if you have the time and the energy to identify the shows that you want to work with and you go directly to them, then you really know that you're going to get a natural fit.

[00:03:34] Now, you know, all of that being said, why would a brand or a company not want to go directly to a podcast to work directly with them? Now, the reason that you may not want to go and work directly with a podcast is because. There are over a million podcasts now, right? There's like 1.3, maybe 1.4, by the time you're listening to this podcast out there.

[00:03:58] And if you are a company [00:04:00] and you're going out to find podcasts to advertise with, and you're looking to really scale your podcast, ad buying, working with individual hosts on a one on one basis, right. Isn't really super sustainable. It's a lot of work for you to go, go out and work individually with shows.

[00:04:18] And the reason that it can be challenging is number one, you've got to find that shows contact information. And as much as it may be hard to believe finding contact information for, for podcasts can sometimes be challenging. So you're going to have to find the information you're going to have to schedule calls with.

[00:04:36] You know those podcasts and then you're going to have to work individually. One-on-one with them. Now, if you're newer to the space and you're thinking, gosh, I just want to advertise maybe on one or two podcasts, then that's really just fine. And there's not going to be a lot of heavy lifting for you. But as I mentioned, if you're looking to scale your podcast, ad buying, then it can be [00:05:00] really effective for you to tap into.

[00:05:01] Other resources that are available for you to find podcast. Now, searchability is certainly one of the, I would say big issues within the podcast space. Unfortunately, there, isn't kind of like a central receptacle that has everything that you need to know. And.

[00:05:18] Then

[00:05:18] Heather Osgood: [00:05:18] really that's from a listener perspective, but also from an advertising perspective, it would be terrific if every single show and all of their ins and outs was listed maybe in one central place and you could easily go there.

[00:05:30] But the reality is, is that's really not the case in podcasting. So if you're looking for some other options, I wanted to share those with you. Now a first option that you might consider would be approaching networks. So now what are networks when it comes to podcast? Networks are groups of shows oftentimes surrounding a very similar genre and a network helps a group of podcasts in many different ways.

[00:05:55] So a network might help with content creation. They might help with [00:06:00] production. They might help with marketing of a podcast to make sure that they're getting good listenership. And then they also many times. Work with advertisers. Now, if you go to a network, let's say that you are looking for, um, maybe some female lifestyle shows or some mom shows and you go to a mom network of podcasts.

[00:06:20] Then that network oftentimes will have relationships with many. Different podcasts and can help facilitate a buy for you. And it's usually, like I said, going to be within a specific genre, whether it's FEMA lifestyle, whether it's comedy, whether it's true crime, there are lots of different networks out there that do support a lot of different shows.

[00:06:43] And when I say a lot, most networks in my experience are going to be somewhere from. Tend to, I would say like the high side might be like 20 to 30 podcasts, but they are going to be under kind of a central management and it can be very effective for you to go [00:07:00] directly to those networks to approach them about buying ads.

[00:07:04] Now. Again, one of the big issues with networks is how do you find these networks? And I wish that I could tell you that there is an easy way to go and find these networks, but there really isn't. So you really kind of have to just search on a one-on-one basis. So if you are looking to target women and you want pregnancy podcasts, you could go in.

[00:07:24] Yeah. And inter, you know, podcast, pregnancy network, and Google, and just search up and see what comes up because there are lots of networks out there, and most of them aren't necessarily going to all be in one place for you to easily find. So really Google is going to be your best friend in terms of trying to find networks and working with networks can be nice because.

[00:07:45] They're kind of like one step removed from the podcast. So they might know a little bit of a, I would say more intimate details about the podcast. Um, then, uh, you know, uh, an a higher level agency would, so you might get maybe [00:08:00] that level of service and connection to the podcast that you wouldn't necessarily find.

[00:08:05] If you went with a large agency, so networks can be really good ways of identifying podcasts to advertise with the next step, our representation firms. So true native media. Um, our company does do representation. So we work with 60 different podcasts in that number, you know, give or take a few. Sometimes it's higher, sometimes it's slower, but in on, and on average, we work with about 60 different podcasts and we are a representation from.

[00:08:34] We're not working with those podcasts on content creation. We're not working with them on production. We're not advertising or promoting their show. We are simply focused on representing quality shows and helping connect them with advertisers. And there are many different representation firms out there in the us and globally and representation firms.

[00:08:57] Right. Tend to work with a variety of different [00:09:00] genres, but also have key genres. Whereas a network maybe we'll just work with one genre of podcast. A representation firm might have several different verticals that they work with. And typically they're going to work with more podcasts. Than a network would, there are representation firms out there that work with thousands of different podcasts.

[00:09:19] And so those can be good options as well as, as more focused, uh, representation firms, like true native media. Now what you will find as you get into the larger representation firms. Yeah. Is that they tend to, as I said, represent a lot of shows, which can be a benefit because it means that you've got resources to access a lot of shows.

[00:09:42] And if you are looking to scale your podcast, ad buying, this can be a positive thing. However, what I have found is that when you work with representation firms that are representing thousands of different shows, They do not know the ins and outs or the specifics of the podcasts, like a smaller [00:10:00] representation from might.

[00:10:02] Um, it is impossible for a firm that's representing 2000 shows to know the intimate details of a podcast or a podcast host and some. Of, you know, their strengths and weaknesses. So, you know, they, they may not have the capability of making the stronger connections that you might be looking to find. The benefit though is scalability.

[00:10:24] And they, you know, you're just going to be working with one person. That's going to help you with your entire buy. That's going to, you know, really get you what you need. And we'll be able to get you on hundreds of shows. If that's what you're interested in. Now the final option that I wanted to talk about, um, was really a true agency.

[00:10:43] So in the U S in particular, there are a handful of advertising agencies that specialize in podcast advertising. Now these podcasts agencies are unique because they do not work. At all with the podcast [00:11:00] themselves, they just work with advertisers. So the benefit of working with an agency like this is that they really have all of your best interests at heart and in mind, and they have relationships with networks.

[00:11:15] They have relationships with individual shows. They have relationships with rep firms, right? And so they can get in and really help you to do some great ad buying in this space. They also work with hundreds of different companies and have done thousands of different campaigns and are able to really see what the great results.

[00:11:36] Are, and how to create campaigns that are going to really help you with the return on your investment. Now, most of these agencies are direct response agencies, so they really are looking to work with brands that are in that space and a heart who are looking specifically at conversions. And so there, you know, there's a lot of benefit to working with those, but I would [00:12:00] say one of the biggest obstacles with working with these agencies is that they are looking for companies that are interested in spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on podcasts.

[00:12:09] So depending on where you're at as a company or as a brand, in terms of kind of where you want to dip your toe in the water, when it comes to advertising, it can be, you know, a challenging move to decide, Hey, we want to work with an agency. You know, out of the gate because they are going to require a much more substantial investment.

[00:12:31] And that might not be the path that you're ready to go down. Um, there are, of course also consultants firms out there, um, who work with companies and brands to help them create podcast ad campaigns. But again, these companies are typically, you know, looking at at least a hundred thousand dollars to get a campaign going for you.

[00:12:51] So just to recap, the ways that you can find podcasts to advertise with is number one, you certainly can go direct to the podcasters. Um, [00:13:00] most of the time, if you go on their site, if they are taking advertisers, they will have some sort of sponsorship information. So that can be a great way. Um, next, you could look for networks which are really just focused groups of podcasts that you could buy ads through.

[00:13:16] Um, next, you could go to representation firms who have a more intimate knowledge of the podcast that they represent, and also have a lot of experience in the ad buying space, but there again are varying sizes of rep firms. And then finally there are agencies that you can work with that will help you.

[00:13:34] And, um, you know, lots of different ways to create campaigns, but when you're going to look to work with an agency, it's going to be a more substantial investment. So those are the different types of ways that you can work with podcasts to get a really good, substantial podcast ad campaign. Right. Up and running.

[00:13:52] If you're interested in learning more about how you as a company or a brand can explore options in podcast [00:14:00] advertising the team at true native media would love to speak with you. You can go to true native media.com and find all of the information out there. That you would need. We are currently accepting appointments for people who want to know more about podcast ads.

[00:14:14] So, Hey, if you're interested, please feel free to reach out. And we'd love to talk to you. I hope that this episode has been helpful for you. I hope that it saves you time because I talked to, um, you know, perspective advertisers, a lot who feel a little drained and a little stretched. Having reached out to so many different podcasts to try and come up.

[00:14:32] With a good podcast ad buying strategy. So thank you so much for joining me and I will see you again next week on the podcast advertising playbook.

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