Host-Read Ads (Audio)

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:

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 [email protected], and we will get back to you ASAP.

Host: Lisa Laporte

Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/host-read-ads

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 [email protected], and we can discuss your growth goals. Thanks for listening, and have a great day.

Host: Lisa Laporte

Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/host-read-ads

Today I want to talk about the IT job explosion. LinkedIn's Opportunity Project recently produced 2023's Most In-Demand Hard Skills List.

Here are the top 10: Software Development, SQL, Finance, Python, Java, Data Analysis, JavaScript, Cloud Computing, Operations, and CRM (Customer Relationship Management).

In the current economic climate, every business is either a tech firm or a tech-enabled company, whether they admit it or not. Thus, maintaining your technical skills is crucial. Tech skills are the most widely sought-after quality across industries; according to LinkedIn statistics, skill sets for professions worldwide have changed by about 25% since 2015. By 2027, this percentage is predicted to double. New technologies are evolving how we do our tasks, and although not everyone has a background in technology, everyone should meet the basics of today's hiring standard.

You can always get the most up-to-date analytics from experts on current tech news anywhere at TWiT.tv. Check out our 13 ad-supported shows at TWiT.tv, or if you are interested in joining a like-minded community and want 4 bonus shows plus the 13 shows ad-free, then visit TWiT.tv/clubtwit.

If you want to reach our audience, please email [email protected], and we will get back to you ASAP.

Host: Lisa Laporte

Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/host-read-ads

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 [email protected], and we will get back to you ASAP.

Host: Lisa Laporte

Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/host-read-ads

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 [email protected], and we will get back to you ASAP.

Host: Lisa Laporte

Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/host-read-ads

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 [email protected], and let's chat about your growth goals.

Host: Lisa Laporte

Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/host-read-ads

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 [email protected], and let's have a conversation about your growth goals.

Host: Lisa Laporte

Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/host-read-ads

Unlike radio and TV ads, the full impact of every podcast ad dropped on our network takes 8 weeks to reach its fullest impact. Here are the 3 reasons why - #1 You have to give the audience time to download the episode, #2 You have to give them time to listen to the episode, and #3 You need to provide them with time to act on the ad read.

We place our partners on our sponsor page, show episode page, and in the RSS feed episode description. Direct partners also receive social media and newsletter promotion, and ALL partners receive over-delivery on ad impressions because we embed our ad reads, meaning they are evergreen and live in our content forever.

When reviewing the results of a campaign on our network, you must review ALL the data to gauge the overall impact. Here are the five steps you need to follow.

You must consider ALL traction because, based on four years of data, we find that all DR campaigns are 3x+ greater than landing page visits and 6-8x greater for branding campaigns.

We are the gold standard in podcast advertising, why go anywhere else? Reach out today to [email protected], and let's discuss your growth goals.

Host: Lisa Laporte

Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/host-read-ads

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 [email protected], and let's discuss your growth goals.

Host: Lisa Laporte

Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/host-read-ads

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 [email protected], and let's discuss your growth goals.

Host: Lisa Laporte

Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/host-read-ads