The BSM Top 20 Original Sports Podcasts were just awarded last week. Jason Barrett pointed out that it was the most competitive category of all the Top 20 lists due to so much product.
I know, podcasts are like assholes, it seems like we all have one. Check out mine (podcast that is) at Kingdom of POD- Boise State Football.
So, with all those choices, there must be great advertising opportunities, right? Well, that depends on who you are, I guess. Barstool, ESPN, The Ringer, Fox, NBC, etc have the BSM Top 20 locked down. And, massive sales staffs that know what to do and can package and bundle several different pods to advertisers.
So, what about the rest of us selling the Kingdom of POD, a recycled on-air show or a local pod? How do we sell that? Depends on who you ask. I asked a local seller here in Dallas how they did it. This account executive has tons of radio selling experience, works for one of the large groups in radio and is now very active in selling a national podcast to Dallas area advertisers.
My podcast by the way is on the Bleav Podcast Network and is sold into by the Bleav sales team. I can sell local advertisers but more on that later. The Dallas AE has had success selling doctors and professionals into more national type pods. Clients like the association, believe in the targeting, and probably listen themselves.
Don’t most of our best sports radio clients listen to our stations?
The Dallas AE touts the brand loyalty aspect of the listener. The pod listener is not only loyal to the talent but to the advertiser as well. The listener knows without the advertiser their favorite pod probably wouldn’t exist and they want to show support.
A few larger clients buy both radio and podcasts to cast a wide and in-depth net. The deep audience loyalty is great for repeat sales and generating word of mouth advertising. The AE pointed out that the Male targeted sports/news pods were some of the most popular platforms they offer because the higher income Millennial Males 28-36 are the largest listening audience of pods and bring the AE success. That should be enough to get us all on our keyboards and start touting pods via email to our advertisers.
I think the local pod is best served as part of a package buy. Bundle it in with on air, some digital and make sure you sell it to a real P-1 of the station and preferably a fan of the podcast hosts.
Sports Radio sellers have a tremendous advantage here. So many of the podcast selling benefits match up with how we sell sports radio. Sell an on-air schedule for the 35-54 Male and pair it with a pod for the 28-36 Male. Now, that’s a combo!
It’s a great answer to the younger buyer who insists “all they listen to is pods” but can acknowledge there are a tremendous number of Males 35-54 who still listen to car radios. I personally have had a tougher time selling the Kingdom of Pod locally as a stand-alone pod because it doesn’t have an on-air piece attached. So, take advantage of those re-purposed pods, sell some streaming with that on air package and get busy!
Jeff Caves is a sales columnist for BSM working in radio and digital sales for Cumulus Media in Dallas, Texas and Boise, Idaho. He is credited with helping launch, build, and develop Sports Radio The Ticket in Boise, into the market’s top sports radio station. During his 26 year stay at KTIK, Caves hosted drive time, programmed the station, and excelled as a top seller. You can reach him by email at jeffcaves54@gmail.com or find him on LinkedIn.
