So you want to sell podcasts? Maybe leave the over-the-air radio spot business for pods?
Imagine your life without the comfort and security of knowing what you are doing , who you work with, the size of the audiences you can sell and staff resources around you.
How does that feel? Do you enjoy the unknown, starting over and selling the future rather than making excuses for the past?
Then maybe it’s time for you to start selling podcast advertising.
Here are a few things to consider before you make this move. And, if the thought of leaving your radio job made you sweaty with anxiety, don’t worry. You can start selling pods now, right where you work. Here are some steps to follow:
- Start selling what you have! Undoubtedly, your cluster has podcasts in the building, even if they are just replays of shows aired. Start adding podcast ads to your Over The Air (OTA) packages. Consider producing a branded podcast or two for clients who have a business with personality and you have an air person who understands them. For example, I once worked with a talented on-air personality whose family owned an outdoor equipment rental business. She would have been the perfect host for this pod. I could have built-in live liners in her show, promos for the pod, and paid her to do it. And I have worked with several foodies who could have hosted a restaurant pod. Make it a limited series like 5-6 pods, and the client can use it as marketing too.
- Keep track of the revenue, downloads, and other metrics of your sales activity with podcasts at the station. If you seek podcast ad sales employment at some point, they will want those numbers. They live for them.
- Educate yourself. Study all you can at the IAB– Interactive Advertising Bureau. Make sure you can explain the difference between downloads and listens. Know the difference between streaming audio and progressive downloads from Apple Podcasts. Get a feel for how many downloads a podcast needs in your market to move the needle for a local, advertiser-especially one who wants direct response and not branding. The IAB offers certification in Digital Media Sales and prep courses. The Radio Advertising Bureau has gotten into the space and provides a Certified Digital Media Consultant-CDMC- certification to go along with its popular CRMC. Maybe your company of state broadcast association will pay for it.
- Like radio advertisers, it is easier to sell podcast advertising to companies already using pods. You have to have an excellent match for them or a new idea. Subscribe to companies like Magellan AI, which can provide research on which companies are spending on podcasts, how much, and where to find them. Make sure if you go to work for a company selling pods, they subscribe to this type of research at a minimum. I think it’s wise to do it on your own before you move into pod sales full-time, so you have some pipeline and possibly some relationships.
To get a good overview of making this kind of a move, listen to my podcast with John Goforth, a former sports radio seller who became the SVP for iHearts Podcast Revenue Strategy.
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.
