Podtrac Advertising Requirements
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Today we talk about Podtrac.com Its a company that offers free stats, audience surveys, players, and if you have the following criteria they will help you find advertising. These are:
Every month, Podtrac reviews registered shows for advertiser interest. Podtrac reviews shows which have achieved a minimum of:
- Podtrac measurement data of 20,000 or more unique downloads per month, and
- Podtrac Survey data of 100 completes.
One company that doesn’t require any criteria (typically) is blubrry.com where you can sign up for their free stats service, use their free audience survey, and they offer (frequently) new campaigns.
For more information go to blubrry.com
Dave: Another great podcast. I feel compelled to comment on this podcast especially in light of how your audience almost certainly includes a lot of newbies to podcasting. With Podtrac wanting listener levels in the 20,000 range to offer advertising opportunities, I have to believe “Pod”trac personnel are not “Pod”casters or “Pod”cast listeners at all. With those kinds of numbers required, they are taking a shotgun approach to reaching an audience. Their clients may as well buy billboard or radio or tv ads. Wanting huge numbers tells me they place a mass market ad on your site like Netflix, Folgers Coffee or The Real Housewives of Cleveland. I know you just pulled a nickel out of the air as an example of click through compensation, but you’re probably not too far off, if they want a minimum of 20,000 listeners.
What is being overlooked in this equation goes right to the core of podcasting. A podcast is an incredibly focused, narrow, specific audience of listeners who have “asked” to receive the content. The content is very focused and specific to a topic. To emphasize my point, you should be able to look up “niche market” in the dictionary and the definition could easily say: “see podcast”.
With a qualified, opt-in audience that listens to your content by subscription (typically weekly), the value to an advertiser of a “niche” product for a “niche” audience should be much higher than what it sounds like Podtrac is pursuing. Folgers may pay a nickel for a click-through in the hopes of selling a pound of coffee, but what would a microphone or mixer manufacturer pay for a click-through from a listener who is categorically a consumer of that type product which carries with it a much higher value than a pound of coffee or a movie rental? 50 cents? A dollar?
Podtrac at best is a completely passive way to get some passive income. But for those podcasters who have a niche audience of rabid fans; be proactive and approach advertisers yourself and pitch them on the qualified nature of your audience for their product line. Calculate a reasonable value for driving your listener base to the advertiser’s website and start counting your dollars – not your nickels.
Keep up the good work Dave. You rock!