The Importance of Podcast Ad Copy

 

According to Google, there are over 5 million podcasts with over 70 million episodes between them as of 2023. Spotify alone has around 5 million podcast titles on its platform. This is a HUGE amount considering our podcast network has been here for 18 of the 20 years podcasting has been around. Let this sink in: there are millions of podcasts out there, so why would a brand use an archaic Call-To-Action to attract attention?

When it comes to your brand's CTA, you must consider this:

1. Is your brand in a crowded space? Brands need to be aware of their competition and decide if they want to take on established business clientele OR go after new business. It is important to think about your strategy and identify who you want to target before looking for podcast networks to advertise with. Brands must identify specifically who they want to reach - industry, job title, company size, etc.

2. What sets your product/service apart from competitors? Focus on case studies, the features, and the benefits of why your product/service can be trusted - will it save time, money, clients, and more? If you think your brand is the best, you must deliver this to podcast audiences.

3. Give podcast audiences time to test your product/service OR offer a discount. Examples: 30-day free trial, 10% off an annual purchase, 3 months free with an annual purchase, 30% off your first order, and 10% off thereafter, etc. Be sure your CTA is compelling AND something you can live with for a long time, or be explicit on how long the sale will be for. Be generous, it will pay off tenfold when purchasers recall your brand.

Brands need to spend identifying who their target client is and what they want to say to them before buying podcast ads.

TWiT.tv has been around since 2005, and we help our partners meet their growth goals. If you are interested in advertising with us because you want the gold standard in podcast advertising, then please email advertise@twit.tv, and we can chat about your goals.

Setting Brand Expectations From Podcast Advertising - Part I

 

It's imperative to set brand expectations before starting a podcast campaign. In 2023, you can consume content in almost any format you want. While old media was fairly limited, today, there are numerous ways to consume information in any format you choose; podcasts, social media, online print & audio. Hardly anyone is consuming the same content, let alone the same way. The Internet has caused us to become a fragmented society, making it a challenge for brands to reach exactly who they want.

The first point to make when meeting with a brand is to set advertising expectations. Explore what marketing efforts they are doing now and understand where they came from. What have they done in the past that was successful? What wasn't successful? Is what's active now working for them? Do a deep dive into past and existing advertising campaigns because you'll need to qualitatively understand the brand's efforts to date.

It takes an average of 8 touchpoints to close a sale. If a brand wants to start a podcast campaign but does nothing else to market the brand, the campaign won't be successful, no matter who they partner with. Multiple platforms should be used in parallel with multiple marketing tools to reach the target audience, but they have to be the appropriate platforms. Spreading out marketing dollars without the right frequency and proper platforms will waste advertising dollars. Therefore, your first call with a new brand needs to be exploratory. Find out their pain points and focus on solving their growth goals before discussing campaign ideas.

TWiT.tv - Dyanamic Ad Insertion & Host Read Ads: Part II

 

Here are the critical differences between host-read and dynamic ad insertion ads: Host-read ads are delivered by our broadcast journalist hosts during live shows, so each read is guaranteed to be unique every time. Our hosts provide insights, experience, and a personal or implied brand endorsement. Our goal is to further educate our fans about the sponsor's products and services and how they will benefit them directly. Because our fans trust our hosts, they genuinely listen to what hosts say about a product or service. You simply cannot buy trust, and since our host-read ads are done live, our partners receive live impressions for free, and our live recordings go into reruns, which means we serve additional free ads that our partners did not pay for. And you do not get this with DAI on our network. DAI ads are producer-read ads inserted directly into our shows in post-production. They are fifteen, thirty, or sixty seconds long and are always within these ranges. They are served until the promised download number is reached. DAI costs less than host-read ads, BUT they do not have the audience's trust. Both ads work, depending on what a client is looking for. DAI helps with global awareness, while host-read provides a story about the brand and helps solidify conversions. I recommend that our clients utilize both, as it takes multiple touchpoints to convert a fan, and the more ways you can reach people, the better. Here at TWiT.tv, we care about brand goals and focus on what it takes to help them grow. If you are interested in working with us because you want the gold standard in podcast advertising, please email advertise@twit.tv, and we will set up a time to chat about your growth goals.

TWiT.tv - Dynamic Ad Insertion & Host Read Ads: Part 1

 

When the pandemic first hit in 2020, TWiT.tv lost 60% of its advertising partners in two weeks. As an ad-supported network offering only host-read ads, we quickly realized we were one-dimensional.

Fast forward to 2023, we have added DAI in the form of Advertisecast to sell our residual open audio inventory. Plus, we have diversified our host-read ad inventory by allowing agencies to book small test campaigns to complement their testing phase with new clients.

We approve categories for DAI, and all ads are inserted into our audio feeds by Advertisecast. These ads are 15, 30, or 60 seconds long, producer read ads or commercials. And they can geotarget and are in several countries.

Since 65% of our host-read ads are currently with direct partners. We prefer to partner with direct businesses because having a working relationship with the partner is always better than working through an agency.

Because we have two decades of experience, we find that agencies churn through staff and have representatives who need to learn their brands better. We pride ourselves on openly communicating with our partners and working closely with them to set up campaigns for success. We also ensure over-delivery so our partners never feel their marketing dollars were wasted. We know that pure volume buys only produce satisfactory results. How can anyone build a proper campaign when they do not speak with networks and ignore best practices for tracking campaigns.

If you are interested in our process, which starts with a conversation about your growth goals and needs, please reach out to advertise@twit.tv, and let's chat.