"This podcast has been brought to you by CASPER MATTRESSES..."

If you've listened to a podcast, you've heard that line. But how do sponsorships work? In this blog, we'll help you craft your messaging to local (or national) sponsors to help fund your show and push great products to your audience.

The first thing to note is that sponsorships aren't for everyone. That's okay. But if you'd like sponsors, then this guide will help you. Typically, a company will sponsor a podcast in two ways:

• Commission

• Fixed-Rate

Commission is where you get a set amount or a percentage from every product sold. For example, Audible (An Amazon Company) gives $25 every time you sell an audible subscription.

Fixed-Rate is a set amount per episode, typically done in a bundle. For example, Random House Audio may sponsor four episodes for $1,000 ($250 per episode).

This is largely up to either (1) what the company does as an existing policy or (2) what you're able to work out with them if it's a new territory.

Strategy

If you're podcasting at Speakeasy, we do our best to build in as many features to your podcast that are attractive for advertisers. If you're a new podcaster, it may be hard to attract local sponsors. However, if you reach out and tell them you’re a new podcast in the local market and you're going to be featuring industry professionals and promoting things throughout the city, they may buy into the new concept, so long as the deliverables are appetizing.

How to Sell a Sponsor

Downloads matter. People need to listen in order for the sponsor to gain value. However, as a new podcaster, there are other ways to give value to a sponsor. For example, all of our podcasts are placed on an SEO-driven hosting platform (Podbean). Any backlink that's placed in the show notes for a podcast is synced with Google which helps that company's SEO in the long run.

Here's what we typically recommend for sponsors:

• 60-second midroll ad

  • Talk about the sponsor, features, and where people can learn more

• Social media shout-out

  • Tag the business on social media to create awareness

• SEO Backlink

  • Link the business, their websites, and information about them in the show notes for guests to learn more

Example Letter

Dear [...]

My name is Rob Johnson and I host "Theory of Why". It's a local podcast near Detroit that features business leaders and information on how to start and run businesses. We're looking for local sponsors to feature on our podcast.

If you're not familiar with podcast sponsorship, we do things differently than most, as we want to give our sponsors the best value possible. All of our sponsors get:

• (1) 60-second commercial in the middle of the show

• (1) social media mention per every episode sponsors

• (1) backlink to your website within our show notes which is helpful for your overall SEO

I'd love to talk more about this when you have time. Typical rates per episode are around $150 or you can sponsor four episodes for $500. Thanks for the consideration.

All the best,

Rob Johnson

If you have any questions about sponsorships, please contact your studio engineer or email podcast@speakeasynetwork.com