How to get sponsors for your podcast
One of the reasons you might want to start podcasting is because you think you will get sponsors to help pay your expenses and possibly generate additional income. Sponsors will typically pay you to mention your business, products, or services while recording your podcast. This allows you to earn money from each podcast episode that is broadcast. Here are some helpful tips for finding sponsors.
Start with a good podcast
Before doing anything else, make sure you have a good podcast with a decent number of listeners. This is the same concept as when you want advertisers for your website or blog.
No one will advertise with you before making sure you are a good fit for their company. They want to know the type of content you post, what your voice is, and what your niche is about. Advertisers will also be looking to see roughly how many views or downloads their podcast receives in a typical day. Having a good following, having new episodes posted regularly, and having an endorsement page that shares your stats is a must have.
Wait for them to come to you
Once you have a podcast that is popular and up to date, some sponsors will come to you. It’s good to keep promoting your podcast even when you have a large following, because the more you promote, the more likely it is that sponsors will find you.
Post about your podcast everywhere, including on your website, your blog, on social media, and even on social bookmarking sites. Many podcasters don’t start out just to get sponsors, they end up finding them on their own over time.
Listen to other podcasts
If you want to reach out to sponsors, you first need to know which companies like to sponsor podcasts. Rather than simply approaching people blindly, start by listening to a few other podcasts in your same topic or niche.
Listen to the podcasts that you know already have sponsors and find out exactly who sponsors them. This gives you a good idea of the types of companies that might also be interested in your podcast. You still need to keep promoting and seeking sponsors on your own, but this is a good place to start when you really can’t decide who to turn to to sponsor your podcast.
Post about your availability for sponsors
Make sure potential sponsors know that you are available to accept sponsorships. Not all podcasts want to advertise or make money, so some backers may be a bit wary of reaching out.
Make it very obvious that you are accepting banner and sponsor advertisements. You can do this by posting about your podcast on a blog or website, then having a specific page for sponsors. This lets them know what is available and what venues are available to backers, how to contact you, and what types of businesses or products you are interested in promoting. This also turns into a page where you can use keywords so that any business looking through a normal search engine can find you.
Create an ad looking for sponsors
You can also have an ad on your site and other related sites that shows that you are looking for sponsors. This ad should have the name of your podcast and a brief description of the type of podcast you have. Then you can have a short phrase that mentions that you are currently accepting offers from sponsors or advertisers.
While it’s nice to have endorsements, don’t be disappointed if you can’t get sponsorships right away. Businesses look for ROI (return on investment) for every advertising dollar. If you don’t have the downloads or audience to impress a business, first find other ways to monetize your podcast.
Most major sponsors look at the “Cost Per Thousand” factor. A typical sponsor will pay something like $ 30 per thousand downloads for an episode. So if you only get 75-100 downloads per episode, you probably won’t get the kind of sponsors that spend on podcast advertising.
Try local businesses
This will come naturally to you if you have a podcast that you can relate to the local business owner. You can reach a fixed agreement of a certain dollar amount for a certain number of episodes.
For example, if you have a podcast on auto repair, you can head to an auto parts store for endorsement purposes. You mention the name of the store and refer your listeners to the store during the podcast. Be sure to tell your listeners to let the store know that they found out about them on their podcast.
Remember, companies need to know that their ad money is working. If no one walks into the store mentioning your podcast, after a month or two, the company will stop sponsoring you.
Consider all of this information in light of understanding sponsorship from a business perspective. Many podcasters think that sponsors will knock on their door to try and advertise with them. I wish it were as simple as that. But this is rarely the case.
Getting sponsors is hard work. But if you take your time, build your listener base, and deliver a good quality podcast with interesting topics, you will eventually have the sponsors you are looking for.
Just don’t count on it happening right away. Use other monetization techniques first and work towards sponsors.