How to spend your podcast marketing money
One of the questions we commonly encounter in our Podcast Therapy sessions is: “how and where should I spend money to promote my podcast?”
So, this blog focuses on where to (and more importantly, where not to) spend your money when it comes to podcast promotion, especially for the independent and/or new creators in the house.
We know your time is money, so let’s get into it!
When to spend your money on promotion (and when not to)
When you’ve been in the independent podcast production business for a bit, you can find yourself unsure about when to even start spending money on promotion.
Here are the scenarios in which you should start thinking about spending money on promotion:
Only after your content is complete; you can think of no other way to improve your content. Channel your money and efforts on making a podcast that you are proud to promote.
When you've mapped out your budget and know how much you have to spare, whether that's $100 for a newsletter ad or $3,000 for a Castbox ad
When you’ve got a plan. This blog will help with that bit!
Now, arguably to the more important bit.
When not to spend your money and what not to spend on:
Generic social media ads that do not involve intentional planning and thoughtful targeting.
Sponsored posts that are promoted just for the sake of promotion. Consider where in your complete marketing strategy do sponsored posts fit.
When alignment is low. Whether it be an influencer or another podcast, avoid spending if the alignment in content and audience is low. We often encounter creators that think that they need to advertise with the biggest podcasters in the space to get their podcast heard. We highly advise against this. Prioritize audience alignment over number of followers or listeners; you’re guaranteed listeners who stick with your podcast.
What to spend your money on?
Here’s where to put your money, in order of priority:
Paid in-app placements on listening apps
Podcast listening apps are apps used specifically to listen to podcasts, and curate podcast playlists. Here are the benefits of spending money on these focused apps:
Dedicated podcast listening apps are mostly used by dedicated podcast listeners so the audience you’ll gain from these ads is likely to be an engaged audience.
Listeners are already in the listening mindset; they are more open to hearing other podcast suggestions.
If a listener is using an app they are likely loyal to it and are more likely to interact with an ad.
Listed below are the listening apps that are open to paid promotions:
Podcast Addict (currently available on Android only)
Classifieds in podcast newsletters
At Tink, we’re big fans of podcast newsletters. They are great places to toot your podcast horn. Here’s why a classified in a podcast newsletter might be beneficial:
They already have a curated audience that is looking for podcast recommendations.
Bonus: you’ll also support the industry you’re now a part of.
Listed below are newsletters that currently accept classified ads:
Couple things to keep in mind:
All of the newsletters mentioned here also welcome pitches for podcasts, which you needn’t pay for. Try sending them a pitch before you spend on ads.
If you want to place a classified ad in a podcast newsletter that is not on this list, just ask them for a rate card. If they don’t have one, they’ll probably come up with one quickly!
Podcast ad marketplaces
Advertising marketplaces within the podcast industry allow creating targeted
campaigns to advertise your show across the platform’s audience network. These include:
Megaphone (which opens the Spotify Audience Network to advertisers)
We recommend keeping a close eye on The Podscape, which keeps updating ad serving technology in the industry.
Other podcasts
Find podcasts that have high alignment with yours and approach them to place a 30 or 60-second promo on their show. Remember to ask the number of downloads each episode enjoys; avoid spending money on shows that have less than consistent 15k downloads per episode.
Brave warrior, be unafraid to ask how your promo has performed once the campaign is over.
Google Search
Last on the list, and perhaps the least, would be Google Search Ads. You can create a Search Campaign to target listeners searching specific keywords in Google. However, as someone who’s worked in Google Search Ads in a past lifetime (Shreya here), I’d suggest either getting an expert to do this or taking a course on it. For something like a niche podcast targeting on Google can be tricky so you want to make sure you’re spending your money smartly.
For later reading
We’re definitely neither the first nor the last to delve into this question. We thank the following sources and also highly recommend you bookmark these for later reading:
This legendary Twitter thread from Arielle Nissenblatt on where to put your podcast money.
This comprehensive guide on podcast advertising from The Podcast Host.
If you found this valuable, subscribe to Podcast Marketing Magic to receive more such free insights on podcast promotion!