Often, I hear that a business owner with a podcast wants a podcast to help cover the costs of producing it - but to my way of thinking: that math doesn’t often work out.
Picture this:
You invest a significant amount of time and money in a recording setup and content development plan…
You shake the network tree for high-quality guests you’ll be able to have amazing conversations with…
You get your social media team to promote your episodes hard - really focusing on getting listeners and engaging with them…
And over several months you build a loyal listenership, connecting with them on an ever more personal level. They respect you, pay attention when you release new episodes, and even advocate for you to their own friends and communities…
So you sell that audience to a mattress company for $45 a month.
…
Sound good?
Didn’t think so.
As a business owner, the platform, content and relationships will usually have much more value for your business than you can earn from sponsorships - it’s all about what you’re optimizing for, and how clearly you’re able to see the value the show generates.
This isn’t to say that seeking sponsorship and optimizing your show for maximum sponsorship income doesn’t work - there are certainly times when it can, and we see it a lot in the State of Business Podcasting Report.
What Does The Data Tell Us?
Sponsors work best with Audience Engagement Style podcasts, and they can also work well with thought leadership, content and relationship building shows.
44% of the top 100 podcasts are Audience Engagement shows, and another 30% are Thought Leadership.
Many of them take the sponsorship route - and it makes good sense. To be a top 100 podcast growth and reach have to be a priority, and many of these shows exist as businesses or extensions of businesses that have strong media presence and large audiences to begin with.
All together, 78% of the podcasts in the Top 100 are sponsors. Of those, 85% have traditional sponsorships with ads included within an episode, and 15% use a “presented by” format.
Traditional sponsorships are when host read or fully produced (think radio ads) are set as pre, post or midrolls, or embedded in the content of an episode itself.
‘Presented By’ sponsorships are when the framing of the sponsorship is that it was created by one specific company - and there’s no reason that company can’t be your own!
Now, while there is nothing wrong with seeking out sponsorships - and for some businesses, like content creators, influencers, and news organizations it can be a great strategy - for most businesses that have a suite of products and services they sell, an outside sponsor is not going to be able to provide as much value to your company as other kinds of metrics you can optimize for.
Your business is the monetization and the podcast should be helping you do it.
If you’re not sure how - reach out and let’s talk.
Latest on the Company Show
A truly massive content archive will usually cause one of two feelings:
- Unspeakable delight about the opportunity
- A sucking dread at the thought of the work involved in repurposing it
The difference between those feelings? Strategy and organization.
This episode of The Company Show is all about strategy and organization and how you can use them to make sure your content archive fills you with more joy than terror.
My guest this week is past mistress at the art and science of understanding the role that content plays in a customer's buying journey. And her process of content tracking and annual content audits is positively aspirational.
Racheal Cook is the founder of The CEO Collective and host of Promote Yourself to CEO and she has helped thousands of women entrepreneurs design predictably profitable businesses without hustle and burnout.
We had an amazing conversation that covered a lot of ground.
How to include the bio of your guest in a podcast episode is a topic of some debate in the industry, and it should really come down, as it always does, to the type of show you're creating and your goals for it, as well as your personal tastes and preferences.
I've been known to say that it's best not to have your guests share their own origin story on your podcast so that you can get right to the meat of the content more quickly. As a listener of this show, you'll know I don’t use that particular strategy, because I often start interviews by asking the guests to talk about their company and their podcast - it just makes me more comfortable to start by hearing how someone describes their own work.
But I'm talking to someone today who is awesome at that particular strategy of skipping the intro and getting right into the heart of things immediately. It's one of the things that makes her podcast so dynamic and engaging for her audience. And she's here to give us a deep dive into the podcast that has been a key marketing strategy for her business for the last eight years.
Susan Friedmann is the owner of Aviva Publishing and host of the Book Marketing Mentors podcast. In this case study episode, we're going to be digging into how Susan has used her podcast as a marketing and audience engagement strategy for over 400 episodes.
Susan was so generous with her knowledge and experience, and this case study is a wonderful example of how a podcast can become a fundamental part of a long-term marketing strategy.
What's New In Podcasting?
Friend of One Stone Creative, Esther Luttrell, has recently started season 2 of Esther Luttrell's Sunday Stories, a channel that invites you to join her at the Sunday dinner table where you can listen to stories, music, and conversations that rests your brain from the chaos of a cluttered, noisy, often violent, world.
These warm, intimate, programs are for those who want to enjoy a mystery or an inspirational novel, try a unique recipe, fall asleep listening to love poems and music, or consider the possibility of personal paranormal experiences. Give the latest episode, Grandma’s Attic #1 a listen - and let Esther know what you think! Learn more about her and her work right here.
Upcoming Events
When is the last time you checked in to make sure your podcast was working as efficiently and effectively as it could for your business goals? In May’s Strategy call, we’re going to be talking through a new resource we’ve created that is going to give you clarity about how well your podcast is working n your business - or if you’ve got some more work to do.
We’ll be looking at 15 indicators that will tell you if your podcast is either on the right track, or if you need to make a few changes - then we’ll make a plan to start saving time, generating more value and creating more ease in your process.
It’s happening on May 16th at Noon Eastern.
Click here to Register for Free
Do This Now
Want to take one action to make a difference in your show and how well it’s working for you? It’ll only take 5 minutes.
Sponsor your own podcast!
Take a look at your show structure, and your podcast branding and presentation, and find places where you can add mentions of your company (especially if you podcast has a different name than your business does!) within the audio, in your show notes, on your website or in your social media promotions.
You can add logos, test out different calls to action within your audio, and if you like, script out your own ad for a product, service or upcoming event that you can add to the main body of your episode, or run as a pre or post roll.
Have some fun with it!
Is your podcast sponsored, or is sponsorship a goal of your podcast? Hit reply and let me know!
Megan Dougherty
and the rest of the team
at Podcasting for Business by One Stone Creative
