A great way for podcasters to continue to produce content while still making money is by getting sponsors.
There is a mutually beneficial relationship between podcasters and their sponsors. Podcasters benefit from the revenue that sponsorship brings, and sponsors make use of that podcaster’s listening base for advertising purposes.
This article looks at how much sponsors pay and other ways to monetize your podcast.
Here’s How Much Sponsors Pay:
Podcasters charge using the cost-per-mille/per 1000 listens (CPM) or Cost Per Acquisition model for ads. A 30-second ad has a CPM of $18. With a 60-second ad, the CPM is approximately $25. Alternatively, smaller or niche podcasters can set a price and negotiate with sponsors.
How Many Listeners does a Podcast Need to get Sponsors?
There is not a fixed amount of listeners required to get a sponsor, but the podcast does need to have a well-established and loyal listener base.
Many podcast sponsors expect a minimum of 5,000 downloads per session. They generally remunerate in accordance with the number of downloads from each podcast episode (e.g., you get paid a certain amount of money for every 1,000 downloads).
According to John Lee Dumas, host of the award-winning podcast Entrepreneurs on Fire;
- A 15-second Preroll runs around $18 per 1000 CPMs (listens).
- A 60-second Midroll runs around $25 per 1000 CPMs (listens).
- A 30-second Postroll runs around $10 per 1000 CPMs (listens).
[Source: Eofire.com]
Despite the above, there are no hard and fast rules, especially considering the host of potential sponsors available and how influential your brand is.
If the podcast host or creator also has a considerable social media following and they have just started podcasting, remember to mention that in proposals.
Say you have a niche or smaller podcast and you’re aiming for sponsors in that niche, you could get away with fewer downloads per episode.
Where can you Find Sponsors for your Podcast?
Irrespective of whether you’re a novice or an experienced podcaster, it’s generally more simple to find sponsors that are independent creators and smaller businesses who need help with marketing.
Start with sponsors that you know — for instance, an online business that distributes its product globally or a local store. Remember that you should have a large following of active local listeners if you want to take on a local sponsor.
You can conduct online research on what your listeners like. The topics that you speak about will attract listeners with a specific common interest.
You can also do an investigation yourself. You can ask friends, other podcasters, or your actual listeners what they are interested in.
Once you identify products or services that are marketable to your listeners, you can start approaching sponsors that fit that mold.
What Other Ways can you Monetize your Podcast?
Many people start podcasting to bring in their main or additional source of income. Besides finding sponsors, there are additional ways to monetize your podcast.
Here are some other ways you can monetize your podcast:
Be a sponsor for a fellow podcaster
You can promote another show by recording these promotions by yourself, or that podcast can send you their own pre-recorded ad for you to play to listeners.
Be a part of an advertising network
Becoming a member of an advertising network allows you to make money off your podcast just as finding sponsorships would.
The difference is that this network will find sponsors on your behalf in exchange for a portion of your ad revenue.
Make and sell merchandise
Listeners that are fans of your show would possibly be interested in merchandise such as t-shirts, stickers, and other goods. This is a great way to bring in revenue and provide your listeners with an opportunity to connect with you and the show.
For example, the CEO School podcast, held by Suneera Madhani, offers merch, that includes candles, planners, mystery boxes, and so on.
Provide premium paid content
If you have created a faithful listener base, they may be open to paying for added opportunities to hear exclusive content.
This is a lucrative way to monetize your podcasts by providing content that listeners need to pay to access.
You can do this by offering Q&A shows, ad-free shows, longer versions of shows, interviews, or even an early preview of episodes.
Lots of podcasters make use of Patreon and Stitcher Premium to make exclusive content.
Produce tiered premium content
You can also produce tiered membership, where listeners get more benefits for higher-paid tiers.
For instance, perhaps you can offer your lowest tier an early preview on episodes and merch; the second tier will get the same but with one additional episode each month, and the highest level will have it all plus a Q&A session and access to exclusive merch.
For example, Last Podcast On The Left creates tiered membership on Patreon.
Collect donations
Collecting donations is a method of making money on your podcasts through listener support.
This is a valuable method of bringing in money so that you can continue to produce content and still earn a living.
Podcasters use Patreon to accept donations.
Affiliate marketing
Affiliate marketing involves advertising goods or services on your podcast, and you can earn a commission.
The company will provide an affiliate link or special code for your podcast, so that company knows which customers heard about them from your show.
If listeners choose to purchase the item, they often get a discount, and the podcaster will earn a commission.
Upload on YouTube
You can video record your podcast, upload the episode to YouTube, and generate revenue with YouTube Ads and views. This also gives listeners another way to engage with your content.
If you want to avoid video, you can still upload audio recordings.
Host live shows
You can produce a live recording session that listeners can view in real-time.
Money can be generated through ticket sales, ads, and sponsorships.
For example, Podcast But Outside, hosts interview-based podcasts. They produce live events and get money from listeners who buy tickets to see the show live.
How To Get High-Paying Sponsorships?
There is no fixed way of securing high-paying sponsorships, but there are some proven strategies.
At first, you will need to put in the work to get sponsors. However, as your podcast gains popularity, brands will come to you.
Here are some ways to attract sponsorships:
1) Understand your niche:
You would benefit from finding your niche and being faithful to it.
Once you are sure of your niche, you should aim to find brands within that niche or closely related to it.
2) Create a proposal
Why should a brand work with you? What are your average downloads per episode? Along with defining your niche, you will need supporting facts about your listeners, streams and downloads.
You can also include a summary of your business plans so that sponsors can see what your podcast is all about.
In other words, you need to formulate a media kit.
This means that you must put all the important information together about how your show will deal with sponsorships.
Here’s what you can include in your media kit:
- What your listeners expect from the podcast
- Engagement and download facts and figures
- Rates
- Available slots
- Samples of your podcasts
- Reviews and comments about the podcast
Doing these things show the sponsor that you are professional and that they can trust you with their advertising needs.
Final Thoughts
Making a podcast is an amazing outlet for your creativity. If you want to pursue podcasting on a full-time basis, you need to find ways to monetize your podcast.
This will allow you to make money while sharing your views and opinions on subjects that you are passionate about.
Source
A Full Guide to Podcast Sponsorship and Ad Rates (2023)