The tools and knowledge to monetize your Podcast

Nov

19

Advertising Benchmark?

Filed Under Content

Something to think about while you’re waiting for the Podcast-Monetizer to appear.

Podcast monetization is based on several revenue generation streams including the potential inclusion of advertisments or sponsorships within your podcast.

Leo Laporte has an interesting blog post today on old media and new media:

One thing which particularly caught my eye was this quote:

Furthermore, advertising dollars are moving out of old media and into new media – and this process will accelerate because advertising to weakly-engaged inattentive old media audiences just doesn’t work. Advertisers are flocking to my podcasts because at $35 per thousand listeners they offer remarkable value.”

I know the TWIT network are fairly high profile but does this set the benchmark for ad rates on podcasts?

I certainly hope not as I hate the concept of CPM as this does not take into account the “cost of influence” and the unique relationship that podcasters have with their audience.

I’d be interested to know your thoughts!

Comments

2 Responses to “Advertising Benchmark?”

  1. Kelly McCausey on November 19th, 2007 3:05 pm

    I also dislike CPM and I love what you say about ‘cost of influence’ :) Advertising on my show is very affordable as advertising goes - but it’s higher than the usual lousy $20 CPM that advertising campaign managers often offer me.

    I’ve worked long and hard to develop a solid relationship with my audience - and nobody gets to tap that for .02 per listener ;)

  2. Jamie Davis, the Podmedic on November 22nd, 2007 4:50 am

    I have to agree with Kelly. My listeners are a lot more valuable to me. I also have a very niche audience compared to Leo’s.

    There are a great many Tech podcasts out there and while I think that TWIT and it’s network counterparts are among the best in that field, the large numbers of their competitors does water down the market for their ad buys.

    For more targeted shows, the CPM should be higher. Of course, many podcasters undervalue their content.

    Find out what your advertisers are spending elsewhere before meeting with them. Are they spending significant money on print ads in a publication in your niche? Get a rate card and find out the CPM there. This gives you a low end figure with which to start (you offer a much more engaged audience than a half page ad among 50 other half page ads).

    Using this model, my ad buy starts at 3 or 4 times Leo’s and that doesn’t count newsletter engagement and pay per click models. Better yet, engage them directly and sell your customers what they want — YOUR expertise, knowledge, and tips. As Paul Colligan enjoys saying — Think Like Big Media!

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