Podcast Advertising Playbook with Heather Osgood

“My biggest encouragement is always keeping an open mind. Keep an open mind and keep very strict reporting.  Both are equally important. And, with those paired, I think you can create a very easy roadmap for successful advertising within the podcast industry.”   One of the cornerstones of successful advertising is always testing new things, but who hasn’t been stuck in their comfort zone before? I...

Are you doing everything you can to make a successful podcast advertising campaign?  “Podcast buying, let’s say this tongue in cheek, but it’s hard. It’s not easy…The goal is that you’re getting those really engaged people who, you know, are listening to the host for that content, and they’re gonna convert.” James Ingrassia, EVP Client Services at Oxford Road.  Creating and executing a podcast adv...

“What an advertiser’s doing with podcasting, they’re really leaning into or capitalizing on the super intimate relationship the host has built with their audience.” Meredith Krantz Vice President, Digital Partnerships at Westwood One. Not all brands utilize podcast advertising, but maybe all brands should. The lack of clear standardization across the podcasting space can make podcast advertising l...

"Marketers that continue to copy the Salesforce playbook from 2006 for their 50-person SaaS company will continue to struggle. Nobody in a growth phase can win with this strategy anymore." Chris Walker Founder and CEO of Refine Labs. Buyers are taking an entirely new approach to make a purchasing decision. They are using slack communities, podcasts, social posts, friends' recommendations, and even...

Podcast Movement is my favorite event of the year. I get to see old friends and make new ones. I network with clients and discuss my favorite topic - anything related to podcast advertising. This year felt so good to see everyone in person ready to do business. Although I don't get to attend many sessions because I am jam-packed with meetings, I have conversations with industry leaders about impor...

I don't think we talk enough about brand safety in podcasting. You might ask yourself, "Well, Heather, what is brand safety, and why is it important in podcast advertising?" As Tamara Nelson, Co-Founder of Barometer explains, "Whatever content you advertise on is what your brand becomes associated with, and that can sometimes be a very negative association."  Podcasting is relatively unregulated,...

Over the last five years, audio has risen to challenge video in a way I never thought would happen. While everyone says, "Attention spans are getting shorter; make bite-size content," I have seen the long-form podcasting style thrive. But many brands are not paying attention to building a robust audio strategy because they are stuck on attracting GenZ on TikTok. So how do you create a brand audio...

I feel like I have been in podcast advertising forever (6 years). But then I talked to Todd Cochrane, a friend, and fellow podcast enthusiast, who has been selling ads on his show and many others for 17 years, and I realized there is always so much to learn. "Smaller shows have much higher engagement than bigger shows. The audiences are much more loyal. They're much more willing to try a product o...

Recently, some very strange product companies have reached out to try podcast ads. It got me thinking about the legal side of podcast advertising and if there was one. We don't deal with it, so I invited Gordon Firemark to the podcast to share his expertise on the subject. "I sometimes talk about the podcast prenup. People (brands) working on the show with us should know what they get, what they o...

Have you ever wondered how advertisers know if their brand initiatives are working correctly? I am a huge proponent of data and Jeff Vidler, Founder of Signal Hill Insights is helping podcasts and advertisers measure their efforts with brand lift studies, surveys, and more.    “One thing we do have with podcasting is we have digital data that gives us census level data as a baseline that we can us...

With limited inventory and only the top 1% of podcasts getting the advertising dollars, what happens to the rest of the smaller shows? How do they get a piece of the advertising pie?  Dave Hanley, Chief Revenue Officer for Advertisecast joins me on the podcast to talk about how they are working to open opportunities for independent podcasts with fewer download numbers to get in front of advertiser...

I love this report from the IAB. I am always very excited for the IAB Upfront event when they share their findings each year. Most of the time, there are statistics that I am already aware of, but then there are some outliers that either bring me joy, or shock. This year, I am happy to report that I am overjoyed with the results. I would like to share my favorite stats from the study with you and...

I am fascinated by internal company podcasts and how corporate companies are taking advantage of audio to distribute communications to their employees. I have been following Graham Brown, Founder, and CEO of Pikkal, a corporate podcast agency in Singapore, for quite some time, so I invited him to talk to me about the work he does and find out how companies benefit from branded podcasts. "There's a...

I loved chatting with Lindsay Smith from Ad Results about working with their clients on brand suitability, otherwise known as brand safety. "We like to focus on the term suitability because, as an agency, we don't want to deem what shows are safe or unsafe. Instead, we want to match brands with suitable shows for their core values." Lindsay shares her process for monitoring ad-reads and working wi...

It is very hard for brands and indie podcasters to connect. Most of it is done manually with a direct relationship, network, or representation agency, like True Native Media. Mike Kadin saw an opportunity to help indie podcasters and brands to connect faster with RedCircle. "We started talking to these podcast creators and asking them, what are the challenges you face? And even more than making mo...

The podcast industry struggles with transparency when it comes to pricing, results, and measurements. There are several reasons why this is the case. So I invited Marty Michael, CEO, and Co-Founder of Gumball (a podcast advertising marketplace), to the show to chat about how his software is trying to break the transparency barrier in podcast advertising. We discuss why brands won't share their res...

I had one of the most open and honest conversations with Todd Gallet, Head of Partnerships at Podcorn, about how brands (if they are strategic about it) can book tons of inventory on smaller shows and get better results than trying to run on one or two huge well-known shows. "Not every brand is an excellent fit for the biggest shows. So if you're a new brand getting into the space and you're going...

As traditional influencer marketing platforms (Facebook, Instagram, etc.) get increasingly over-saturated with influencer-type content, it's effortless for consumers to swipe right past ads. And so, companies have started to look for new avenues to reach their customers. And that's where podcasting comes in. But many digital marketers are used to a centralized platform to buy ads with a few clicks...

I can go on and on all day about how important and influential host-read endorsement ads are, but the reality is we need programmatic ads in podcasting for various reasons. Today, I want to share the research I have done because I think that programmatic ads have a place in podcasting and will help the industry continue to grow. I will cover topics like: Targeting Technology development New advert...

I have always admired Ray Harkins's career in podcasting. He started out at Midroll, the posterchild company for podcasting. Then he moved to Stitcher and is now the West Coast Lead Podcast Strategist for iHeartRadio. I really wanted to dive deep into the growth and evolution of podcast advertising with Ray because he has been pivoting in the industry for so many years, staying in tune with dynami...

We talk a lot about what podcast advertising is like from a brand's or podcaster's perspective, but what about the agencies that support these brands? How do they manage to bridge the partnership between podcasters, networks, rep firms, and brands? In this episode with Glenn Rubenstein, Founder of Adopter Media, we discuss how the industry is evolving and how Glen and his agency are pivoting to ad...

"We talk about brevity, clarity, and potency, making every word count so that every ad will count. Never use two words when one will do." Stew's extensive experience in performance marketing allows him to craft high-converting podcast ads. In this episode, we discuss why it is critical to have clarity in an ad and how advertisers can support hosts in driving the brand message. He also talks to me...

It is rare to find a podcaster who has been productively selling ads for several years in podcasting. So when we asked Samantha to join us on the podcast to talk about how she has been so profitable, she was happy to share her advice for advertisers and podcasters looking to build long-term relationships. "I think that advertising isn't the right choice for all podcasts out there. It depends on th...

With the rapid rise of Clubhouse, Twitter Spaces, Facebook Live Audio Rooms, and Spotify Greenroom, podcasting suddenly got a bit scared about its audiences' loyalty. So we called in social audio and podcasting specialist Steve Olsher to join us on the podcast and chat about creating a successful partnership between podcasting, social studio, and monetization. We cover reasons for the lack of comm...