How to Find Target Podcasts for Your Ads
Ad spending is on the rise in the podcasting space. Companies and ad agencies are trying to figure out the best model for leveraging this booming media. How do you choose the right podcast(s) to place your ads in?
Pete Lerma of Clickz Experts shares the method he used for creating a partnership between Travelocity and Rick Steves’ travel podcast. Even though there are several ad networks out there for podcasters, he ended up going with a podcast that he researched on his own.
Here’s the process he outlines in his article:
- Search iTunes to find the top ranked shows in your niche
- Listen to the shows to ensure the message and quality are something you want to associate your brand with
- Contact and negotiate with the podcaster
Because of podcasting’s ease and low cost of entry, there will be a lot of bad content mixed in with the good. To help you cut to the good stuff, you can start by looking at the iTunes’ list of top ranked podcasts in your category. These are the ones that are being listened to the most based on subscriptions in iTunes. You can also sort a list of podcasts by popularity. This should help you find the cream.
Keep in mind, however, that this is just a good place to start. There are plenty of great shows that don’t get ranked.
Podcasts are great for reaching niche groups. The audience may not be as numerous as American Idol viewers, but they will be focused prospects.
Pete also offers insights for when you contact a podcaster:
Many of the
podcasters we contacted had never been approached about a sponsorship
nor had they given any thought as to how it might work.
Podcasters won’t be used to all the industry jargon. Some will be flat out opposed to running ads (this is the "people’s" medium after all). Others will be excited about making money with their podcast.
Podcasters really know their audiences and what they might or might not be receptive to. Don’t try to push something if the podcaster expresses concern about how the audience might respond.
Because podcasting is a direct communication from creator to consumer, and thanks to the interactive nature of podcasting, podcasters have a good feel for their audience. Listen to what they have to say and use this to your advantage.
July 6th, 2006 05:57
Do you have any insight as to how Relevancy is calculated on iTunes? For example, I find that when searching on the term “Las Vegas”, our show, which once ranked among the top five, is now MUCH lower, yet our show is specifically about Las Vegas.
Any insight would be appreciated. We are using ID3 tags on our MP3 file, by the way.
Thanks.
July 6th, 2006 13:12
Scott,
That is a great question. I wish I had more insight on it right now. iTunes has their own proprietary way of calculating this.
I imagine in the future this will become much more important to searchers as well as those being listed. Think about how important Google ranking is to businesses. iTunes is already a significant “search engine” when it comes to finding podcasts.
I’m going to do some sleuthing to see what I can find.
Jason
July 6th, 2006 13:58
Thanks, Jason.
What’s interesting is that podcasters are constantly told to include good ID3 tags in the MP3 files. Take a look at one of ours…very complete. Yet there are many podcasts in the example I gave that have NO ID3 TAGS at all!
Frustrating, to say the least. Any insight you can provide would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers,