I’ve been looking into Podcast Ads for one of my clients as part of a 2022 expansion proposal. Before this week, they just seemed out of reach for a simple test. Minimum spends for podcast ads on channels were high:
- NPR: $50k commitment
- Sirius: $25k commitment
- Spotify: $50k monthly commitment
However, just this week, Spotify added Podcast Ads to its self-serve platform with a minimum commitment of $500. That’s beyond reasonable for most clients for a test! Let’s dive into the platform to see what your options are.
Spotify Podcast Ads Campaign Type
For now, you have to pick the first option to promote your brand as that’s the only one available for Podcast Ads at the moment.
Spotify Podcast Ads Targeting
Next, in your ad set, select “Podcasts.” Audio is the default here and will auto-populate:
Next, you’ll choose from several targeting selection options:
- Device:
- all (iOS, Android, desktop, and smart speakers)
- iOS (iPhone/iPad) and/or Android
- Geo: US Only (entire country or you can segment by zip code or DMA)
- Competitive Separation:
- You can prevent your ads from playing next to similar ads based on one selected category. There are numerous options but here are a few examples:
- Business to Business: Business Software
- Beauty and Grooming: Hair Care
- Clothing and Fashion: Jewelry
- Government and Non-Profit: Civic Organizations
- Retailers: Luxury
- You can prevent your ads from playing next to similar ads based on one selected category. There are numerous options but here are a few examples:
- Age:
- Age-restricted advertising (21+)
- 18-24
- 25-34
- 35-44
- 45-54
- 55-64
- 65+
- All
- Gender: Male, Female, All
- Frequency Cap: Set daily (1-5), weekly (1-35) or monthly (1-50)
- Topic Exclusions (under content controls): Sensitive topics (Alcohol, Crime and Violence, Illegal Drugs, Gambling, Conversations about Hate Speech, Adult Content, Conversations about Terrorism, Tobacco, Weapons)
- Episode Content (under content controls):
- Schedule: Set a start and end date and time
- Budget: $500 Minimum (You can add your own custom budget amount in the rightmost box here, but note that it won’t let you enter under $500)
- Frequency: You can adjust the frequency amounts daily, weekly or monthly as seen in the screenshot above. If you don’t change these, the max number of impressions is the default.
We can get estimates of volume for your selections. Let’s look at an example. Thinking ahead to all the New Years Resolutionists, I want to run Podcast Ads in the Philly DMA for one month. I’ll exclude all sensitive topics as well as Fitness and Recreations: Gym and Health Clubs for competitor separation. Will target all ages and all gender for all Episode Content options and maximum impressions. Here are the estimates I see for the month of January with $2500 in spend:
If we cut the budget to just $500 and pick only Healthy Living and Medical Health episodes, then look at the change:
Spotify Podcast Ads Creation
You might be thinking, all that’s great, but we don’t have creative. Here comes Spotify to the rescue. You have two options:
- Spotify Ad Creation: You can use your script to create ads directly in Spotify. You pick the music and Spotify’s professionals read your script. They mix everything together for you and you’re all set! You can even request changes if there’s something you don’t like.
- In the self-service platform, you can give them some talking points (see a few of them below) and they will create draft scripts for you. Once you approve the script, they will do the rest.
Spotify Podcast Ads Possibilities
Having Podcast Ads now on the self-serve platform opens up a wealth of possibilities for any sized client. Price isn’t a hurdle (and you could pause a campaign before meeting that $500 threshold). Audio Ad creation isn’t a hurdle. Targeting options help find your right niche. And you get to reach an audience while it’s already actively listening. This is really only a win-win for businesses to branch out to a new channel and see where they might get a lift in brand awareness while tapping a largely untapped audience. We’re thrilled to have our clients give it a try and will report back with updates once we get our campaigns launched!
