Small Audience, Big Opportunities: How Indie Podcasters Can Thrive with Direct Sponsorship

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Hi there, I'm Danny Brown and you're listening to Pod Chat,

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the show that features leaders of the podcasting space sharing their insights on the future of the medium.

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This week it's a bonus episode, but first just a quick update.

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The show's been on a bit of a hiatus over the summer and it was meant to come back before this,

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so I apologise for the delay.

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Life got in the way a little bit, so what was meant to be a short break over the summer turned into an extended one.

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So again, apologies for that, but the show will be back soon with the usual interviews.

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This week, however, I want to talk about why indie podcasters should use direct sponsorship and membership or tips.

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I've just come back from Podcast Movement in Denver, Colorado,

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and one of the overarching topics that was up for discussion was podcast monetization.

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No change there from previous years then.

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And it's understandable.

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It's a discussion that's been front and center of the podcasting space for many years now,

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especially as we see leading industry publications like Podnews and others

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share success stories, partnerships, exclusive deals, and more.

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But while the conversation remains fresh, the approach to monetisation seems to have stalled, at least in some quarters.

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While I couldn't get to listen to all the sessions and tracks around monetisation at Podcast Movement,

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one thing I did notice was some of the thinking about advertising being the lead or the best option for podcasters.

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While this might be the case for larger podcasts and media companies that represent these shows,

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these ad partnerships work because the podcast is getting tens, if not hundreds of thousands of episode downloads within the first 28 days,

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or 30, depending on whose data you track.

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They might even be in the millions.

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So yes, it makes sense for advertisers to partner with them and vice versa.

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After all, that many ears placed in front of a sponsor's message is always attractive.

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But for the average indie podcaster with maybe a few hundred downloads,

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or even averaging a couple of thousand,

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this approach won't work.

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And that's okay, because it doesn't need to.

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Instead, there are far more effective ways to monetize your show,

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regardless the size of your audience.

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The problem with using download numbers as a metric for podcast success

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is that they don't tell the full story.

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Because of auto download features in podcast apps,

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and queue for later choices by listeners,

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not every download will result in a listen.

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So while an episode might get 10,000 downloads, for example,

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perhaps only 2,000 result in an actual listen.

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While that's still a great metric,

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it does only represent 20% of the target audience

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hearing an ad.

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Yet sometimes advertisers still pay for all the downloads,

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or maybe impressions.

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And again, impressions could be a questionable metric

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to go by, depending on how the agreement is set up.

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Even if they're paying for CPM, which is cost per mille or cost per thousand listens,

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different platforms track listens differently, so that can also skew figures.

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Additionally, depending on how the podcaster is inserting ads,

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you may have less say over where they go than other options.

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You might also have less say over which ad partners you work with,

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depending on whether you're using an ad exchange that gives you that control,

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or with your podcast host that inserts at points they feel make sense,

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and with partners they feel are best suited to you.

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This can cause a bit of a disconnect and actually lose your listeners.

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So, instead of taking this ad-based approach,

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think of what makes sense not only for you, but your audience

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and the sponsors or partners you're thinking of working with.

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Even if you have a smaller audience, if the relevance and context is high,

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the more likely an action will be taken,

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whether that's your listeners redeeming a discount promo code,

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getting an extended free trial,

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or access to an exclusive online course event that your sponsor partner is running.

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I was speaking with a podcaster about this at Podcast Movement

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and wanted to know how to attract and work with sponsors when the show wasn't attracting thousands and thousands of downloads.

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So we went through some of the following.

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We chatted about his niche, his downloads, and how many unique listeners he had compared to these downloads.

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We saw by his analytics that he had a pretty engaged and loyal listenership.

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And we chatted about the types of sponsors he'd want to present to his audience and vice versa.

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From there, we saw an opportunity for him to work with a local comic book store in Culver City, Los Angeles.

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Because it turns out he had a pretty nice listenership there after attending a Comic-Con style event.

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Even though he wasn't local to Culver City, he could let the comic book store know that he has X amount of regular listeners every single week.

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And if the store was willing to sponsor the show, then the podcaster essentially has over 50 listeners who he could promote that store to in Culver City.

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If you're a small business and you're told that you could potentially get 50+ Warm Leads customers each week, that's a pretty win-win opportunity right there.

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That's just one example of where direct sponsorship with a relevant audience and sponsor or partner can work,

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even with so-called lower numbers.

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What's even cooler about this example is that the podcaster isn't even local,

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but the audience is.

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Just one more reason why you should be deep diving into your analytics for data that works.

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Now with that example, the extra care and time the podcaster put into identifying a sponsor that works for their niche,

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as well as ensuring their audience received value from the partnership,

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In this case, exclusive backstage invites to offer appearances and first option a newly released merchandise.

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It makes this a very valid partnership for both sides.

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It's this kind of care and attention for your audience that can also reward you

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if you go a more direct route to monetization with tips or memberships.

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Whether that's something like Buy Me A Coffee or Patreon,

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or the recently released Tips and Membership feature from Captivate,

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where I'm head of podcaster support and experience,

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these are excellent ways for you to offer listeners something extra.

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And for them to support their favourite podcaster or podcasters

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while getting rewards for doing so.

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It's why one-off tips and memberships are so popular now,

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both for podcasters and their listeners.

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As a listener, I know I'd rather throw a few bucks the way of a podcaster

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whose content has improved my life in some way,

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as opposed to one where monetisation is led by how much they can make

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instead of how much value they can offer their listeners.

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If you look after your audience,

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and consistently deliver on their expectations

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when it comes to what to expect from your show,

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that consistency will be rewarded by loyalty.

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They'll remain an active listener or follower,

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and be more open to supporting you if and when you're ready to offer something for a premium option,

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whether that's a one-off tip or a current monthly membership.

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Just make sure to keep things simple and realistic.

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If it's a one-off tip, don't overcomplicate with multiple amount options.

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Instead, either make a couple of default options or let the listener choose their own.

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If it's a membership option, make every tier different from each other,

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so each one shows a visible change from the previous one.

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Make the benefits of each clear and obvious.

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Offer a free trial. Memberships can still be tricky for some listeners to understand,

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so a free trial, while still receiving the perk of the paid membership, is a great way to show

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why they'd want to upgrade and pay. Offer a personal message and be genuine about why you

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truly appreciate their support. And be sure to thank publicly where possible and give shouts

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on your podcast. Show that your audience and their support means something. Memberships and tips can

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be super effective when it comes to earning through your show. Listeners generally want to

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support their favourite creators and if they can do that monetarily, they will.

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Especially if you're super smart with the perks that come from being a member.

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And maybe offer exclusive perks from sponsors that you're working with for an

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all-round partnership bonus for both listener and sponsor. So for example,

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"Subscribe to Tier X and get a special limited edition item from this show's

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kind sponsors." The key thing to remember whether you're working with sponsors or

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more directly with tips and memberships is to always have your audience front

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and centre when it comes to what's on offer. It needs to make sense for them

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and benefit them, much like your content hopefully does.

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Get that right, and the size of your audience matters far less

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than if you were just going down the advertiser route.