Episodes

“No one is really special… You have the same problems as everyone else, and if you can connect with some sort of empathy to the problem that’s being solved by this [product], I think you will find an audience in the sponsorship.” We’ve all heard a podcast host start an ad read by saying, “I SWEAR I’d never promote a product I didn’t love and use every day.” As consumers, this transparency is part of the reason we love podcasts, but is the host being too selective? Could they ethically promote ...

We’ve all heard the horror stories of smart homes listening to your conversations when they shouldn’t be or mentioning you need a product and immediately getting a targeted ad for it. As our society gets more reliant on technology, privacy is a hot topic. Which begs the question, is there a privacy issue in podcasting? Audiohook founder Jordan Bentley joins Heather Osgood on the newest episode of The Podcast Advertising Playbook. Tune in now to find out if Heather and Jordan have concerns about...

“When we don’t have that level of diversity in our industry, it doesn’t bode well because you’re very quickly going to be irrelevant. As those younger people and those new minds come into things, if it doesn’t engage them, they just won’t deal with it. There won’t be like some kind of fight by the next generation to save podcasting. They just won’t engage with it.” Tangia Al-awaji Estrada is the co-founder of BIPOC Podcast Creators, and today she sat down with Heather Osgood to talk about dive...

“One of the things that you and I had been talking about is this idea of creating a successful relationship from beginning to end… We want the content creator to be rewarded. We want the ad seller to be rewarded, and we want the advertiser to be rewarded. It has to be a win across the board.” In today’s episode of The Podcast Advertising Playbook, Heather is joined by Jay Green. Jay is the SVP, Podcast Strategy & Operations at Cadence13 and has great experience in the advertising space. Heathe...

“So, the way that I always love to think about it is for the independent podcaster, True Native Media really acts as a pseudo sales arm.” In over 100 episodes of The Podcast Advertising Playbook, Heather Osgood hasn’t spent a lot of time talking about what we do at True Native Media - but that’s about to change. Heather is joined by our brand new Vice President, Nick Gryniewicz, to tell you everything you need to know about how True Native Media can take your podcast from a hobby to a full-time...

“I have to remind people… Let’s just say audio or digital. Audio, in general - it’s a perishable media.” Once the opportunity to monetize on audio is gone, it’s GONE. That can sound pretty scary if you’re new to podcast advertising, but the CRO of SoundStack, Rockie Thomas, believes programmatic ads can capitalize on optimization in real time. In our newest episode of The Podcast Advertising Playbook, Heather Osgood and Rockie Thomas discuss: Programmatic ads & the different ways to work with...

“I’m a sales guy, but if I could sell things and see it affect someone else’s livelihood and go from, you know, doing what was a hobby to doing what they love is part of the love that I have for [the podcasting] space.” If you’ve made it to this episode, you must love the podcasting space as much as we do. And one of the reasons we love it so much is because everyone is so willing to help everyone else. Which is exactly what Thomas Mancusi, CRO at AudioBoom, did on today’s episode with True Na...

“My biggest encouragement is always keeping an open mind. Keep an open mind and keep very strict reporting. Both are equally important. And, with those paired, I think you can create a very easy roadmap for successful advertising within the podcast industry.” One of the cornerstones of successful advertising is always testing new things, but who hasn’t been stuck in their comfort zone before? If you’re currently feeling a little stuck, you’re in the right spot. In today’s episode, Heather Osgo...

Are you doing everything you can to make a successful podcast advertising campaign? “Podcast buying, let’s say this tongue in cheek, but it’s hard. It’s not easy…The goal is that you’re getting those really engaged people who, you know, are listening to the host for that content, and they’re gonna convert.” James Ingrassia, EVP Client Services at Oxford Road. Creating and executing a podcast advertising campaign can get tricky. From identifying your target audience to finding shows that align ...

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“What an advertiser’s doing with podcasting, they’re really leaning into or capitalizing on the super intimate relationship the host has built with their audience.” Meredith Krantz Vice President, Digital Partnerships at Westwood One. Not all brands utilize podcast advertising, but maybe all brands should. The lack of clear standardization across the podcasting space can make podcast advertising look like the wild wild west, but podcasts have uniqueness and authenticity that can’t be ignored. ...

"Marketers that continue to copy the Salesforce playbook from 2006 for their 50-person SaaS company will continue to struggle. Nobody in a growth phase can win with this strategy anymore." Chris Walker Founder and CEO of Refine Labs. Buyers are taking an entirely new approach to make a purchasing decision. They are using slack communities, podcasts, social posts, friends' recommendations, and events to find solutions to their problems. Marketers stuck in the old ways will fall off if they don't...

Podcast Movement is my favorite event of the year. I get to see old friends and make new ones. I network with clients and discuss my favorite topic - anything related to podcast advertising. This year felt so good to see everyone in person ready to do business. Although I don't get to attend many sessions because I am jam-packed with meetings, I have conversations with industry leaders about important topics. These are what I will share with you today. Dynamic ad insertion was a hot topic this...

I don't think we talk enough about brand safety in podcasting. You might ask yourself, "Well, Heather, what is brand safety, and why is it important in podcast advertising?" As Tamara Nelson, Co-Founder of Barometer explains, "Whatever content you advertise on is what your brand becomes associated with, and that can sometimes be a very negative association." Podcasting is relatively unregulated, so it can create challenges for marketers and brands looking to advertise in the space where anyone ...

Over the last five years, audio has risen to challenge video in a way I never thought would happen. While everyone says, "Attention spans are getting shorter; make bite-size content," I have seen the long-form podcasting style thrive. But many brands are not paying attention to building a robust audio strategy because they are stuck on attracting GenZ on TikTok. So how do you create a brand audio strategy? It's a great question that not many people know the answer to. So I invited Korri Kolesa,...

I feel like I have been in podcast advertising forever (6 years). But then I talked to Todd Cochrane, a friend, and fellow podcast enthusiast, who has been selling ads on his show and many others for 17 years, and I realized there is always so much to learn. "Smaller shows have much higher engagement than bigger shows. The audiences are much more loyal. They're much more willing to try a product or service because they support the podcast." He shares his secret sauce for keeping his advertiser...

Recently, some very strange product companies have reached out to try podcast ads. It got me thinking about the legal side of podcast advertising and if there was one. We don't deal with it, so I invited Gordon Firemark to the podcast to share his expertise on the subject. "I sometimes talk about the podcast prenup. People (brands) working on the show with us should know what they get, what they own, and what they're not entitled to. It's protecting our intellectual product." Gordon and I disc...

Have you ever wondered how advertisers know if their brand initiatives are working correctly? I am a huge proponent of data and Jeff Vidler, Founder of Signal Hill Insights is helping podcasts and advertisers measure their efforts with brand lift studies, surveys, and more. “One thing we do have with podcasting is we have digital data that gives us census level data as a baseline that we can use and work from that and really give advertisers a chance to see how the mediums working.” Jeff is ab...

With limited inventory and only the top 1% of podcasts getting the advertising dollars, what happens to the rest of the smaller shows? How do they get a piece of the advertising pie? Dave Hanley, Chief Revenue Officer for Advertisecast joins me on the podcast to talk about how they are working to open opportunities for independent podcasts with fewer download numbers to get in front of advertisers. With their recent acquisition of PodGo, shows as small as 200 downloads per episode can have a s...

I love this report from the IAB. I am always very excited for the IAB Upfront event when they share their findings each year. Most of the time, there are statistics that I am already aware of, but then there are some outliers that either bring me joy, or shock. This year, I am happy to report that I am overjoyed with the results. I would like to share my favorite stats from the study with you and tell you why I think they are important to focus on. If you are interested in podcast advertising ...

I am fascinated by internal company podcasts and how corporate companies are taking advantage of audio to distribute communications to their employees. I have been following Graham Brown, Founder, and CEO of Pikkal, a corporate podcast agency in Singapore, for quite some time, so I invited him to talk to me about the work he does and find out how companies benefit from branded podcasts. "There's a big group of corporate people who have a significant need. It's not a content problem; it's a comm...

I loved chatting with Lindsay Smith from Ad Results about working with their clients on brand suitability, otherwise known as brand safety. "We like to focus on the term suitability because, as an agency, we don't want to deem what shows are safe or unsafe. Instead, we want to match brands with suitable shows for their core values." Lindsay shares her process for monitoring ad-reads and working with podcasts and clients to create high-quality ads that convert. We also talk about how brands have...

It is very hard for brands and indie podcasters to connect. Most of it is done manually with a direct relationship, network, or representation agency, like True Native Media. Mike Kadin saw an opportunity to help indie podcasters and brands to connect faster with RedCircle. "We started talking to these podcast creators and asking them, what are the challenges you face? And even more than making money, or making more money, was the need to grow their audience. They want more people to be able to...

The podcast industry struggles with transparency when it comes to pricing, results, and measurements. There are several reasons why this is the case. So I invited Marty Michael, CEO, and Co-Founder of Gumball (a podcast advertising marketplace), to the show to chat about how his software is trying to break the transparency barrier in podcast advertising. We discuss why brands won't share their results and pricing rates and why this makes it challenging for standardization across the podcast ind...