What’s the value of a new podcast subscriber? Would you trade 20, 50, 100 dollars an episode for a new subscriber? Two new subscribers?
A podcast sponsorship can be a hard deal to negotiate and for many smaller shows it’s not likely worth the tradeoff; having to put ads in your content for a small monetary return. But what if the exchange was not money but instead something likely more important to a podcast… new listeners.
Word of mouth is still the best form of marketing for any podcast. Trading ad space on your show for an introduction to a targeted, relevant, interested group of potential new subscribers may have bigger returns and is almost certainly a much easier form of sponsorship to obtain.
Social sponsorship is sponsorship deal for the rest of us. The average podcaster does not carry the number of subscribers that most ad buyers would want to see for CPM based deals. Yes you can cultivate a one on one sponsorship with someone who has a relevant business but when it comes to asking for money it’s often a much harder sale.
A social sponsorship could be an easier way to get around the barriers of traditional sponsorship deals like how much to charge, convincing the people who control the money to give it to a podcast, convincing someone that a show with five hundred listeners will be a good return on their cash. We know that it’s worth it and you can say it till your blue in the face but sometimes it’s just easier to prove it. And while you’re proving it, you can make work for you too.
Exchanging social media posts for ad space is a much easier ask with little risk to the advertiser. This assumes of course that you are asking the right potential advertisers; those with an audience that would be interested in your content. It would be beneficial to you too if the potential sponsor had a large and engaged social media presence.
And after a few successful ad placements (get them to link to your audio employing native platform players) you’ll likely have the proof of concept necessary to work towards a paid sponsorship if that is still something you desire.
However, you may just find out that an increase in your audience is much more valuable to your show. After all, there are many other ways to monetize a podcast that do not rely on paid ads. Build a dedicated audience, offer value and the potential is limitless.
On this episode, I also take a look at the Behringer Xenyx Q802USB mixer*. Here’s the first video review in the “sub $100 mixer shootout.”
The Q802USB mixer is the most fully featured mixer, priced less than one-hundred dollars, that I looked at. Most important to podcasters, it has clean preamps, two XLR channels, an auxiliary send, USB output and more.
Links mentioned in this episode:
- Podcasters’ Roundtable
- Podcasts on Spotify
- podcasts@apple.com (no longer exists). Get iTunes podcast support via support.itunespodcasts.com
- One-click subscribe button for Android created by blubrry
- Sub $100 Mixer Shootout
- NPR’s audio “secret sauce“
- How to Gain Stage any Mixer (video and complete write up)
- How to Setup a Mix-Minus for Recording Skype
- Whistling in the Dark Show (explicit)
Special thanks to Patrick Keller from The Big Seance Podcast for the feedback (listen at the 23:30 mark) regarding his purchase and use of the Q802USB mixer.
Do you need a reliable host for your podcast? Consider using Libsyn (my chosen host) or Blubrry (the only two podcast hosting companies I recommend) and get your first month free when you use promo code: PODCASTHELPER at checkout.
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*all links should be considered affiliate links. Please read my ethics statement as it relates to products I link to. I only post affiliate links to products and brands I use and/or trust. Thanks for helping support this content!
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