February 21, 2022

How to Get Podcast Sponsors

How to Get Podcast Sponsors

When done right, starting a podcast can be a great source of income. It can even grow into a full-time job if you want it to and you play your cards right.

Of course, it’s fair to point out that sponsorships are just one of many ways to make money from your podcast. You could also build a loyal audience and sell digital products or use your podcast to promote and grow your other social media ventures.

So, if you are seeking to learn how to get podcast sponsors and you’re anxious to see positive growth on your podcast sooner than later, here’s our best advice for you to get podcast sponsorships, no matter what stage your podcast is in.

All you should know about how to get podcast sponsors:

Styles of podcast sponsorships:

There are many ways you can promote and advertise the goods or services a paying podcast sponsor sells. You’re free to get a little creative, but usually, hosts use one of two ways to run ads: radio-style or host-read.

Radio-style ads

With this format, a third-party marketing company creates the ds, and you have to promote them somewhere in your episode.

Some podcast sponsors only work with hosts who run radio-style ads, which is worth bearing in mind.

Host-read ads:

With this format, instead of inserting ads, you promote the product or service and explain why it works for you, and why your audience should invest in it.

It’s up to you to add the narrative; just make sure it sounds natural and that it flows well.

This is the most popular style of ads in podcasts, making up over 63 percent of podcast ads.

Regardless of which ad style you choose, keep in mind that the three places to run an ad are:

  • Pre-roll: right before the show starts.
  • Mid-roll: somewhere during the episode.
  • Post-roll: after the show.

Here are the kinds of podcast sponsorships models:

CPM Model

CPM stands for “Cost Per Mille”, with this sponsorship model, you will be getting paid for every 1,000 listens and/or episode downloads.

According to HubSpot, sponsors pay $20 to $50 per 1,000 listens and/or episode downloads.

Accordingly, if people listen/download your episode 100,000 times, you earn from $2,000 to $5000 from that single episode!

The problem? This model works best for bigger podcasts. Many sponsors won’t work with small to mid-sized podcasts through the CPM model!

Affiliate model:

Certain brands let you sign up as an affiliate. You’re paid only when a listener buys the products or services that you’re promoting.

Additionally, there’s flexibility over how often you promote the product, and there’s no limit to how much you can earn.

The downside? There’s no guaranteed income, and you could earn nothing. Affiliate marketing just doesn’t seem to work for everyone!

Value-based sponsorships:

Value-based sponsorship is a very good sponsorship model for smaller podcasts.

Unlike with CPM, when you get value-based sponsors for podcast episodes, you’re not paid for the number of downloads. Instead, you negotiate a set rate with the sponsor (for example, $50 per episode). It doesn’t matter how many downloads you get: you won’t earn more (nor less) than $50.

It might not be an ideal sponsorship model for large podcasts with high download rates, but it could be good push forward for smaller or niche podcasts.

How to get podcast sponsors:

Reach out to sponsors directly:

One of the simplest techniques to get a sponsored podcast episode is to just reach out to them directly following these simple steps:

  • Research brands in your niche.
  • Check them out and identify which products or services they advertise.
  • Look up the company’s details and find a point of contact.
  • Pitch to them directly.

This process is made a lot easier by Mysocial App and its BrandOutreach feature, this feature allows you to connect with more than 3000 brands and sponsors with complete ease.

Additionally, This extremely long list of sponsors consists of different brands involved in all niches and services, so you can find the ideal brand deal that fits the niche of your podcast without much fuss.

Mysocial App helps gamers connect with sponsors.

So what are you waiting for to download Mysocial and get a brand deal now!?

Partner with a hosting service:

Podcast hosting services are basically a podcast sponsor marketplace that gives your podcast a much higher chance to get sponsored. These services let you create, manage, and monetize your podcast.

Here are some examples:

  • Mysocial: Mysocial is the best monetization app for influencers of all kinds on social media. You can use the above-mentioned BrandOutreach feature to help you find sponsorships with ease. 
  • Anchor: Anchor Sponsorships give you control over your ad placement and the types of ads you run. This platform is free and could be a great option for new podcasters.
  • Buzzsprout: The Buzzsprout Affiliate Marketplace helps you find and connect with potential sponsors. It’s a good option if you’re seeking an affiliate marketing plan.
  • Transistor: in exchange for a monthly fee, Transistor allows you to create and manage multiple podcasts, which could boost your chance of finding (and securing) sponsors for podcast episodes.

All the apps above are great. However, they lack some advanced features that are exclusive to Mysocial.

That’s why we highly recommend Mysocial! It’s the only app on the market that has a self-updating Mediakit to help you find close brand deals for your podcast with ease without having to manually update your analytics every time. A lot more for you to discover!

Join a podcast network:

You can join podcast networks and list your show on their platforms. Potential sponsors browse these platforms often & reach out to the shows they’re interested in working with.

This is a great way to get sponsorships on your podcast as well as gain more attention, but if you’re a niche podcast or still building a persona, it may be less effective than other methods. Some networks are hard to join, and they often expect a cut in commission for pairing you with a brand!

However, there’s no harm in giving these networks a go.

Examples of these networks include Wondery and PodcastOne.

You can also use Mysocial instead and use the BrandOutreach feature that we mentioned earlier. Using this feature allows you to connect with thousands of brands with the touch of a button, and with a fraction of the price of the other sponsor networks on the market.

BrandOutreach also allows you to keep 100% of all the revenue you make from the sponsorships that it allows you to get, which means that it is a commission-free service. Therefore, this makes Mysocial the best app to give you sponsorships on your podcasts.

Use a podcast directory:

Another awesome way to get podcast sponsors is to join podcast directories,  which essentially act as listening apps for all kinds of podcasts. Listeners can use these directories to subscribe and listen to their favorite podcasts.

There’s always the chance you’ll connect with a sponsor this way!

If you use hosting services like Buzzsprout, they can help you list on the top directories, but you can also reach out to whichever ones you want!

Do some research to find the right directory for your podcast, but here are a few to get you started:

Before reaching out to sponsors

Know your niche:

The main thing you need to do before getting a sponsor on your podcast is to study your niche very well and build good content surrounding it.

You need to know and study the podcasts that are competing against you so you can make better content than them to become a better suitor for potential sponsors.

You should consider the following factors when researching your competitors:

  • Make notes on the popular shows. What are the hosts like? Why do people love the content? Most importantly, how can you use what you learn to improve your show?
  • If the shows use host-read ads, study how they make those ads sound natural. Think about what works and what doesn’t.
  • Consider where they place their ads. Is it pre-roll, mid-roll, or post-roll? Look for patterns in your niche and follow them, if possible.

Build a loyal fanbase

The size and engagement rates of your audience determine which sponsors you’ll attract and how to go about securing them. In other words, huge companies are unlikely to sponsor a show with a very small or niche audience.

If you’re still growing your audience, consider choosing platforms like Mysocial to simplify the process of finding sponsors.

However, if you’re confident in your numbers, you might prefer to reach out to individual brands directly.

You can also use Mysocial to help you build a very convenient self-updating Mediakit to share with potential sponsors to show them your analytics and convince them to give you a brand deal.

Make professional content

The first impression counts. You have to make sure your podcast is done professionally to help you attract a sponsor by running through a quick quality checklist:

  • Make sure your recordings are clear & free from interference.
  • Always use the best quality recording equipment you can afford.
  • Fact-check anything you say, unless it’s purely opinion-based.
  • Consider putting together a media kit to include with your pitch letter or send out to potential sponsors.

Learn how to pitch to potential sponsors:

The most essential thing you need to learn when networking as a content creator is how to pitch potential sponsorships with brands.

Just follow these steps and you should be fine:

  • Keep your pitches detailed but coincide, professional, and personalized.
  • Begin by specifying who you are & why you’re contacting the company about a potential brand deal between you both.
  • Pitch your show in one or two sentences.
  • If you have a great number of followers, make sure to mention it. Otherwise, add a line or two about why you’re reaching out to this particular company, why do you think the partnership is a good idea? How will the company benefit from working with you?
    Overall, focus on how you can help the brand or company rather than how awesome you are because they know you’re awesome!
  • End with an invitation for the company to contact you to discuss the proposal further.

Don’t just send one email out to a single sponsor. Target at least 5-10 sponsors at a time. You won’t hear back from them all, as it often takes time to find the right sponsor. But you just keep dropping the hammer until someone breaks and you get to speak to them!

Reach out to the right brands

Your podcast is all about your audience; without a target audience, you can’t market your podcast, and you’ll find it hard to grow it and secure sponsors.

Accordingly, choosing the wrong sponsors is worse than having none at all. Not only that, but some listeners despise any ads during podcasts, so there’s always a chance you could lose some of your audience when advertising irrelevant products!

However, consider the following when contacting sponsors:

  • Choose sponsors that align with your podcast’s identity and what you stand for.
  • Ensure the products or services you’re sponsoring offer something of value to your audience base. You can do this by running demographic or psychometric profiling.

To wrap up

Having the opportunity to turn your podcast from a hobby to a job will be a dream come true for many. Podcast sponsors can turn your show into a profitable business. However, don’t get too attracted to it. Try to limit your ads to avoid turning your podcast into a radio market and irritating your audience. We hope that you will find sponsors for your podcast soon with the help of this article and Mysocial.