The Complete Guide to Podcast Sponsorship

Before you dive in, if you are interested in podcast sponsorship, check out these titles in our “sponsorship for podcasters” series:

• • Sponsorship for Influencers
  • Podcast Sponsorship Opportunities: 5 Examples of Sponsorship Done Well
  • How to Create a Podcast Sponsorship Agreement
  • How to Get Sponsorships for Podcasts: 6 Steps to Success
  • How to Create a Podcast Sponsorship Proposal That Sponsors Will Love
  • How to Market Your Podcast
  • How to Grow a Podcast
  • How to Get Sponsorship for your Youtube Channel
  • How Much Should You Charge for Podcast Sponsorship
  • 7 Podcast Sponsorship Mistakes to Avoid
  • The Do’s and Don’ts of Pitching Sponsors for Your Podcast

How Many Downloads Are Required to Break into Podcast Sponsorship?

Getting sponsorship isn’t like a video game where when you reach an arbitrary number, you’ll level up and sponsors will begin banging down your door. I wish life worked like video games sometimes, but I digress.

There is no one magic number. Some sponsors are okay with 5,000 downloads, and others want 50,000 or more a month. 

That said, the more listeners and downloads you have, the more viable you look to a sponsor.

Remember, sponsors want ROI. If you get 10,000 downloads a month versus 1,000, that proves you’re a safe investment, as you have enough listeners that the money they give you will produce a profit.

That doesn’t mean you’re out of luck if you’re a smaller podcast. You should continue striving for more listeners but seek sponsors that don’t mind a lower number of downloads to start. They are out there, albeit more difficult to find.  

6 Effective Strategies for Finding Podcast Sponsors

Speaking of, how do you track down podcast sponsors? It seems like all your competitors have it down pat, but you’re struggling to find anyone interested in working together. 

It’s likely you’re looking in the wrong places. Here are six tips to help you find your next podcast sponsorship prospect.

Audience Preferences

Above all else, allow your audience to be your guide regarding which podcast sponsors to gravitate toward. They’re the ones who tune into your podcast and download your episodes. They like you on social media, engage with you, and likely spread your show via word of mouth.

You need them, so the brands they like should be at the top of your prospecting list. 

That doesn’t mean you must work with every brand they prefer. You still need to do your due diligence, researching each brand to ensure they’re a fit for your show. If they aren’t, discard them. 

Social Media

Who isn’t on social media these days? You could use platforms like Facebook, TikTok, and Twitter to track down your next sponsor. Drop a line to your contacts and see if anyone has any recommendations for who you can work with. 

Here’s another tip. Use LinkedIn for prospect research. You can learn about individuals and the company as a whole. 

Related Brands

You’ve begun building a list of podcast sponsorship prospects by now, but if it’s still a little sparse, let me help you beef it up.

Let’s say (and this is only for the sake of the example) that the top prospect on your list is Coca-Cola. You can expand your list to include related brands, such as Pepsi and Mountain Dew.

However, let me mention again the importance of due diligence. Although these brands might be related, that doesn’t mean they’re automatically the right choice for your audience. Companies across one industry have myriad values and ideals. 

Your Competitors

I always recommend watching what your competitors do. If they break into a new niche or industry with their sponsor choices, perhaps you should consider doing the same. That said, you should always ask yourself, “does this work for my podcast?”

Two podcasts that share a genre can have different goals and audiences, attracting various types of sponsors. Don’t blindly follow the leader. 

Get on a Hosting Service

Hosting services such as Transistor or Buzzsprout present sponsorship opportunities, especially a platform like the Buzzsprout Affiliate Marketplace. As that name implies, the sponsorships are usually related to affiliate marketing.

Some hosting services are free, or offer free features, but many require a monthly payment. 

Join a Podcast Directory or Network 

You can always bring the sponsors to you by getting your show on a podcast directory. Resources like Google Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts get millions of visitors each, so billions overall. 

If a sponsor sees your show, they could reach out and ask about starting a working arrangement. 

Podcast networks are another avenue sponsors will research to find partners. While joining a directory is usually free, podcast networks often charge.

Podcast Advertising Avenues to Explore (All the Types)

Let’s review the ad models you can use as you work with a podcast sponsor. 

Sponsored Segments

A sponsored segment is a portion of your show with name credits to the sponsor. For example, you and the sponsor might agree to a giveaway of $1,000 per episode to celebrate 1,000 episodes of your show and call it “the Coca-Cola $1,000 Giveaway” (if your sponsor was Coke).

Other examples of sponsored segments are audience call-ins, contests, and Q&A sessions where you answer questions listeners previously submitted. 

Dynamic Ad Insertion

An emerging trend in podcasts is dynamic ad insertion, using ad tools that allow you to target audiences ultra-specifically. For example, you can reach listeners based on criteria like the time of day, geography, and other parameters.

You’d record these ads in advance and can reuse them across episodes if they don’t mention anything time-specific or show-specific, such as a limited-edition giveaway. You can have several versions of the ads recorded and ready to go. 

The ads are as permanent as you need them to be. Since they’re provided on-demand, you can remove dynamic ads and replace them, such as if your giveaway ends or partnership changes.

Even better, you don’t have to take down the episode and reupload it, making dynamic ads very appealing to content creators.

Sponsors also like this type of ad, as they can choose which demos and geos to target specifically based on the criteria that matters most to them. Baked-in ads, which stay with a show forever because you read them live on-air, aren’t nearly as targeted. 

Branded Episode

You could also introduce branded episodes to your sponsors. Just as the name implies, a branded episode is centered around the sponsor from beginning to end. Usually, they’ll only have that episode dedicated to them. 

You can use live read and dynamic ads, interviews, contests, and Q&As with the sponsor to keep the episode engaging from start to finish. 

Live Read Ad

A live read ad is one of the most popular types of podcast advertising for sponsors, and for good reason! 

These ads are easy to produce, as you’re reading them on-air between show segments. They rarely have any music or flashy effects, just your voice. 

You can select from pre-roll, mid-roll, and post-roll ads. A pre-roll ad airs before your podcast begins, mid-roll ads are anytime throughout the show, and post-roll ads are after your episode wraps. 

You can also choose from those three placements for dynamic ads. 

How to Secure Podcast Sponsors

Are you ready to get on the road to podcast sponsorship? Here are the required steps. 

Determine If It’s the Right Time

As your podcast begins experiencing growth, you’ll naturally know when the time is right to take on sponsors. However, if you’re still wondering, here are some signs you should proceed:

• You have solid offers sponsors are interested in
• You have an idea of the value of your show and are willing to do more research to ascertain it
• You have enough time for sponsorship 
• You have enough listeners to justify it
• You have a long-standing record of show data
• Your show has amassed many positive reviews
• You have a pro-level show but are always willing to improve

Review Your Listener Data

Next, it’s time to extrapolate on your listener data. A wealth of data will help you gain the most insights, but you might need to augment the listener stats with survey information. 

Listener data will provide geographics and demographics, while the audience survey will provide psychographic data. 

Having this information isn’t enough. You need to break it down as much as you can. Think about making a cake. You don’t want lumps in the batter, right? You have to reduce those lumps as best you can.

That’s what you’re doing each time you segment your audience. There is no such thing as overly specific information. Podcast sponsors are eager to learn as much about your audience as they can, as these are the customers they will target for conversion.

If they’re not a fit, or if only some of your audience is, a sponsor has that information from the beginning. 

Prospect

By this point, you’re ready to begin prospecting per the instructions above. I recommend a list of at least 20 to 30 prospects as you get underway. You can always increase the number by researching competitors of the prospects on your list. 

Have a Discovery Session

Identifying and researching prospects now leaves you ready for discovery. As a busy podcast host, you only need a quick call or Zoom meeting with a potential sponsor. It doesn’t have to be an in-person interview. 

The discovery session is your opportunity to go deeper than what you were able to find online. You know how to ask hard-hitting questions if you interview guests, so focus on areas like the prospect’s sales, marketing, audience retention, and short- and long-term goals. 

The key is to learn more about your prospect to brainstorm appropriate solutions for them. This is when you get to use those ad opportunities we discussed earlier. 

Value Your Opportunity 

What is your podcast worth? You need to know before you can secure a sponsorship. 

Fortunately, it’s very easy to calculate your podcast value. Divide the number of downloads by the amount you’ve spent on your podcast overall. Next, multiply by 100. 

This is your podcast ROI, but your podcast sponsorship opportunity is worth more than that. Remember those solutions you were supposed to come up with for the sponsor? The assets, activations, and opportunities?

You must also calculate their value. You can do that by researching the base price of these services on the marketplace, then determining where your value lies based on the uniqueness and quality of your services.  

Negotiate 

As you continue meeting with your prospective podcast sponsor about working together (and I use the term “meeting” figuratively; this can all be done online), the time will eventually come when the terms become more concrete, and you enter the negotiation stage. 

At this point, you’re ready to talk about how much cash will change hands and what you will achieve for the sponsor. Once it’s in writing, you know it’s legally binding, so only agree to what you can reasonably do. 

Delivery 

Next, it’s all about delivering on the objectives you promised. This will increase your chances of working with the sponsor again and ensure you have a positive reputation so other sponsors will want to team up with your show in the future. 

The Advantages of Podcast Sponsorship 

Podcast sponsorship is one of the most swiftly growing sponsorship niches I’ve seen. That’s due to how podcast listenership continues to tick upward with each increasing year. 

If you’re a podcast host, and especially an established one, there is zero reason not to try for sponsorship. Here are some of the benefits you can reap. 

Strengthens Clout

All podcasts want to be perceived as the authority of their industry or niche. After all, even the smallest niche you can think of has become oversaturated with podcasts. Since it’s so easy to start a podcast, everyone wants to do it.

When you have clout behind your program, you give people a reason to choose you over your competitors, whether you’re going against hundreds or thousands of other podcasts. 

Increases Downloads

Working with a sponsor ensures fresh attention on your podcast. You should notice that the downloads increase on your new episodes compared to before you were working with a sponsor. 

Not only that, but you should see the downloads of your old episodes shoot up as curiosity about your show grows. 

Adds New Listeners 

Naturally, your listenership will jump once new people discover your podcast through your sponsorship. However, it’s up to you to maintain this new subset of your audience, continuing to produce high-quality content that piques the listener’s curiosity and sparks their enjoyment. 

Introduces Your Audience to New Brands

The benefits aren’t all for you, dear podcast host. Your audience also gets to hear about more great brands tailored to them due to your careful sponsorship selection process. After enough five-star recommendations, they’ll be loyal for life. 

How Many Sponsors Does My Podcast Need? One or More?

Before you worry about getting multiple sponsors for your podcast, focus on getting one. 

Then, once you have them, prioritize keeping them by providing tailored activations and assets that fulfill their needs, learning about their evolving challenges, and coming up with innovative solutions.

Ultimately, how many sponsorships your podcast needs will depend on your cash and/or promotional goals. You might decide that two is enough, or maybe three. 

More isn’t always better. You need the bandwidth, energy, and creativity to provide unique content for each sponsor you onboard. If you feel like you can’t give that to another partner, you have enough sponsors. 

A Case Study in Podcast Sponsorship 

A few months ago, I got to interview Dave Stewart, a leader in the podcast sphere. I recommend you read the full case study here, and watch the interview below. This will be an abridged version.  

Dave is behind Wet Fly Swing, a fly-fishing resource. He used to listen to a lot of podcasts, so after his site began gaining traction, he decided to start his own show. Today, his podcast of the same name has more than 450 episodes and counting.

The podcast sponsorship best practices Dave shared with me will be glimmering nuggets of information for you, dear reader. Dave told me that having connections within the fly fishing community helped him find people interested in being interviewed for his then-new podcast.

The interviews immediately rose the stock of his show.

He also expounded on the value of smaller sponsors. The bigger and more popular the sponsor, the more you can assume everyone has asked to work with them, including your competitors. These companies are inundated with requests and can’t get to them all.

Downsizing your aspirations isn’t failing. It’s ensuring you can get the sponsorship ball rolling. The bigger sponsors usually follow not too long after. 

FAQ

Is Podcast Sponsorship Worth It?

Podcast sponsorship isn’t easy, but then again, no type of sponsorship is. However, it’s always worth it, as sponsorship is an excellent way to improve the authority and brand value of your podcast. As mentioned, you can also accelerate listenership and loyalty. 

Can Small Podcasts Get Sponsors?

Yes, absolutely! Setting your sights on equally small brands and businesses will help you more easily find someone willing to work with your podcast despite that you don’t get thousands of downloads per episode. 

How Many Listeners Do You Need to Get Sponsors? 

Again, there is no magic number, but you need at least several hundred listeners before you should consider opening your door to a sponsorship opportunity. Your chances are better still if you have several thousand.