We have all tried to sell a podcast with limited downloads to an advertiser. But have you tried selling or producing a podcast for an advertiser? Recently, I interviewed Seth Resler from Jacobs Media and Community Marketing Revolution, a branded podcast production company based in Michigan. Seth recently moderated a panel at the annual convention for podcasters- the Podcast Movement. You can listen to that podcast with Seth on Monday here.
Seth works on branded podcasts for clients and discusses how iHeart and other big media companies are getting into the same. I was intrigued. Selling podcasts to advertisers seems so tethered to downloads and store traffic that it isn’t worth it for what you make on the sale. And you could sour the client relationship. So, when Seth mentioned selling a branded podcast to an advertiser and producing the pod for them, I investigated it with the appropriate markup for production and sales. Many media companies are reorganizing their podcast efforts. While Barstool Sports is cutting back, iHeart is tripling its branded podcast efforts. Here are three things to keep in mind when selling a branded podcast to clients:
1) Rules are rules. You are still looking to solve problems for advertisers. Figure out what they need and look for a business that has exciting stories to tell or people who work there. Long-established sporting goods stores, car repair shops, or restaurants can be great backdrops for stories to tell on a pod.
2) What do they want to listen to and when? We still need to know our audience. But, in this case, we are focusing on the client’s audience. If you are doing a branded pod for a sports bar, the listener may want to be entertained and listen at their leisure, not necessarily to and from work but maybe while doing yard work. If it’s a local tire shop chain, the listeners may want some entertainment but also know how to change their oil and listen on weekends while they do the work. A Dale Carnegie or Sandler Sales business would offer sales tips to salespeople and be consumed to and from work and driving around.
3) Drive the message home. A branded podcast is for the P-1 customer—their hardest core group, who probably provides 80% of the revenue. Think of a local restaurant that has the best burgers in town. When this place announces their newest burger going on sale, this audience will be ready to hear all the details and check it out! The foodies want information about ingredients, sourcing, and cooking techniques.
Considering the talent pool in sports radio, we can assume we have good podcast talent for hire. We may even get lucky and have a foodie, a DIY guy, or a business-focused sports host who can dive in with branded content about things other than sports. Other sports-focused businesses, like minor league sports teams, arenas, local shoe companies, tennis/golf stores, and private high schools, are ideal targets. Of course, they can find the intersection as well. Seth Resler told me he thinks you can make the pods evergreen and drop 8 or 12 at a time for a fall, spring, or summer season, for example. Working alongside your client on THEIR audience has many benefits, and you and your staff have the skill set to help them! You also have the station group to promote the pod-something your client desperately needs-traction.
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.
