Host-Read Ads

Today I want to remind my audience about the power behind host-read ads and how including a personal endorsement, also known as a PE, increases traction for brands.

Host-read content continues to be a proven strategy for seasoned ad buyers, because it's the best kind of influencer marketing — and that's supported by Nielsen research which found host-read ads lead to stronger lifts in key equity metrics, such as a 67% increase in brand affinity.

In today's podcast landscape, Dynamic Ads have taken over- please do not believe all those agencies and networks who only sell DAs. As they tout, DAs are stronger and better than host-read ads. 100% false information, and I wish they would stop saying it.

Audiences listen to podcasts because they trust and want to hear from their favorite hosts. When an ad is host-read and authentic, there is a 50% increase to purchase from brands over DAs.

When the host-read ad includes a personal endorsement from the host - the brand affinity and conversions are even higher than an implied endorsement. Why? Because the trust is already established and with the host talking about how much they love a brand, the audience is more compelled to trust the brand too.

Want to work with the best podcast network that has a partnership team that can take your brand to the next level? Reach out today - advertise@twit.tv.

I want to remind brands and agencies that podcasts are on demand and not everyone simulcasts. Podcast ads are not TV commercials or radio ads that are seen or heard immediately. Therefore, you need patience and a strong message when advertising on podcasts, AND you must implement ALL podcast tools to gauge traction properly.

Reminder - in today's landscape, it's safe to say that it takes at least 12 touchpoints to turn a lead into a sale, and it's high time we all embrace this reality. The concept of "touchpoints" refers to the various interactions a potential customer has with your brand or product before they make a purchasing decision. The average touchpoint is considered to be 8, and even this can vary between 1 - 50 depending on the length of the buying stage.

Patience is mandatory if brands are going to buy podcast advertising. Why? Because brands have to allow people to download podcast episodes, listen to them, hear their brand elsewhere, or see it and then make a purchase. Too many podcast agencies are canceling ad buys before giving the ads time to reach their greatest impact. Agencies are not educating their clients on what it takes to be effective in podcast advertising. We had several this year cancel B2B contracts two weeks after the first ad dropped, stating "it didn't work." Well, of course, it didn't work - they did not set their client's expectations, nor did any of the agencies we work with implement the proper tools to truly measure impact. And if you are canceling podcast ads two weeks after the first ad drops, then you are wasting your client's money.

Here are the five recommended tools to properly understand the impact of a brand's podcast advertising campaign:

1. Implement a landing page or offer code with a compelling offer unique to the podcast.

2. Use ad tech to see who downloaded a podcast with a brand's ad in it and see how many visitors went to the brands website.

3. Measure the increased traffic to the brand's website as some podcast fans use VPNs and opt out of tracking, making it impossible to measure everything.

4. Review downloads, as podcast ads take time to deliver all advertising impressions, and you have to give fans time to listen and then act.

5. Implement post-purchase surveys because if your offering is for a B2B product/service, I doubt the CEO who heard the ad made the purchase, making ad-tech useless if the person making the purchase is not the same person who heard the ad.

Lastly, you need patience. Podcast advertising works because fans trust their hosts, and they take time.

Last week, I mentioned that I will be covering more than podcast advertising and that TWiT has pivoted to a one-ad model because podcasts moved to this structure several years back, and we were trying to stay with what performs best for our partners. We finally caved as it became a constant struggle to explain why our approach was better and the one ad model is now in place. Today, I am going to cover the lack of growth in podcasting and how it impacts independent networks.

The American podcast market has reached maturity, and the number of Americans who listen to at least one podcast monthly is no longer increasing. In addition, there is a trend towards consolidation as Spotify, iHeart, etc. are buying and launching podcasts, while pushing for DAI on advertising is squeezing out independent networks.

According to Forbes iHeartMedia's CEO Bob Pittman stated, “We're in the consolidation phase. So, the top podcasters get bigger, and it becomes harder and more fragmented for the smaller players to catch up. And I think that's exactly what you've seen as a trend line." He points to Serial, once the industry darling acquired by the New York Times for $25 million, now more of a cautionary tale because it was not worth it.

Even Libysn's Rob Walch, who presented evidence at the 2023 Podcast Movement, showed the active podcasts with 10+ episodes on Apple have remained around 400,000 since 2021. Therefore, with all the new podcasts starting since 2021 and old podcasts closing down, the number of active pods with over 10 episodes has remained flat.

In addition to the lack of growth, podcast ad tech is becoming invasive, and brands want to put tracking pixels everywhere. Brands also demand cheap CPMs with ridiculously short cancellation clauses, and they have unrealistic conversion expectations because they do not understand how it works and agencies do not educate them. All agencies care about is the bottom line. They don't even understand their brands growth goals because every time we ask, they have no idea. We care for our direct clients because we want our partners to grow, and the specialized attention they receive from us outshines everyone else.

If independent podcast networks are going to make it, then they must diversify. Here at TWiT, we cannot rely on podcast advertising anymore, it takes subscriptions, clubs, and fan support to make it all happen, and even then, we wear many hats to make it all work.

Subscribe to your favorite podcasts, support their sponsors, join their clubs, or pay for your content.

Thanks for listening, and have a great day.

It's been a year since I started my Host-Read Ads podcast, and soon, I will be bringing my pod to TWiT as I plan to include more about the podcasting industry as a whole and feature relevant guests who can help guide brands through podcast advertising.

Today, I am going to talk about our decision to pivot our network from a two ad per advertiser per episode model to a one ad per advertiser per episode model. Here are the three reasons why we are making the change.

1. Since 2020, Dynamic Ad Insertion (or DAI) exploded in the podcasting world. And today, it is the number one way that podcasters sell their content. It has pushed our two-ad model right out the door because no one is using it, and it's becoming harder to explain to brands when they only want one ad. So, starting now, we are conforming to the one ad model not because it's better, it's because we are the last network to pivot away from the two ad model.

2. Moving to the one ad model makes our network more attractive to agencies, and we need more brand business if we are going to remain a network. This move should make it easier for agencies to sell our network as they have been wanting us to pivot for years.

3. Our new model will allow brands, who are used to only appearing once in a podcast episode to thoroughly test our network, especially when they can appear in more episodes, so we anticipate being sold out across all shows.

I want to be clear that moving to a one-ad model is not as effective as a two-ad model, BUT the industry has moved to be more like radio and TV by geotargeting DAI ads, etc. In order for TWiT to remain competitive, we have to move to this as well. Especially with every podcast network making steep cuts and laying off staff. We either pivot now and survive or join the other networks in layoffs.

Therefore, podcast fans, if you love a podcast, then please subscribe to the show, support its sponsors, pay for your content, or join podcast clubs. With advertisers demanding more ad tech, cheaper CPMs, and shorter cancellation policies, ALL podcasts must diversify revenue streams to survive.

I am going to divert from my typical format and provide podcasters and podcast networks with another option to be an ad-supported network.

First, let me provide you with context - we were fully ad-supported when the pandemic hit in 2020, and we lost 60% of our advertisers in two weeks. We needed to pivot to survive and focus on what our audience wants. Podcast networks should be multi-dimensional to remain in the black, which means you are profitable and avoid struggling when advertising sales are down. Plus, with ad tech taking over podcasting - brands are demanding to get massive data about audiences, and everyone wants their own ad tech. This will turn off fans who do not want to be tracked remember they are listening to you because they want to hear what you have to say - not give advertisers all of their data. The sad thing is that podcast advertising is more than metrics, yet this is all brands and agencies want to focus on, and it's not why podcasting advertising is successful.

We took the time to vet several subscription services, and after reviewing features and benefits, we chose Memberful as our partner. We have been with Memberful for 2 1/2 years and are thrilled we picked them.

Here are four reasons why we went with Memberful and what you need to consider when selecting a subscription service.

1. First, we did not want to take away from our ad-supported fans, so we were careful in selecting what we were going to initially offer our fans to join our Club and pay for our content. My recommendation is to start small and build from there. So we decided to offer ALL of our shows ad-free and provide our fans with excerpts from before/after the shows as a bonus for joining our Club, AND we set up Discord to allow our Club members to hang out with like-minded people AND our hosts and staff hang out in it too.

2. We selected one tier in our Club at launch, meaning we only had one plan - $7 a month to join and have access to everything we offered. Based on our research, the biggest challenge with new Clubs was offering too many tiers and bonus content for joining - a lot of Clubs could not handle the work, missed goals, and disappointed fans. We wanted to avoid this, and we did.

3. After six months, we started adding more benefits to our Club along with a few different tiers, and it's an ongoing process of improvements. We added annual, corporate, and family memberships. We also added one-show memberships for people who wanted only a show and no other Club features and benefits. Then we started adding new shows in our Club that will only be offered in our Club. We carefully continue adding new features to our Club because we always want to deliver what we say we are going to do. It's important to maintain integrity.

4. Being partnered with Memberful means we have a strategic partner who is invested in our growth and network. They are constantly improving their services, and with open communication, they are true partners in helping us grow our Club. We meet quarterly to hear Memberful's advice, and they always update us on new features and tips that can help us grow. The response time from Memberful whenever there is an issue is stellar. I highly recommend Membrerful if you want a solid recommendation. Their professionalism, care, and features are with we selected them, and they continue to shine. Memberful has what we need, their customer service is exceptional, and they are adding features that we want - truly a win/win for us.

There are more ways to grow your network, and I recommend considering DAI for unsold inventory, naming rights to your network/studio, panel events at marquee conventions to stand out, and appearing on other podcast networks. There is so much to focus on that I will keep this category open and provide more suggestions.

I want to help podcasters and podcast networks navigate through the explosion of podcast ad tech. Ad tech has taken over podcasting, and everyone is touting that they have the holy grail in metrics. The sad thing is that podcast advertising is more than metrics. You need to be reaching the right audience, you must have a compelling CTA/offer, and post-purchase surveys are a must -along with trust and integrity.

Ross Adams, CEO at Acast, said, "Podscribe's track record in delivering accurate and insightful attribution solutions - which are certified at the highest level - is exceptional. We also know their approach to customer satisfaction is unmatched in this space. This collaboration reinforces Acast's commitment to offering advertisers the very best impartial tools to succeed in the podcasting space."
Podscribe is one of many attribution services that is independent, meaning not owned by a large media company. For example - Spotify owns Spotify Ad Analytics, formerly Podsights, and Podscribe is saying that they have better metrics because they are independently owned. Please do not be fooled by the label "independent" - it is simply a marketing phrase to attract brands to them instead of Spotify Ad Analytics which is now free to use. You have to pay for Podscribe and to promote that Spotify Ad Analytics is inaccurate or untrustworthy because Spotify bought it is wrong. All ad tech is the same, and why pay for it when you can get it for free? They are simply saying "independent" to encourage you to buy something you can get for free elsewhere.

Here are three points to remember about why podcast advertising works that have nothing to do with ad tech:

1. With host-read ads, trusted hosts have audiences that want to hear from them. When they deliver the ad read with authenticity, a genuine experience with a product/service that they can give a personal endorsement about - their fans listen closely to the ad read. These hosts can also focus on the features and benefits to properly educate their fans and provide testimonials because ad reads are not cut off at sixty seconds.

2. Purchase power is 50% higher with host-read ads, according to Nielsen, because you cannot establish trust with a producer-read ad or commercial.

3. It takes multiple touchpoints to convert a fan. Brands that advertise elsewhere and include host-read ads see higher conversion rates because customers who trust hosts delivering the message will recall a brand at a higher rate when seeing or hearing it elsewhere.

So remember, ad tech is one tool to use in podcast advertising, and take the time to decide who you want to partner with because no one wants multiple pixels in their feeds or possibly turning off their fans because of all the tracking ad tech that every brand wants. Limit it to one or two. And remind brands that free ad tech is as valuable as paid. Just because you are independent doesn't mean you are better.

If you are interested in advertising with us because you want the gold standard, then please email advertise@twit.tv, and we will get back to you ASAP.

Today I want to focus on podcast ad copy again, and if you missed part I, I highly recommend listening to it. Today I am going to give brands more ideas to consider when creating ad copy.

According to Nielsen, host-read podcast ads drive strong brand recall and outperform voiced ads every time. It's been well documented that podcast audiences are among the most engaged there are, and much of that reflects the hosts. Purchase power is 50% higher with host-read ads.

Here are three more tips when considering your brand's ad copy to stand out:

1. Include the features and benefits of your product or service and let the podcast host adlib. Adlib means you are giving the host the freedom to add their own thoughts and tie in the product or service to their life more. Why? Because podcast hosts prefer this style because it allows the host to personalize the message, and the audience appreciates the authenticity of the ad read.

2. Host-read ads allow time to tell a brand's story. In today's fast-paced environment of DAI ads that are 15, 30 or 60 seconds long, we find that taking the time to dive into a brand's history, passion, features & benefits of their product, and delivering this content in a long-form host-read ad, resonates with audiences more and gives them the knowledge to make an educated decision.

3. Brands need to set themselves apart from others in their industry. If you are in a crowded space, why are you better, faster, stronger, etc? Do you have more features? Is it easier to use? Focus on what makes your product/service stand out. And why people should choose you over others.

I am going to leave this category open as I plan to continue to add tips on ad copy because it's necessary to teach brands all the tools they need in podcasting.

If you are interested in advertising with us because you want the gold standard, then please email advertise@twit.tv, and we will get back to you ASAP.

I started my podcast a year ago to educate brands on podcast ads and why our host-read ad format, which we have used since its inception, is the best and will always outperform all other podcast ad formats.

According to Spotify, the earliest podcast sponsors understood the intimate nature of podcasting, making it an ideal medium for brands to connect with engaged listeners and support their advertising goals. Why? Because at the center of that connection is the podcast host, whose familiar voice listeners trust. As podcast advertising grew - host-read ads became advertisers preferred format. Now, since podcasting has exploded, Spotify leverages voice talent podcast ads (read by actors, producers). AND Spotify admits - host-read ads outperform talent ads because there is more of an emotional connection to the audience, and they trust the host.

Here are three reasons why you need to prioritize networks that offer host-read ads over voice talent ads:

1. Every podcast audience poll that I have read about host-read versus voice talent ads is that the audience prefers to hear the ad read by the host & not from someone else. Listeners will pay closer attention to a host-read ad.

2. A host-read ad is more effective in creating an emotional connection with the audience because they trust the host with content, so they will trust the host with an ad read.

3. A longer interstitial host-read ad allows hosts to tell an engaging story about the brand and can include testimonials, features and benefits, and a compelling reason why a listener would want to consider the brand - this drives conversions.

Lastly, we understand that a brand may want to scale by implementing a massive awareness campaign, which means brands should be buying voice talent ads too. However, do not lump host-read ads in with them. They are not equal in response, nor are they equal in pricing. Voice talent ads are generally cheaper than host-read ads with a qualified audience. Brands need to understand the difference.

Here at TWiT, we help our partners solve their problems and meet their growth goals. Are you ready to grow? Reach out today - Lisa@twit.tv.

Today I want to provide you with another sales tip because I have been in podcast sales (well, I call them partnership sales) for over a decade, and I believe you must continue to expand your skills, practice your craft, and improve upon your knowledge daily.

Here are four tips to level up and stay relevant in sales:

1. Listen to podcasts that will elevate your selling skills - One recommendation I can make is "The Advanced Selling Podcast." I started listening to this podcast because it's short-format, Bill and Bryan have been in sales and coaching for years, and I always learn something new, or it reinforces what I am doing. Find podcasts that you can learn from and practice new skills that are relevant to your industry.

2. Sales can be lonely because it's your job to hunt and find new partners, and it's highly competitive. I recommend networking and joining sales groups - they can be online, in person, on social like LinkedIn, etc. Meeting with others in the sales space and learning about their process, what works for them, what doesn't work for them, etc., gives you more knowledge to use. It's also an opportunity to brainstorm with others in sales.

3. Hire a sales coach or get a mentor. High performers in sales need attention to remain at the top. A coach or mentor will challenge you to be relevant and help you expand your skills further.

4. Remember - Sales is not pitching. We are not going for the hard sale. Therefore when you are out there prospecting for new business - listen to them. Sales are about solving problems for others, and if your focus remains on them, you have a better chance of succeeding versus the hard sale.

Thanks for listening to my podcast & have a great day.

Two months ago I did a podcast about the reasons why brands should work directly with podcast networks and I realized I should do a series on this because there are so many reasons and saving money through buying smarter should be a priority for brands. Therefore, this is now part II and I will do as many as I feel necessary to educate brands in this space.

First, let me remind you all that I have been in the podcasting industry since inception. I have worked with several brands, agencies, and consultants. I am open and honest about my experience in this industry. My goal is to provide information for brands to excel in this space by working directly with podcast networks who will take care of them. All agencies do is promise make-goods and free ads because they do not invest the time to understand the best way to buy on individual podcast networks. Especially when they are boutique like ours. They try to lump us in with the DAI networks and it's simply the wrong approach.

Here are four more reasons why brands shoulld go direct:

1. Podcast advertising works because podcast audiences trust the hosts. You must build trust as you cannot buy it, nor can brands be expected to receive quality advice from agencies, especially because they do not communicate with podcast networks. Agencies only focus on scale, networks focus on success.

2. Brands can save a lot of money moving away from traditional agencies who take a cut of ad buys. Brands should hire someone in house for podcast advertising. My recommendation is to consider someone that worked at an agency or understands podcasting advertising. Agencies chew through people because it's all about volume, not care/training, and brands should be with partners who care. Plus brands will save money and build a better brand if they invest in bringing ad buying in house.

3. There is zero communication between agencies and networks on how podcast ads are doing for brands. Agencies ignore ALL of our recommendations, they do not communication when campaigns are underway, and the only time we hear from them is when they want to complain that nothing is working. Even after they ignored ad tech, time and frequency. Or the want to renew and still do not listen or ask for suggestions. This has increasing become worse over the last few years and probably why 65% of our business is direct. We care about the brands we sign.

4. Remember the old saying "You Get What you Paid for? or "Garbage in Garbage out?" The same applies with buying podcast ads. When a brand works with an agency that does not communicate with networks and only spits out RFPs like they do with radio ad buys then you are getting what you paid for. What worked for Brand X, may not work for Brand Y. Communication is critical for proper brand growth and it's absent today with agencies.

There is a lot more to cover and I want to make the point that brands need to spend time to identify who their target client is and what do they want to say to them before buying podcast ads.

Here at TWiT.tv we only improve our communication processes with brands and continue to research and apply best practices. We don't want clients, we want partners.

Thanks for listening to podcast & have a great day.

Here are three overview tips when considering your brand's CTA to stand out.

1. Is your brand in a crowded space? Is there a standout competitor who has the market share? Brands need to be aware of their competition and decide whether to take on established clientele OR go after new business. It is essential to think about your strategy and identify who you want to target before looking for podcast networks to advertise with. Brands must determine who they want to reach - industry, job title, company size, etc.

2. What sets your product/service apart from competitors? Focus on case studies, the features, and the benefits of why your product/service can be trusted - will it save time, money, clients, and more? If you think your brand is the best, you must deliver this to podcast audiences.

3. Give podcast audiences time to test your product/service OR offer a discount. Examples: 30-day free trial, 10% off an annual purchase, 30-day free trial, three months free with a yearly purchase, 30% off your first order, and 10% off after that, etc. Be sure your CTA is compelling AND something you can live with for a long time, or be explicit on how long the sale will last. Be generous.

There is much more to cover, and I want to make the point that brands need to spend time identifying their target client and what they want to say to them before buying podcast ads.

TWiT.tv has been around since 2005, and we help our partners meet their growth goals.

If you are interested in advertising with us because you want the gold standard, please email advertise@twit.tv, and we will get back to you ASAP.

Today I am going to continue from last week's Part I of Setting Brands Expectations from a podcast campaign. Please listen to it if you haven't already.

The reason why I put emphasis on exploring what brands have done in marketing and what they are doing now IS to set goals and expectations from working with our network and how we are going to elevate the brand further with host-read ads on TWiT. In order to make a campaign successful, we need to know they are re-targeting the traffic we are sending to their website with Google Ads, social media ads, other pods/TV/radio ads, and anywhere else they are advertising. It's always my goal to align with the brand marketing that is working and to be sure they provide us with a compelling call to action, also known as the CTA. Why? Because it takes an average of eight touchpoints to close a sale.

Once you have established that the brand you are working with is promoting its services/products on several different platforms, then you can focus on boosting performance with podcast host read ads. Remember that podcasts are on-demand. It's not TV or radio in which a commercial runs; you know it was heard or missed at that moment. Podcasts are downloaded, consumed when fans want to listen, and ads are not heard all at once. Therefore, the expectation that one podcast ad can take up to eight weeks to reach its fullest impact is normal. Brands must be educated that podcast ads take time. Otherwise, brands will complain two days after a podcast ad drops. Host-read podcast ads work because audiences listening already trust the host and expect them to deliver ads they want to hear about and with high integrity.

As I said, there is so much to cover that there will be part III and many more. Brands, please remember podcast ads take time. Just because a fan downloaded an episode doesn't mean they listened to it right away - you must give it time.

If you are interested in working with our partnership team here at TWIT, please reach out to adverise@twit.tv, and our team will reach out. Have a great day, and thanks for listening to my pod.

Today I am going to talk about why you must set brand expectations before starting a podcast campaign with them, and I am going to refer to this as Part 1 because there is a lot to cover, and I want to be sure I touch on all points. Therefore I am leaving it open, and this series will be as long as it needs to be.

First, I want to remind everyone that podcasts have only been around for 20 years. No one has the exact number of active pods because people start and stop them all the time, and there are millions of pods out there, with hundreds of millions of episodes. And in 2023, you can consume content in almost any format you want. Traditionally there was TV, movies, radio, and print (books, magazines, newspapers, etc.). Today we have so much more - pods, social media, online print & audio, information, disinformation, and so much more that hardly anyone is consuming the same content, let alone the same way. The birth of the Internet has allowed us to become a fragmented society making it a challenge for brands to reach who they want.

The first point I want to make when meeting with a brand is to set advertising expectations by exploring what marketing efforts they are doing now. What have they done in the past that was successful? What wasn't? What is active now that's work? I do a deep dive into past and existing advertising campaigns because I want to understand the brands efforts to this point.

It is imperative to ask these questions because, according to research, it takes an average of 8 touchpoints to close a sale. Therefore, if a brand wants to start a podcast campaign and they are doing nothing else, then how will its campaign be successful if they are not targeting the audience they want on multiple platforms? Brands must combine marketing tools to reach the audiences they want. Spreading out marketing dollars without the right frequency and platforms will waste brands advertising dollars. Therefore, your first call with a new brand needs to be exploratory. Find out their pain points and focus on solving their growth goals before discussing campaign ideas.

There is a plethora of content to cover on this topic. Stay tuned for Part 2.

And if you are interested in working with our partnership team here at TWiT, please reach out to adverise@twit.tv, and our team will reach out. Have a great day, and thanks for listening to my pod.

Today I am going to talk about the addition of DAI, Dynamic Ad Insertion, to our network TWIT.tv and the difference between it and host-read ads.

First, a little context. When the pandemic first hit in 2020, we lost 60% of our advertisers in two weeks. We quickly realized we were one-dimensional because we were an ad-supported network that only offered host-read ads.

Since 2020 we have added DAI, which means dynamic ad insertion, and we allow Advertisecast to sell our residual open audio inventory. We also diversified our host-read ad inventory by allowing agencies to book small test campaigns to complement their testing phase with new clients. However, 65% of our host-read ads are with direct partners, and we prefer to grow direct business because having a relationship with the partner is always better than working with an agency. Plus we care and know what we are doing and find that most agencies throw newbies on accounts and honestly waste their clients money because volume doesn't produce results unless you're working with the best and that's not what podcast clients get when going to an agency.

Here is the difference between host-read and dynamic ad insertion ads:

Host-read ads are delivered by our technology hosts, and they can provide insights, a PE or implied endorsement, features/benefits, and take as long as they want in an ad read to educate our fans about the clients products and services. Plus, the fans of our shows trust our hosts and listen to what they have to say about a product/service.

DAI ads are producer-read ads that are inserted directly into our shows. They are :15, :30 or :60 seconds long and never longer. Plus, they are served until the download number is reached that was promised to the client. They do work well for clients and cost less than host-read ads, BUT they lack the trust with the audience because the audience doesn't know who's reading the ad.

Both ads work well, and it truly depends on what a client is looking for, and personally, I would recommend both because it takes multiple touchpoints to convert a fan, and the more ways you can reach people, the better.

Here at TWiT.tv, we care about brand goals and focus on what it takes to help them grow. If you are interested in advertising with TWiT.tv because you want the gold standard in podcast advertising, then please email advertise@twit.tv, and we will get back to you ASAP.

Having been in podcasting business for several years, brands would benefit more if they worked directly with podcast networks because networks know what it takes to be successful and agencies who buy across thousands of podcasts do not implement the tools you need for a successful campaign - hence they waste brand money, while networks know how to position brands properly on their network & they save brands money. Here are four reasons why brands should buy direct.

1. Agencies do not implement ALL the tools to gauge podcast campaigns successfully - brands need to implement ad tech to gauge proper attribution, a compelling CTA with a custom landing page, and implement a post-purchase survey.

2. When brands go direct, they can obtain a better deal. Podcast networks will offer discounts and extras and do more for a brand than an agency will ensure their campaign is successful.

3. Podcast networks can work with a brand on the correct frequency they need to secure new clients, while agencies ignore the advice networks provide and fail to include the proper frequency in order for a brand to be successful. This is why I say brands should go direct to understand what they need to do to be successful. Agnecies never ask. After 15 years in this business, I see agencies ignoring best practices.

4. Lastly, podcast networks know what it takes for a brand to thrive and grow, while agencies do not know. They buy across thousands of pods and end up wasting money because they do not follow any of the rules I covered and only care about volume, while networks care about partnerships and effectiveness.

Here at TWiT.tv, we care about brand goals and focus on what it takes to help them grow. If you are interested in advertising with TWiT.tv because you want the gold standard in podcast advertising, then please email advertise@twit.tv, and we will get back to you ASAP.

Having worked in the podcast industry for fifteen years at TWiT.tv, we provide brands with expectations when purchasing podcast advertising on our network. Brands need expertise if they are going to succeed in this space, and sales leaders need to communicate these four points to brands before signing IOs.

1. Podcast ads are on demand, meaning they are recorded and then released to the public to download and listen to at their leisure. Brands must allow 8 weeks before gaining traction from one podcast ad. These are not radio, TV, or banner ads that people see immediately. Podcast ads take time to cook - set this expectation upfront.

2. Brands should stick with one call to action throughout the entire campaign to build trust with podcast audiences, and they should use a CTA that they can offer for a long time.

3. Brands must use all the podcast tracking tools we recommend - allow time for listeners to act, use ad tech, set up landing pages with unique offers, and implement post-purchase surveys. Listen to last week's episode for details.

4. If a brand is seeing traction after 8 - 12 weeks, they should renew and continue, as podcast listeners prefer brands that do not disappear after a month or two - this builds more trust and helps with brand recognition and loyalty.

Remember, if you invest the time to educate brands about succeeding in the podcast space, then expectations should be set, and it's a win/win for both.

If you are interested in advertising with us because you want the gold standard in podcast advertising, then please email advertise@twit.tv, and we will get back to you ASAP.

Having worked in the podcast industry for fifteen years at TWiT.tv and overseeing sales for most of it, I want to provide brands with an outline of best practices when advertising on podcasts because I have learned that all traditional ad agencies ignore them entirely - which is where brands lose. Brands need expertise if they are going to succeed in podcast advertising. I recommend taking it in-house and buying directly from podcast networks that understand how campaigns work.

Here are four things you need to know about buying podcasts if you have already determined the podcast network is a good fit for your brand:

1. Podcast ads take time to reach their fullest impact.
Podcasts are on-demand. You have to give audiences time to download the podcast episode, listen to it, then act on any ads they heard. These are not radio/TV ads that someone watched that day. Podcast ad traction builds over time.
A single podcast ad takes eight weeks to reach its greatest impact.
Podcast advertising is a slow game. If you see traction in the first eight weeks, you must give it longer to determine its effectiveness.

2. Brands should set up custom landing pages for their podcast campaigns.
Include client testimonials and logos from the podcast network you are advertising with.
Have a unique offer. Do not expect signups on a landing page if your website has the same offer.
Monitor the traffic and conversions to it and retarget those who did not sign up immediately.

3. Podcast ad tech is crucial to gauge attribution.
Every traditional ad agency we work with ignores podcast ad tech stating it could be better. Ad tech is flawed, yet it's vital for understanding podcast traffic.
Ad tech will give you an idea of how many listeners heard the brand's ad in a podcast episode, and then they track the IP address to see if the listener visited the brand's website.
You can also gauge shopping cart conversions, which only works well for B2C brands.
Without ad tech, brands will not know the total traffic sent to their website from podcast campaigns.

4. Set up a post-purchase survey.
With a post-purchase survey, brands can determine which campaigns worked for them.
Only a few agency clients use post-purchase surveys, which means brands were not properly informed, and they are unable to truly track the effectiveness of their campaigns.
Here at TWIT.tv, we help brands understand what it takes to review the total impact of a podcast campaign on our network. When brands allow their podcast ads to blossom, set up landing pages with unique offers, and include ad tech with post-purchase surveys - they understand the full scope of their campaign and its effectiveness on our network. If you leverage all the best practices, there will be no gaps in understanding impact. And in today's climate - brands should buy smarter and use all the tools available to measure podcast campaigns successfully.

If you are interested in advertising with us because you want the gold standard in podcast advertising, then please email advertise@twit.tv, and we will get back to you ASAP.

Having overseen podcast ad sales for over a decade, here at TWiT, we know how to properly implement podcast campaigns on our network. Here are the top four tools you should use to properly gauge your podcast campaigns.

1. Use ad-tech, such as Podsights, Claritas, or Podscribe, to properly gauge attribution. These providers will include a tracking pixel in the podcast feed and a tracking pixel on your website. Then the ad tech company can track who downloaded a podcast episode with an ad in it, and they track that IP address for 60 days to see if they visited your website. Ad tech is an excellent resource for attribution. Ad tech can offer more services such as shopping cart conversions, but it's rarely accurate for B2B clients, and why we stress using it only for attribution.

2. Review traction to your custom landing page if one was set up and review the conversions. If a landing page was not set up, then review offer codes.

3. Include a post-purchase survey. We recommend Fairing.co but any post-purchase survey will do.

4. Review the reporting document the podcast set up for you.

It takes multiple tools to gauge all podcast campaigns, and those who ignore any of these tools will not understand the full impact of what they are purchasing. In today's climate, marketers need to buy smarter and use all the tools available to gauge impact. Think about it. If your homepage has 20% off and your podcast campaign offer is 20% off, who is going to visit a landing page or remember a code when the same offer is on the homepage? If you have a technical audience, such as ours, they are not going to visit landing pages at all. They will simply google your brands name.

Lastly, remember that all podcast ads take time. These are not TV or radio ads. These are podcast ads, which means it's on-demand content. We recommend waiting at least a month before reviewing campaigns because you have to allow time for fans to download episodes, listen to them, and then act on the ads they heard.

If you are interested in advertising with us because you want the gold standard in podcast advertising, then please email advertise@twit.tv, and we will get back to you ASAP.

I have worked in all aspects of C-level positions over my 35+ year career with an emphasis in accounting, finance, growth, partnerships, biz dev, media, and sales - I prefer to work with partners who bring their marketing and sales leaders to the first strategy meeting. And here are my top 3 reasons why this will maximize campaign results.

1. I find it common at several companies for their sales and marketing teams to have different agendas and not be fully aligned in working on the same goals, or they are just too busy to communicate regularly. It always baffles me when I ask a CMO who their target customer is, and they have no idea. OR the CMO provides me with the wrong information because they are not communicating regularly with their sales team. Now the CSO may understand what is working for the sales team today, yet it's not uncommon that they don't know what coming next, while the CMO typically does. Therefore the first & most important reason for asking both to attend a strategy/exploration call is to better understand their growth goals. Having both attend saves time/back & forth/, and you typically discover there are more goals than originally outlined.

2. It provides you with an opportunity to build excitement. You are the guide to solving their problems and helping them achieve their goals. Always be fully prepared for this meeting, study LinkedIn profiles, and understand their business so that you can focus solely on solving their needs - you build excitement, and now you have two, not one, person wanting to partner with you.

3. It will help you build a more robust, stronger campaign as having ALL of the business objectives/goals and understanding what is working now, what didn't, and having a full growth plan will provide you with the confidence in your recommendations, giving you a better opportunity of satisfying your partner.

If you are interested in advertising with TWiT because you want the gold standard in podcast advertising then please email advertise@twit.tv and we will get back to you ASAP.

Brand marketing is an easy target that CMOs face pressure to minimize in times of uncertainty. Since the explosion of inflation last year, major cuts in the tech sector, the Russian/Ukrainian war, and the escalating political issues in the US and frankly everywhere. Brands are struggling to make decisions, and marketing is the first place they cut. CMOs resist cutting their budgets because how else do you expect to remain relevant and meet long-term goals if you are not marketing your brand?

Research indicates that reducing brand marketing budgets in downturns backfires, and the minimal savings from cutting budgets impacts future profits significantly. Here are five tips on what to do instead:

1. Double down on the right customers - can you solve more of their problems? can you help them increase their growth? Tighten your relationships with your long-term customers and build resilience.

2. Market smarter instead of cutting budgets - brands who continue to market in a downturn stay relevant and gain market share when their competition slashes budgets.

3. Strengthen your analytics - be sure you are monitoring your marketing progress and have the tools in place to gauge traction - include post-purchase surveys on all campaigns and then refocus marketing efforts on what is working.

4. Let your existing and new clients know that you are here for them - give them an uncertain times bonus because we are ALL in this together.

5. Remember that recessions do not last forever, and if you can avoid cutting your marketing budget, then you will be better positioned when the bounce-back period happens. Do not be short-sighted as the long-term impact will be greater.

If you are interested in advertising with TWiT because you understand that marketing needs to happen if you are going to sustain uncertain times and want the gold standard in podcast advertising, then please email advertise@twit.tv, and we will get back to you ASAP.

The entire job of a salesperson, or here at TWiT, we refer to our clients as partners, so the entire job of a partnership person is to be the guide and help partners achieve their growth goals. Therefore understanding your partners needs is critical before you start working with them.

Here is the list of 10 questions you need to ask before signing a new partner to a campaign:

1. Understand what the partner wants to promote.

2. Who do they want to reach - job title?

3. Company size and industry?

4. What advertising has worked before, what hasn't? And what are they doing now?

5. Timing for campaign? When is your busiest sales quarter of the year?

6. Is this branding or DR campaign?

7. What sets them apart from their competitors?

8. What are their growth goals for this year?

9. Are there any upcoming products/services being released this year?

10. What problems/challenges are they facing?

These are only the initial questions. You may discover more issues and questions while talking with your potential partner, and being flexible is also crucial.

If you are interested in advertising with TWiT and want the gold standard in podcast advertising, please email advertise@twit.tv, and we will get back to you ASAP.

After attending the Podcast Movement in Las Vegas, I discovered that partners and agencies are finally into simulcasting. And lucky for us, TWiT.tv has been simulcasting all of its pods starting in 2009, well before YouTube became a household name and TikTok wasn't even a thought.

And when I say TWIT.tv simulcasts - I mean, it's way more than YouTube, as most of our video downloads are outside of this platform. Because we've been simulcasting for years, we can show off our partners products and services. We can show off websites, how we use a particular software, etc., on air in our ad-reads. We also go out of our way and shoot b-roll of clients products if our hosts can provide a PE (personal endorsement). And since our ad reads are not cut off at 60 seconds, our hosts take their time introducing brands with all their features and benefits to our qualified audience. Nothing is rushed, and our audience trusts our hosts.

In addition, we also send the video version of the interstitial ad read to our partners to use on social, our landing page, anywhere they want besides paid media.

Are you ready to grow your business? Please email advertise@twit.tv, and we can discuss your growth goals. Thanks for listening, and have a great day.

In previous episodes, I have mentioned our qualified audience, which is highly technical and full of lifelong learners.

From our 2023 survey reaching over 10K fans, 99% of the TWiT audience listens to most or all of our podcast episodes, while 85% listen to ALL of our podcast episodes. The reason why our fans stick around is that the content is king, and the content of our shows is the #1 reason our fans come to us. The number 2 reason is that they want to hear from our trusted hosts. Because of this, our fans stick around for entire episodes of our shows.

While there is some overlap, the average fan listens to approximately 3 shows, while a very committed group listens to all of our shows. We also have a Club where fans can pay to receive ad-free content, a platform on Discord to chat with like-minded fans, and bonus content. Even though these fans have a Slack channel called "All-the-Ads" because our fans want to know the brands they need to pay attention to, several do not download the ad-free content and continue to download the ad-supported shows because they want to hear the ads. Our audience wants to know what Leo, Mikah, Jason, and Ant say about the brands we are partnered with. This is how engaged our fans are.

If you want to reach our audience, please email advertise@twit.tv, and we will get back to you ASAP.

TWiT's audience is highly qualified. 72% are age 25 - 54, 85% made a purchase based on a TWiT ad, and 99% listen to most or all of the podcasts.

We are: 95% male, 70% earn over $100K, 80% are college graduates, and 88% are involved in the company's tech/IT decisions at their company. 65% are married.

If you are interested in advertising with us, please email advertise@twit.tv, and we will get back to you ASAP.

I want to talk about another sponsor who originally signed to our network in 2007 and only left at the end of 2022 because Audible fired their agency again. It takes time to connect with the new one, especially because Amazon owns Audible now. I anticipate we will get them back because we cater to life-long learners - 78% of our audience are college graduates or hold advanced degrees. Plus, why would Audible be on our network for 16 years if we didn't deliver results? Clients only renew YOY if they work.

Some of the longest interstitial ads on our network are from Audible because all of our hosts use it. The lead hosts of our shows and the regular co-hosts who appear on our network have Audible accounts. Why? Because they are lifelong learners, too, and their book recommendations are endless. Audible ads on our network become a conversation because every host on the panel has a recommendation, and they are excited to share it.  It builds enthusiasm with the audience, and if they already have Audible, they buy more credits because they want to listen to the books our hosts are recommending.

We have longevity with sponsors because every ad is fresh, unique, and delivered by trusted hosts. Are you ready to grow? Reach out today to advertise@twit.tv, and let's chat about your growth goals.

I want to speak to the impact we make when we sign brands to our network, especially expensive B2C products like a car. 70% of our audience makes over $100K a year, and 26% make over $200K yearly. We cater to an affluent audience, and our host-read ads work.

When Ford came to our network to promote their car technology, they signed up for a one-year campaign because they were one of the first to put tech in their cars. They chose our network because we were one of the largest independent tech podcast networks around. We had the opportunity to show off what Ford was doing because our network releases all shows in audio and video formats. This was supposed to be a branding push to promote their tech, and they were not going to renew, it was a one-year deal.

Ford was so impressed after the initial campaign that they renewed for another two years based on the feedback they received from TWiT fans who were touting they bought a Ford because of the ads on our network.

Given Ford was willing to commit to a one-year deal across multiple shows. It proved to them that the frequency, show selection, and audience reach were worth coming back for more. Are you ready to grow like Ford?

We are the gold standard in podcast advertising. Reach out today to advertise@twit.tv, and let's have a conversation about your growth goals.

I want to continue from last week's episode and do a deeper dive into why host-read ads in a podcast are more impactful than dynamically inserted ads. This is my 2nd podcast covering this topic, and I plan to do more because the difference is substantial.

First, who truly listens to 30 or 60-second dynamically inserted ads when listening to a podcast? I don't, all podcast players have skip features, and since the ad is read by some random person that I don't care about, I immediately skip the ads because it's easy.

Ads longer than a minute see consumer purchasing power increase by 40%, according to Nielsen.  So why are brands wasting money on dynamically inserted ads that do not deliver like host-read ads? If you have a highly engaged audience, they will benefit more from hearing ads from their trusted hosts over producer-read ads.

Take, for example, when you listen to NPR podcasts, the dynamic ad is even more generic because they cannot endorse or recommend products or services because it's public radio. I always ask brands and agencies how they track NPR ads, and they all say they don't. They buy NPR for prestige - it's brand campaigns only. Then when these same agencies/brands speak to me about our host-read ads, they expect to track all of our campaigns. Why? We will always deliver higher results for brand or DR.

Another example is Spotify. Sure, brands/agencies can buy dynamically inserted ads and geotarget the audience they want to reach, but they still have the same issues as all dynamic ads. 1 - they are read by a random person and not the host 2 - they are 30 or 60 seconds long and easily skippable 3 - they do not perform as well as host-read. It's why podcast ad spending is down.  The results are not there, and these ad buys fall flat.

We are the gold standard in podcast advertising, and we only sign partners with services/products that benefit our audience. Are you ready for substantial growth? Let's help you grow. Reach out today to advertise@twit.tv, and let's discuss your growth goals.

I've been reading about podcast advertising and its decline since its boom in the pandemic. A record number of podcasts launched and monetized during the pandemic, and several are closing now that it's over. Actors, athletes, and anyone stuck at home, the entire world, launched a podcast during COVID, and now there is a downturn as people are realizing that podcasting takes time, commitment, an audience, and hosts who have something to say that have an audience who wants to hear from.

Our network, TWiT.tv, was established in 2005, and today we have 13 ad-supported podcasts and 15 ad-free podcasts in our Club. We are not a network that cropped up in the pandemic, nor are we going away because advertisers don't want to buy DAI ads. I am constantly speaking with new partners who are complaining that DAI ads do not work. They are buying an audience that does not want to pay for content, and the ads are producer-read, which falls flat with audiences. Why? Because who cares about some random person reading an ad - podcast listeners want to hear from their trusted hosts, which is why they listen in the first place.

71% of listeners recalled the brand when exposed to a host-read ad. So why would any brand buy DAI? The only reason would be to promote their overall brand because DAI and true brand awareness because DR will not resonate, nor will most remember who was promoted. Here at TWIT.tv, we are boutique - we only offer host-read ads and vet all potential partners to be a suitable fit for our audience. 60% of our business is direct because we super-serve our partners with courtesy commercials, over-delivery on impressions, and they are reaching a qualified audience who wants to hear from our hosts. And we are audio and video = ALL ad-supported shows are released in both formats, and video is substantially more than YouTube. We publish everywhere and anywhere we can and have for 18 years.

We are the gold standard in podcast advertising and only sign partners with services/products that will benefit our audience. Are you ready for substantial growth? Let's help you grow. Reach out today to advertise@twit.tv, and let's discuss your growth goals.

Let's talk about advertising copy. TWiT.tv provides a full-service continuity team that includes ad copywriting. However, many of our partners choose to supply us with their internal ad copy. Often, these copies are mass-produced and not tailored to our highly qualified audience, which causes them to fall flat in conversions. Our audience is curious and willing to try. We know something needs to be corrected when numbers show that our listeners are visiting sponsors websites but failing to sign up or make a purchase. We modify ad copy to highlight the most important features while including the why and how it will benefit our audience. With our influence on the ad copy, we make stronger messaging which entices our audience to check it out.

We've been in the ad-supported podcasting game since 2005 and know what works with our audience. Strong ad copy will clearly outline the what, why, and how for our audience, including testimonials, features, and benefits. Our audience is sophisticated and tech-savvy; they want to hear directly from our hosts because they trust them. This is why we encourage all our partners to collaborate with us to create ad copy.

Here's an example of a SaaS sponsor who would not accept our input on ad copy. Their ad copy stated that they would save you a day a week if you used their service. It seemed compelling enough, but it lacked the HOW it worked. There were no case studies or basic examples of HOW and they were competing in a crowded space. We know we sent plenty of our fans to their website, over 2,500 visitors in less than three months using Podsights. Unsurprisingly, they saw hardly any conversions from these numbers because the ad copy fell short, and nothing was compelling on their website to support their call to action.

If you are interested in advertising with us, please email advertise@twit.tv, and we will get back to you ASAP.

We understand that sales teams want to work with ad partners that deliver the most value for every impression. When a potential sponsor approaches us, it's almost always with a prior understanding of how we position ourselves alongside them. Our sponsors know our network, listen to our shows, and want to connect with our audience.

You've heard it before; we frequently use the term “partners" because we look at each sponsor as a partnership, not only for the mutual benefit of our organizations but to benefit our audience. Because our fans are tech-savvy and security-focused, they expect more from our partners; generic landing pages and basic offer codes are not enough to review to understand a campaign's impact on our network.

Unless there is a specific, attractive offer for our audience (i.e., TWiT listeners get 50% off the first month of service), our audience will google the client's name and go directly to their website. Generic landing pages, weak offers, and the same offer as a partner's homepage are meaningless when tracking our network. Why would anyone type out a specific URL when you'd find the same offer by googling the company's name? Another issue is our audience is privacy-centered and may use a VPN when visiting our sponsors. Based on our annual survey reaching over 10,000 fans, we know that over 20% of our audience forget about landing pages or offer codes and 50% that use them selects TWiT because it’s our network name.

Therefore we recommend using ad tech on our network; we offer Podsights, providing additional attribution insight. We also clarify that you must wait eight weeks after every ad drops to reach its fullest impact (and into perpetuity). Podcast ads take time because you need to wait for fans to download the episode, listen to it, see it elsewhere, and then act. It can take 8-15 touchpoints to motivate fans to convert, and we have the guidance to get them there.

If you would like to learn more, please email advertise@twit.tv.

Here at TWiT.tv, we do not invade our audiences' privacy like Google, Facebook, Apple, Spotify, and the rest of the tech world. We rely on an annual survey to allow our audience to contribute information to us instead of tracking them to find out who they are because we want to respect our fans.

It's not rocket science why podcasts have begun to dominate the media landscape. Podcasts are readily available and accessible to anyone with a listening device; most people can multitask while listening, and, most importantly, podcasts build community. And if anyone knows about podcast communities, it's TWiT.tv. (If you haven't already, join us at Club TWiT, where you can chat with hosts and producers, be the first to know about special events, plus so much more.)

You've heard how much we love our audience, which is unquestionably true. Our loyal listeners make TWiT the best and longest-running tech podcast network. We love to hear feedback about what listeners look forward to hearing, what they don't like, how they prefer to listen, all of it! The more we can do to enhance our listeners' experience, the better. 

The 2023 TWiT Audience Survey was available for the month of January, and we received more than 10,000 responses. This annual survey helps us get a clear, general idea of our audience. It allows us to make better programming decisions and pick advertisers our audience will be interested in. We want to assure everyone that we do not identify our fans in any way and only use the aggregate information from the survey responses. (For example, "More than 60% of our audience are in management level or higher.") We know many fans take privacy very seriously, and we respect that.

When we think of keeping people happy, we have a tendency to overthink it. The same thing applies to your clients. It's not as complicated as you might think, but there are some important things to consider. Here are six steps to keeping your clients happy.

1. Present Clear Terms and ExpectationsWhen starting out the relationship between yourself/your company and your client, it's important to be clear about what you offer. For example, someone will generally not be pleased if they expect a yacht and get a canoe. This is an extreme example, but the point is that ensuring clients know what to expect is the first step to ensuring their happiness.

2. Be Consistent & Do What You Say You WillOnce your client has signed on with you, consistency is key, whatever your product or service might be. One of the easiest ways to keep clients happy is to deliver. You are showing them they can count on you, and many times that is everything for a client! If they have had bad experiences with inconsistency from whom they've hired, finding a company that is tried and true will make them happier.

3. Be HospitableSometimes clients will have requests and may ask for something. Instead of shooting them down, consider the request and if you can possibly make it happen. If you can, they will feel special. Be kind in your response if it's not something that can be accomplished. Give an explanation and help them understand rather than using a curt "no."

4. Anticipate Their needs when you begin to learn the ins and outs of your client's needs, you have an opportunity to wow them. Knowing what they need and having it accomplished before they have to ask will show them your commitment to them and your value.

5. Be their guide. Your focus needs to be entirely on your client - it's your job to make their life easier and help them achieve their growth goals.

6. Listen To ThemThis task is probably the easiest to accomplish, but it's probably one of the things people miss the most. Listening to your clients will help you understand what they want with your services. Everything you do should revolve around what they are telling you. This is going to make them happy because you are respecting their wishes. When considering how to keep clients happy, hospitality, consistency, and listening are key. No matter what, your clients are special to you, and you should treat them that way. When they are happy and meeting their goals, they will keep coming back for more.

If you are interested in advertising with us, please email advertise@twit.tv, and we will get back to you ASAP.

TWiT.tv has been an ad-supported network for over 17 years, and when we first took on advertising in 2007, we adopted a two-ad-read model versus a one-ad-read model for all of our shows. Our ad format is as follows: each show episode has two ad positions for each sponsor - first is the host-read billboard (typically 10 - 15 seconds) and second is a host-read interstitial ad (typically 1-2 minutes and can be longer). Flash forward to 2023 - we still use this model today, and this is why:

We adopted the two-ad model because we paid for testing different formats before deciding on it. The unaided recall (meaning the group that listened to an episode needed no prompts to remember the sponsor names) was 65-80% higher with two ads versus one. For seventeen years, the traction and impact of advertising on our network have been higher than other networks, and our audience stays with sponsors who appear on our network long after making a purchase. This is also because we heavily vet ALL sponsors; they must have products/services that will benefit our audience. Our focus is on super-serving our audience, which in turn super-serves our sponsors. Plus, the share of voice, aka SOV, is greater, and our audience is not overwhelmed with various ads in the content of our shows.

Think about it. If you hear 2 ads for 3 sponsors instead 1 for 6, don't you think you would remember who was promoted? It allows us to include a quick mention at the top of an episode that gives you a sample of what you can expect later, and then the second ad gives our hosts time to properly introduce our sponsors products/services directly to their fans. Our hosts do not read the ad copy. They pull from it and make their ad read unique and personalized. We also do not cut off an ad read at 60 seconds. We always take the time to properly introduce our sponsors to our audience.

We produce results because our ad model has been tested and proven for years. We minimize the number of sponsors in a show episode and deliver high-impact ad reads to a qualified audience. The most important part is they are delivered by trusted hosts that our audience wants to hear from, not a random person.

If you are interested in advertising with us, please email advertise@twit.tv, and we will get back to you ASAP.

Here are five steps for building successful relationships:

1. Bring integrity to your relationships - it's about focusing entirely on your client's needs and being part of their solution. Ask questions - Do they want to fill their pipeline with new business? Are they trying to get a new product out in the world? Are they trying to capture market share? Set aside your voice and listen to their needs.

2. Always take selling out of your first meeting - make it a discovery call & do your research about them and their company. Ask about existing and past advertising campaigns, who are their customers, what are their growth goals, what is their expectations from a campaign, etc. Be curious - remember step #1.

3. Continue to build trust by including personal touch points and digital touch points when building a new relationship or maintaining an existing one. Have conversations with your potential clients, send them data to help them decide if they are going to work with you - include your podcast, sales data, current client testimonials, case studies, and HOW you can help them achieve their goals. Many salespeople forget to include the HOW - be relevant. 

4. Position yourself as the transformative person they can work with to help them achieve their goals. Acknowledge their issue, perhaps discover more, you want to be the expert to make their life better. Be their agent of possibility and introduce a new way to help them reach their goals. 

5. Once you start working with a new client, remember to continue to develop the relationship by sending marquee updates about their campaign, relevant news in their industry, offer monthly check-ins to gauge satisfaction and traction. Reach out weekly with relevant information your new client can benefit from, and continue to pay attention to them. Securing a deal is only the beginning - be present and attentive.

If you are interested in advertising with us, please email advertise@twit.tv, and we will get back to you ASAP.

1. Campaign Launches - The first ad drops live on air & published after the episode is edited and reviewed by our Continuity Team. The ad is updated in the reporting doc within 24 hours after posting the episode for viewing/listening. Impressions are updated every Friday until the end of the following month. The full impact of one ad takes 0 - 8 weeks.
2. Campaign Updates - Ad copy can be updated weekly and/or by the show. We recommend sticking with one CTA throughout the entire campaign to build trust with the audience - ROI will be higher. Continuity will check your website for new services/products & will reach out if we recommend ad copy changes.
3. TWiT Goodie Bag - You will be featured in our weekly newsletter, reaching 14K+ fans. We can provide courtesy commercials from every ad read that can be used anywhere besides paid media (i.e., social media, landing page, your newsletter, etc.). You will receive social media promotion on Inside TWiT's Twitter, Facebook & LinkedIn accounts.
4. Ad Tech - If you are using Podsights, the data will start populating shortly after your campaign begins and remember, they only track audio feeds. Since Podsights only tracks audio, we recommend grossing up their metrics to include video - Podsights is an excellent resource for attribution & lift.
5. Campaign Reminders - If you did not use ad tech, then note that 50%+ of URL traffic will go to TWiT, and 20%+ won't use a URL - the average traction is 3x greater for DR campaigns 6-8x greater for branding campaigns than URL visits. We recommend extending your campaign if you only signed up for a test if you see traction. Our network sells out early, and you can lose traction with our audience - consistency equates to higher ROI.

If you listened to my last episode about ad tech and SaaS companies, here are two case studies using ad tech for online learning companies.

I want to cover two campaigns that ran on our network, TWiT.tv.  Both are for online learning companies.

The first campaign was for an online learning company focused on growing its B2B business. It was a B2B branding campaign looking to sign large enterprises. The total spend was $215,960. Based on the ad-tech traffic grossed up because video impressions are excluded, we sent 5,746 qualified visitors to the client's website. We are not done delivering traffic, as the campaign will not be fully complete until February 2023. This is considerable traffic for a B2B push, and the client has already renewed for 2023.

The second campaign was for another company focused on B2C only, and they offered a highly compelling CTA. It was a direct response B2C campaign, and the total spend was $96,225 and based on the ad-tech traffic, which is then grossed up because video impressions are excluded. We sent 13,793 qualified visitors to the client's website.  

Both campaigns were considered to be successful because of our audience reach. We highly recommend ad tech if you are interested in a campaign on our network because our audience will not visit landing pages or use offer codes. They will simply google the name and go directly to a client's website because, most of the time, it's the same offer as a landing page. Ad tech provides accurate attribution that you cannot capture anywhere else. It's always recommended.

If you are interested in advertising with us, please email advertise@twit.tv, and we will get back to you ASAP.

If you listened to my last episode about traction from a campaign and episode four about Podsights, you would understand what ad tech can provide when understanding the traffic that podcast ads bring to you.

Today I want to cover two campaigns that ran on our network, TWiT, this year. Both are for SaaS companies.

The first campaign was for a SaaS startup trying to reach IT/Tech companies. It was a B2B branding campaign for high-cost project management software and ran for three months. The total spend was $43,900, and based on the ad-tech traffic, which is grossed up because video impressions are excluded, we sent 3,276 qualified visitors to the client's website. This is considerable traffic for such a short campaign and high-cost service.

The second campaign was for an established SaaS company want to reach ALL businesses because it was an email software service. It was a direct response B2C & B2B campaign with a service that costs between $10 - $500+ depending if it were a consumer or business buy. The total spend was $64,300, and based on the ad-tech traffic, which is grossed up because video impressions are excluded, we sent 17,302 qualified visitors to the client's website.

If you are interested in advertising with us, please email advertise@twit.tv, and we will get back to you ASAP.

You must understand your client's campaign goals.

1.  Is the campaign a branding campaign? Are they trying to elevate their brand so that when consumers need what they offer, they will remember them?

2. Is the campaign a DR (direct response) campaign? Meaning the brand wants to track responses/purchases/conversions?

3. It matters because the ad copy needs a more compelling CTA (call to action) if the campaign focuses on direct response. Too many brands ignore the call to action when they want a direct response campaign and treat the CTA as a branding campaign. You won't be able to gauge traction if you offer nothing in your CTA. Brands should offer 20% off if you sign up today versus visiting our website and checking us out if you are focused on direct response.

4. Understanding your client's campaign objectives must happen before you craft ad copy.

Here is my guideline for selling successfully:

1. Start your meeting with an agreement about what will happen at the end of the meeting - set this expectation at the top - you will decide if there will be a second meeting to consider a campaign or if perhaps this is not the right fit or time. Establishing this takes all the guesswork out of the steps, and everyone is clear about the expectation.

2. Always take selling out of your first meeting - make it a discovery call & do your research about them and their company. Ask about existing and past advertising campaigns, who are their customers, what are their growth goals, what is their expectations from a campaign, etc. Be curious and make it all about them.

3. Only focus on what you can do for your potential partner - provide them with the benefits of advertising with you, do not focus on the features you have, but on how it will benefit them. As I said, make it all about them.

4. Position yourself as the transformative person they can work with to help them achieve their goals. Acknowledge their issue, perhaps discover more. You want to be the expert to make their life better. Be their agent of possibility and introduce a new way to help them reach their goals. 

Then end your exploratory meeting with a commitment for a 2nd to discuss a potential campaign or if the time is not right/it's not a good fit. And always lead all meetings with honesty, integrity, and transparency.

The TWiT Goodie Bag (Free) included with every paid ad campaign includes:

1. Overdelivery on impressions as all ads are embedded and live in perpetuity
2. Full-service continuity team to handle everything from ad copy through graphics
3. Presence on the sponsor page, show episode pages, & in RSS feed episode descriptions
4. Courtesy commercials on video shows provided with ad reads to be used anywhere but paid media
5. Social media promotion on InsideTWiT - Twitter, Facebook & LinkedIn
6. Featured 1x in TWiT's weekly newsletter reaching over 14,000 fans with an open rate of over 30%
7. Onboarding call with full-time hosts to cover ad copy before the campaign begins

TWiT.tv's ad format is as follows: each show episode has two ad positions for each sponsor - first is the host-read billboard (typically 10 - 15 seconds) and second is a host-read interstitial ad (typically 1-2 minutes and can be longer). Flash forward to 2022 - we still use this model today. 

First, I am often asked - why two ads? We adopted this model because we tested several formats before choosing it. The unaided recall (meaning the group that listened to an episode needed no prompts to remember the sponsor names) was 65-80% higher with two ads versus one. For sixteen years, the traction and impact of advertising on our network have been higher than other networks, and our audience stays with sponsors who appear on our network after making a purchase. This is also because we heavily vet ALL sponsors; they must have products/services that will benefit our audience. Our focus is on super-serving our audience, which in turn super-serves our sponsors.

Think about it. If you hear 2 ads for 3 sponsors instead 1 for 6, don't you think you would remember who was promoted? It allows us to include a quick mention at the top of an episode that gives you a sample of what you can expect later, and then the second ad gives our hosts time to properly introduce our sponsors products/services directly to their fans. Our hosts do not read the ad copy. They pull from it and make their ad read unique and personalized. We also do not cut off an ad read at 60 seconds. We always take the time to properly introduce our sponsors to our audience.

We produce results because our ad model has been tested and proven for years. We minimize the number of sponsors in a show episode. We deliver high-impact ad reads to a qualified audience, AND the most important part is that trusted hosts deliver them that our audience wants to hear from and not a random person.