I need podcast sponsors!

The only thing I've found that works is reaching out to my network, and showing companies I know how their brand could connect with our audience.

I would definitely ignore big brands (like Squarespace, MailChimp, and Stamps.com). They'll pay between $18-$35 per CPM (per 1000 downloads) to sponsor podcasts, but they generally won't look at you until you episodes are getting 30,000 - 50,000 downloads in the first 30 days.

So how do you get advertisers if you have a small listenership?

Jon and I sell ad spots like this:

• $600 for two months (16 episodes)
• we limit our available spots to two at a time (they alternate between pre-roll and mid-roll).

Our podcast currently gets ~2,600 downloads per episode in the first 30 days.

We average 23,551 downloads in a month. So our CPM is currently around $25.

We attract advertisers organically because we serve a very specific niche: people interested in the software industry. Because we only feature two sponsors per episode (and they have to book a minimum of two months), we're able to manually reach out to companies we think would benefit.

I second @mijustin's advice to reach out. What worked best for me with IH was sending cold emails to companies I'd heard advertise on similar podcasts. If you're friends with other podcasters (or you post in the Podcasters group) you might get someone to share their advertisers' contact info, but I wouldn't count on it.

Another trick I've heard: Record "fake" ads for company X on a few old episodes, then contact their competitors and tell them you've talked about X on your show, and ask if they'd like to advertise. I know someone who's done this with solid results.

I never did this myself, partly because I didn't know the trick back when I was selling ads, and partly because it edges too close to the border of lying to be my first resort. But I admit it's pretty clever.

Lastly, it might be useful to announce that you're looking for sponsors on your show itself? I've never come across anybody doing this, but I imagine it could work well, because the only people who hear it will be people who believe in your show and think it's valuable. I suppose it really depends on your audience, but if you went this route, there are all kinds of clever ways you could do it.

I’m interested. What do the numbers look like? Send me details at Gabriel@audiostaq.com

🤔 maybe the companies you've been interviewing as a sponsor?

I am interested. Shoot me an email at patelutsav7@gmail.com