Speaker 1: Today, we're talking about podcast advertising, and I'm joined by Marcel. He and I host the podcast Real Chums, where we discuss what makes a movie truly great. You can check it out right here. We recently decided to dip our toes into the world of podcast advertising, and we wanted to share our experience using Buzzsprout ads. So if you have a podcast or are thinking of running ads, this one is for you.

Speaker 2: So we've been debating whether to run ads for a while now, especially since our YouTube audience is booming, but our podcast downloads needed a little boost.

Speaker 1: And after watching a YouTube video about Buzzsprout ads, we decided to give them a try. They offered 10,000 impressions at two cents per impression, which turned out to be $200. Let's dive in to what we learned from this experience.

Speaker 2: We originally planned on doing a video ad for YouTube, but decided to pivot to the audio ad on Buzzsprout because we could get it out faster.

Speaker 1: Once we finished the script, we recorded it, and I finished the edit in Resolve. It took us a little over an hour. Here's what we came up with.

Speaker 2: Ever find yourself lost in the world of movies, creating discussions that dig deeper? I'm Danny, a filmmaker by trade. And I'm Marcel, an avid film lover.

Speaker 1: Together, we host the Real Chums podcast, where talking about movies feels like hanging out with friends.

Speaker 2: So picture this, insightful conversations, exclusive filmmaking insights, and debates that light up your cinematic senses.

Speaker 1: Whether you're into behind-the-scenes magic, want to analyze cinematic themes, or just want to join fellow enthusiasts, this show is for you. So grab your popcorn and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Real Chums podcast, where we cultivate connections through cinematic insights.

Speaker 2: That bass riff gets me every time, man. Every time. Now, one of the things we liked about Buzzsprout was their ability to match our podcast with shows where our ad could run. It's like they were playing matchmaker for our podcast.

Speaker 1: True, but not every match was a perfect fit for us. The great thing was that Buzzsprout allowed us to opt out of running our ad on shows that didn't quite make sense for our audience. But it was a manual process, which took Marcel a minute.

Speaker 2: Yeah, it did. After I screened the ones we wanted to match with, it was still up to the other podcast hosts to accept the offer. In the end, we matched with 111, and our ad only played on 43 of them.

Speaker 1: Our biggest concern? Buzzsprout's minimal analytics. We couldn't see the click-through rate or average listening time for our ad. Granted, we know that that might not be a normal thing for audio ads, but it was surprising that analytics were non-existent.

Speaker 2: Yeah, as data-driven decision makers, this was extremely frustrating for us. We really wanted more insights to fine-tune our ad strategy.

Speaker 1: Now, our ad placement was a dynamic mid-roll insertion, which means that it gets added to the podcast once it's been accepted by the host. Unsurprisingly, we hit our 10,000 impressions in under 48 hours, which was a shock, especially since we didn't have a benchmark of how long that would take.

Speaker 2: This means that our ad averaged about 232 impressions per podcast. What that means? We don't know. We don't know, because we lack analytics. We don't know if that means people listen to it, or if it's just assuming that it could be listened to by that many people, depending on the podcast size.

Speaker 1: We also weren't sure about the best time to run our ad. We went with a Friday release, but Buzzsprout's lack of analytics made it difficult to gauge if that was a good choice.

Speaker 2: However, based on our podcast platform analytics from Spotify for Podcasters, we did notice a 0.6 to 1% increase in downloads within 24 hours of the ad ending. So that's something.

Speaker 1: Yeah, especially since we usually see very few downloads on weekends, considering our usual release day is Tuesday. So it's safe to assume that some of those weekend listens came from our Buzzsprout ad.

Speaker 2: Now, we know that running ads isn't a one-time deal. It's an ongoing investment. This was just our first foray into it, and we're still learning the ropes.

Speaker 1: Exactly. It's all about experimenting and fine-tuning our approach, which is why we'll be testing out Overcast ads next. Here's some unscripted final thoughts from both of us. And the question is, was it worth it, and do we recommend it to somebody who might be interested?

Speaker 2: No.

Speaker 1: No. No. Unless you have money to put on it on a regular basis.

Speaker 2: Exactly. And I think if you're wanting to really do some A-B testing, go for it. But the analytics wasn't there. The insights are not there. You're just kind of throwing darts at a wall and hoping it sticks.

Speaker 1: In the dark. Yeah, throwing darts in the dark. Yeah. Yeah. Because, look, like we said, there wasn't any... There are no analytics. So you're literally just putting impressions. We don't know if anyone listened to them. We don't know anything. So that's why we say no. But we want to hear from you. Have you used another podcast ad platform with better analytics? Share your insights in the comments below. Thanks for tuning in. And remember, always be publishing.