Podcasting is a uniquely powerful storytelling medium. It sets itself apart from other content by creating a deeply personal, long-lasting relationship with audiences. Because of this, brands see an incredible amount of value in this emerging market. Listeners who hear personal recommendations from their favorite podcast hosts are highly likely to interact with the ad.
If your brand is ready to expand their marketing strategy into the podcasting space, you may be asking, “what are best practices for effective podcast ad campaigns?” Read on for seven essentials to maximize your investment and gain brand awareness via podcasting.
1) Flagship Product
Having a flagship product in a proven market is the first step to having a successful podcast ad campaign. An appealing product that provides value and tells your brand’s story will ensure that the podcast audience will find value in your brand.
It will also help you evaluate the performance of your podcast advertising spend against other forms of media ads by eliminating the variables of promoting multiple products.
2) National or International Reach
Podcasting is largely location-independent. Even if the podcaster is based in a specific area and has a strong local presence (which is always a plus), their listenership is almost always spread nationally or even internationally. This is because distribution platforms do not geo-target, so your podcast ad campaign shouldn’t either. You should have national shipping capability and be familiar with national campaigns before diving into the podcast advertising space.
3) Successful Online Ad Experience
When listeners explore your website from a referral on a podcast, they’ll want to see an appealing brand story, rave reviews, and a clear CTA. It’s important to remember that the primary purpose of podcast advertising is to increase brand awareness and recall, not necessarily to drive direct sales. Your website, and specifically your sales page, needs to be optimized. Make it easy for the listener to become a customer.
4) Good copy
Similarly, the copy you provide for podcaster ad spots should be optimized to drive listeners to your sales page. Think “What, Why, and How?”–what is the product? Why should listeners buy it? How can they buy it?
In more specific terms, your copy needs to provide the podcaster with product information, one to three valuable aspects of the product, and a clear CTA. If you have the capacity to send your podcaster a free sample/trial, even better! Most podcasters will riff on their own experience with the product during the ad spot, making the brand recall that much more powerful for listeners who feel inspired by the host.
5) Great story
This is where the “Who, When, and Where” of the ad spot comes in. Your brand story also needs to have powerful pull and recall for a successful podcast ad campaign. This is particularly useful for the podcasters themselves, as many of them love to connect personally with the brand before beginning the campaign so that they know that they’re connecting their audience with personal, reputable, and inspiring brands. To cultivate this connection, you may find it useful to hop on a quick Zoom call with the podcaster ahead of time to tell them all about your brand and communicate your passion and values.
6) Product Codes
Having specific product codes for your podcast ad campaign is absolutely essential in order to track performance on your sales page pre and post campaign. Your codes should be easy to remember and associated with the podcaster for best performance.
To hone in even closer, if you’re booking multiple podcasts on one campaign, try creating unique codes for each podcaster. This will help the listener associate the brand with the podcaster for powerful brand recall, and help you track performance.
7) 6-12 Touch Points
Podcast audiences will generally need anywhere form 6-12 touchpoints before they follow through on an ad spot. Make sure you’re not missing out on the value of a full cmpaign by booking less than 6 ad spots per podcast for a successful podcast ad campaign.
While these basic essentials of an effective podcast ad campaign, Ossa can help you maximize your ad spend and book high-quality women in podcasting to take your podcast ad campaigns to the next level. Ready to explore this powerful emerging market?
Learn more and get started here.
7) 6-12 Touch points
Podcast audiences will generally need anywhere from six to 12 touch points before they follow through on an ad spot. Make sure you’re not missing out on the value of a full campaign by booking less than six ad spots per podcast for a successful podcast ad campaign.
While these are the basic essentials of an effective podcast ad campaign, Ossa can help you maximize your ad spend and book high-quality women in podcasting to take your podcast ad campaigns to the next level. Ready to explore this powerful emerging market?