5 Alternatives to Podcast Sponsors.

Advertising and sponsorship has been around for a long time.

I have no doubt that marketing language designed to inspire purchases made it’s first appearance at roughly the same time as the concept of bartering.

And of course, wealthier groups and individuals have been funding art, sports, attractions and events via sponsorships and patronage since the first person who more money then they could spend on themselves thought: “gosh, I wonder if I could buy influence, power and prestige instead of just goods and services?”

Ads and sponsors have made possible truly amazing art and scientific achievement and cultural experiences that otherwise would have had to be valued by society and it’s leaders enough to be funded through taxes. Never an easy sell.

So I am not against the idea of sponsorships, in theory. They often make possible creative works that wouldn’t otherwise exist.

But I still don’t think they have a place in most company podcasts.

Airspace is valuable, recall of brands and offers made on podcasts is high, and listeners have a limit for how many CTAs they can follow. Those are all benefits a business can and should use for themselves rather than selling to a sponsor.

But you know what? Sometimes an ad just makes a podcast sound more podcasty. There’s nothing wrong with wanting that.

So, if you want your show to have a structure that allows for sponsorship in the future, or because you just prefer an episode format that has structured breaks for different content, you can do it without aligning with an outside sponsor right now.

Here are 5 alternatives to traditional sponsorship that can take up the space an advertisement from an outside company otherwise would.

1. Run ads for your own products and services. You have a business. You sell things. That should be the main ‘monetization’ of your podcast. If your show is not officially a part of your sales funnel in other ways, then pop a few ads for your best selling products and services! There is also nothing stopping you from making your whole show “presented by My Company!” Having these kinds of ads before or instead of taking on outside sponsors means that if you ever do, your audience will expect it and you won’t have to redesign the whole thing.
2. Offer ads to your guests as a thank you for joining you on the show. This one is a relationship building play - when you have a guest that you want to really get off on the right foot with, you can offer them an ad spot in your podcast the same week they are the guest. It’s best if you’re using Dynamic Ad Insertion for this strategy, so they get placement in all past episodes, but if it’s baked into just their episode, that’s fine, too. This can tie in nicely with the next idea
3. Share affiliate offers. If you know that traditional sponsorship is in your future, one of the most important things to start gathering is data on conversions. A simple way to do this is to use ad spaces in your podcast to promote affiliate offers, either those of your guests, or for any company or service provider you happen to like who has an affiliate program. You can make these as simple or as highly produced as you like, and you’ll gain some excellent insight into when and why people are following CTAs in your show.
4. Highlight other content creators. If there’s a podcast you really like, or learn a lot from, or would love to be on some day - promote it on your own show! “I liked your recent episode so much I shared it with my audience!” is a nice thing to include in an introduction letter. This can help you make connections with creators you’d like to network or collaborate with, but also gives you a chance to lift up other voices - maybe those that you don’t feel get the attention they deserve.
5. Support charities and organizations you care about. Of all, this is probably my favorite. We all have causes we support, and can’t always give as much money as we might like to - but airspace and message-spreading can be even more valuable to a small charity or non-profit. You can talk to the organization and your accountant about making this a deduction if you wish, or just do something nice because you can.

What do you think? Are you seeking outside sponsorships, are you using that airtime for something else - or nothing at all?

Onwards!

#PodcastMarketing #PodcastSponsors #PodcastStrategy #PodcastingforBusiness