INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Krystina Rubino - Lindsay Piper ShawContributorKrystina Rubino is a marketing executive who leads the offline growth marketing practice at
Lindsay Piper Shaw is an advertising strategist and growth marketer currently consulting on podcast and offline advertising at Right Side
Up. Of the various channels available to growth marketers, podcast is among the most misunderstood.Brands like Dollar Shave Club,
We have managed tens of millions of dollars in podcast ad spend for challenger brands and market leaders alike, and are eager to share some
you need to know:Podcast advertising is used very successfully as a direct-response channel with CAC on par with other consideration-stage
It is not just for awareness.Podcast reach is very good, reaching 51% of US audiences aged 12+ monthly.Ads read by hosts outperform canned
You can find this profile elsewhere, but what makes podcasts unique is that they are choosing to consume that particular content time and
The host becomes a trusted voice to deliver them not only interesting stories and banter, but information on companies as well.Often podcast
advertisers are newcomers or start-ups, and the podcast ad might be the first time the listener has heard about that company
Having the first touch with consumers be from a thorough, personal, and often funny host-read interaction is incredibly valuable and helps
brands jump over the credibility hurdle
advertising in the medium has exploded in the last ~5 years
The IAB has been tracking podcast ad revenue since 2015, when the entire medium generated #105.7 million in ad sales
It recently released its third study of podcast ad revenue, which estimated the US market at $479 million in 2018, with growth accelerating
of the holistic ecosystem, from hosting mechanisms and platforms to the pace of podcast monetization.Historically, the medium has been
dominated by a mix of comedians doing their own thing, radio entities simulcasting sports shows, and otherwise popular shows that had a
devoted niche following relative to other mediums
Most advertisers bought podcast ads as an extension of their other audio acquisition campaigns.Podcasts go mainstreamThen Serial came along,
in 2014, exploding into popularity and pop culture
This American Life provenance
MailChimp was committed to supporting Serial
only were they rewarded by being a launch sponsor of one of the most successful podcasts in history, but once Serial and the medium itself
expanded, a loving impersonation of Serial host Sarah Koenig and the MailKimp joke eventually made its way into a Saturday Night Live skit
Serial also appealed to a female audience, helping to bring new listeners into the channel, and podcasters and advertisers followed.Over the
past 5 years, the space has diversified
women talking to other women about literally everything, comedy and pop culture pods as diverse as Bodega Boys, Who? Weekly, and RuPaul:
There are too many shows to talk about; there are over 750,000 shows indexed by iTunes.How to engage for growth advertisingSo how do
companies start testing in podcasts? And how do they do so successfully?Start with a strong (but doable budget) and take your timeWe advise
companies to start with a test spend that you consider meaningful in the context of your other customer acquisition efforts
Initial tests in the channel that are properly diversified typically vary from $50,000 to $150,000 in media cost
If you under-invest, you run the risk of a false negative, i.e
If you make media decisions at scale based on that data, you may find yourself in deep water
If the risk of testing a new channel and having a dip in your CAC is too great, we recommend you exhaust other channels, like Facebook,
before jumping into the podcast space.Podcast offers advertisers a low barrier to entry
Creative production is limited to producing copy points for hosts to use as they record their ad reads
However, it is quite manual relative to digital channels, and can take weeks to put into place
depending on inventory levels)
It entails RFPing multiple network partners, doing research and outreach to independent shows, gathering rates and evaluating content, and
finally making decisions based on budget and inventory availability
There are some managed service-like buying partners in the space, that work to varying degrees of efficiency for customer acquisition.When
not be the best one.One of the most consistent, and pleasant, surprises in podcast advertising is how well shows that are seemingly
unrelated to a product work well for customer acquisition
If you have a food product with mass appeal, but one that (for example) many home cooks may already be familiar with, you may be better off
mattresses to meal kits for years
They know how to talk about your product in an engaging way.Doug Hoggatt, the VP of Marketing at Betabrand, agrees, mentioning he would also
higher allowable CAC and high lifetime value (LTV)
And the same point about show selection holds true for those audiences, as well
our prospective customers
We discovered that by diversifying our podcast mix into non-industry content we could still reach our target audience while also growing our
when it comes from our favorite host
Having an open mind to testing has helped so many advertisers unlock additional shows, and possible customers
You can take those insights back to other channels, too, and begin to integrate your campaigns and establish cross-channel frequency.Pricing
So while it could make sense to cut higher CPM placements from a media plan, you want to be cautious
throughImage via Getty Images / TwilightShowThe listener is there for the hosts
They relate to them, laugh with them, or laugh at them
They come to expect a performance from them, and often that performance bleeds into the ad reads
Levar Burton delivering an oh-so soothing Calm read.Alan Abdine, Senior Vice President of Business Development for Rooster Teeth, a network
When brands allow our hosts to be themselves, there are more opportunities for entertaining side stories and commentary related to the
And to allow hosts to be themselves while also being a positive brand advocate often mean striking a balance between scripting and giving
The most commonly purchased ad unit for customer acquisition advertisers is a host-read, embedded, mid-roll advertisement, typically60 in
length, but many hosts go over.Overly scripting the copy can lead to an ad sounding inauthentic and infringe on their creativity
advertising especially unique
your copy where hosts can be guided, but not stifled
Recently DoorDash partnered with Rooster Teeth for an ad on a livestream in celebration of a new game their studios were releasing
Since there was a visual element, DoorDash and Rooster Teeth partnered on a creative spin to the ad.Instead of the typical copy, food would
be delivered to the group of hosts while recording
Grant Durando, Senior Marketing Consultant at Right Side Up, works with DoorDash on their podcast campaign and stewarded this unique
It was definitely an unorthodox integration, but exciting to be in front of the right audience for DoorDash, at scale, and in a meaningful,
Many conversations about chicken nuggets later (which I never thought would be part of my job), Rooster Teeth and Vicious Circle delivered
to get a free trial of a product for listeners of the show
how advertisers can figure out if their ad investments are paying back, too
to say podcast advertising should displace a highly effective channel like paid social or paid search in your paid marketing testing
acquisition at meaningful scale, think twice before you engage in testing podcasts at a scale meaningful to your business
direct redemptions of a promo code or sales from only users who visited the vanity URL.A decent analog is like view-through conversions, but
without the technology enablement
track indirect activity (view-through) via pixels or other technology enablement
The aforementioned promo code/vanity URL combo is what generates that direct response.To get around this breakage and triangulate a full
response, advertisers commonly use a post-conversion attribution survey, colloquially referred to as a How Did You Hear About Us? or HDYHAU
virtually every scaled advertiser in the channel has discovered a path to scale.It also helps you determine benchmarks before you get into
other channels, and can provide a solid look at multi-touch attribution if the survey is designed with best practices, and served to enough
Unlike television, where you can use spot-based attribution, or radio, where you can achieve consistent ad exposure and but according to
performance comes in over time, and it takes a minute to build reach and frequency (R/F)
sense of performance by the third or fourth drop with a show.Looking at results sooner is possible but largely inadvisable
scale.False negatives are also common, when advertisers get cold feet in the first few weeks of an integration, and cancel shows after one
ad insertion in a single episode
The channel requires diligence in testing, and if you have other business challenges to navigate, using digital growth channels can help
iron out your messaging, landing pages, etc
before you launch offline channels.Although you may have honed your messaging in other channels, you should expect to be flexible when it
comes to podcast creative.Opportunities to expand to other audio acquisition opportunitiesImage via Getty Images / Anastasiia_NewPositive
signals in podcast campaigns can also indicate that other audio channels may be ripe for testing, which can help diversify your marketing
mix and minimize the pressure on individuals channels
next steps for advertisers who see the right signals in podcast
there?), and streaming audiences are choosing to listen to their content, similarly to how podcast listeners choose their content
The podcast landscape is the perfect arena to play in to learn more about how your brand works in offline media and allows there to be a
stepping stone into other mediums.Be good stewardsWe know that podcast advertising can have a powerful impact on the marketing mix for
an opportunity to participate in a nascent medium, and be good stewards of one of the last remaining mediums on earth with finite inventory
and listeners who actually respond to ads
And along the way, we hope to change the way people think about traditional offline media channels, like how they can be held to high growth
some trust and patience, and adherence to best practices, advertisers can reap significant benefits and customer acquisition, at scale, from
podcast advertising campaigns.9 things growth marketers should do when getting started:Create the team (and time!) needed to execute a
campaign, whether in-house or via partnership with a subject matter expert like a consultancy or agencyLearn the language of podcast
test(s) appropriately to avoid a false negative or positive resultHave an open mind on show selection; make sure you test across multiple
genres and formatsMeasure direct and indirect activity, to triangulate performance and business impact, and make optimizations and decisions
eye out for additional opportunities, not only in podcast, but in other audio channels as wellBe a good partner to shows, networks, and
