How I Created a Sold-Out Sponsorship Program for My Niche Podcast
If you have a smaller podcast that may not have those 50,000+ episode downloads that a lot of the bigger brands are looking for, we’re diving in to talk about:
The mindset that you need to create a sponsor program
How to know if you are ready to launch your own sponsorship program
The important assets for pitching to brands
My experience creating a sponsorship program and selling out all of my ad spots
other ways to monetize your podcast
But first, let’s take a step back and acknowledge that sponsorships aren’t the only way to monetize your podcast. Other ways to monetize your podcast include:
Listener support - asking for donations via something like Patreon or creating memberships where people can pay to get access to special content.
Affiliate marketing where you share links to affiliate brands and get a percentage from those sales.
Leveraging your podcast to get paid public speaking opportunities or collaborations.
Selling your own services or products. For business owners, it’s the most effective way to monetize your podcast.
Yet it’s still nice to get some additional income from having brands sponsor your show so let’s go over how smaller podcasts can do that.
Getting Your Mindset Right
Most big brands want to see high download numbers when it comes to sponsoring podcasts. This also comes into play when you're talking about networks. A podcast network is a collection of podcasts that are produced and distributed through one company or network, and you also get the added benefit of your show getting in front of advertisers. But a lot of these networks and a lot of brands want your podcast to meet a certain threshold of downloads per episode.
So generally speaking, most big brands are operating on a CPM model (Cost Per Mille). Mille stands for 1,000. Every thousand listeners will get you anywhere between $15 or $50, and that's just a range. Brands typically look for, at the very minimum 5K, but most likely 10K downloads per episode within a 30-day period of that episode being published. With this model, many independent podcasts can feel pressured to grow their show quickly to try to get these huge download numbers and attract brands.
So how does this play into mindset? Well, not every podcast is going to be a 10,000 or 50,000 or more downloads per episode podcast. There are a lot of smaller, more niche podcasts, like mine, that may not have those huge download numbers, but still have loyal listeners who show up every week, share episodes with their friends, talk about the podcast with their community, and are engaging on social media. So it's important to remember that it's not always about quantity - quality is just as important.
Especially when you think about how people decide to purchase something. People make purchases when they trust in the company. And when you have these more intimate, very specific communities that are all in, you're speaking to a really curated group of people who listen and trust you - that's powerful. That's a quality audience.
The mindset that you need to have when pitching brands is really knowing that your community and your podcast and the content you offer are extremely valuable.
This belief is the difference between whether we even go after sponsorships. If we can flip the script and acknowledge that quality and relationships are important when it comes to our listenership (not just quantity), that's the kind of mindset that creates a sold-out sponsorship program.
How do I know if I’m ready for sponsors?
You're ready to reach out to brands or to create a sponsorship program for your podcast when you:
SHOW UP CONSISTENTLY
Do you have a bank of episodes that will give whatever, sponsor an idea of the type of content that you put out? Do you have a couple of seasons under your belt so that they know that you are committed to this podcast and you're not just going to ghost it? Do you have an engaged community? Are people responding to your social media posts? Are they leaving strong reviews?
HAVE DIVERSIFIED YOUR MARKETING ASSETS
Do you have more to offer than just the podcast? Because if you don't have the downloads, you want to be able to offer other visibility opportunities and ways to bring awareness for brands. Do you have a newsletter? Do you have social media following? Do you have a place on your website where you can talk about the brand or where you can link to their website? It's really important to get creative about all the different ways that you can offer more value to potential sponsors. It’s really about thinking outside the box. It's not just about the podcast, it's about all of the content that you create and all of the places that you share it.
HAVE A MEDIA KIT
A media kit is a document or a webpage on your website that gives potential sponsors important information they need to know to decide if they want to work with you or not. You’ll also want an agreement outlining the terms of the sponsorship.
Here’s what to include in the media kit:
A summary of what the podcast is about.
Your mission as a business owner.
Who you are as the host of the podcast.
A breakdown of your audience demographics.
Stats about your followers on your different platforms.
Quotes from past sponsors (when you have them).
Stats on why you should advertise on a podcast.
Why advertise on your specific podcast.
Reviews of your podcast by listeners.
Sponsorship options.
How I created my sold-out sponsorship program
It’s always been my goal to monetize my podcast. But I was feeling intimidated about reaching out to brands, and I realized that I needed to build confidence through action. It was also important to me that I was integrity with the brands that I worked with and how I approached them.
I decided to create a sponsorship program that I felt connected to and passionate about and to start with my network of business owners with aligned values and audiences.
I created a sponsorship program for Latinx Heritage Month where I dedicate my podcast to sharing Latina voices. The people in my community love diversity, empowering women, and many of them are Latinas so I knew it would be a good fit. I created an email explaining my goals, why it was important to me, the impact that I could have, and shared my media kit.
Some questions I asked myself were:
Who do I know in my network that would be really excited about this opportunity?
Who do I know who has a really aligned community?
Who would do I know that has a service that would benefit my audience?
I reached out to people that I had worked with before, people that I'm in the same online community with, people who have coached me, people who I've coached. And every single business owner I reached out to said ‘yes’.
For transparency, the sponsorships weren't an astronomical amount. I let the business owners know that this was a beta sponsorship program. Being sponsors was new for me and many of my sponsors as well so we were all learning together.
I ended up with really fantastic brands that I truly believe in and that I knew would provide value to my audience. This is important because it makes it so much easier to write the ad copy and also record the ads with genuine excitement and understanding of how the company helps customers through the services they provide.
I had one sponsor say, “My jaw dropped. The ad sounded so good. You weaved in your personal flavor and experience with the content and integrated it so beautifully.”
conclusion
In the end, I was able to sell five ad spots to four different brands. Four of the three were Latina-owned businesses. Three of the brands were service-based businesses, and one of the brands was a product-based business.
Now, I have evidence that I can sell ad spots to brands which give me the confidence to reach out to bigger brands in the future. The truth is, you already have the skills and assets you need to reach out to brands. I hope this behind-the-scenes look at what it actually takes to sell out a sponsorship program when you have a niche audience motivates you to think of your podcast as the valuable asset it is and expand how you approach monetizing it through sponsorships.
*This blog post was originally a podcast episode. To listen to the full episode, click here.