Monetization

How to Generate Revenue from Your Branded Podcast

Last updated on: 
May 10, 2023

​​Discover proven strategies for generating revenue from your branded podcast, as we explore monetization methods, including sponsorships, events, premium content, and more, to help you turn your podcast into a profitable venture.

Does your brand already have a seasoned podcast? Or are you thinking of launching one?

No matter where you are in your podcast journey, there are monetization strategies that your brand can explore through the show. There are several routes you can take to generate revenue from audio depending on your goals, audience size, resources (time, people, budget), and more. 

Regardless of which path you choose, it’s important to think about the different ways you can generate revenue from your show. And remember, your podcast is the product

Let’s dive into some of the best ways to monetize your branded podcast

1. Events and exclusive experiences 

Events whether that’s a live event or exclusive experience like a masterclass, workshop, or unique networking opportunities, are a great way to generate revenue. By hosting in-person or virtual events, you can create a sense of community among your listeners and offer unique opportunities for ticket sales, sponsorships, and merchandise sales. This not only generates revenue but also helps strengthen the connection between your brand and your audience.

There are a few things to think about before you activate events for your branded podcast.

  • Figure out who your target audience is: Once you know who you are speaking to, what they value, and what they care about – it’s easier to create the kind of event they would be interested in attending.
  • Create unique, one-of-a-kind events: Develop events that tie into the theme or topic of your branded podcast. For example, if your podcast is about small businesses, you can host an event featuring panel discussions with successful entrepreneurs so the audience can learn tangible tips. Or if your podcast focuses on health and wellness, host a yoga or wellness retreat centered around healthy farm-to-table meals.
  • Sell tickets to your event: Your audience will happily pay for tickets if they know that it will attract like-minded people (people love to network and grow their community) and they’ll receive some sort of value in exchange. Be sure to offer early bird discounts or VIP packages to incentivize people to buy tickets. 
  • Find the right sponsors: Companies are always looking to sponsor podcasts that help build their credibility and thought leadership in a specific space. Find organizations that have the same values and ethos as your podcast. Sponsors can provide financial support and offer products, services, or discount codes for those attending your events. 
  • Leverage audience data: Be sure to capture data from attendees such as names, phone numbers, email addresses, social media handles, and other relevant information. These details help build your database that can be leveraged for future events and meetups.
  • Promote your events: Social media is your best friend. Be sure to use social channels, email marketing, or paid advertising to create buzz and attract a wider audience. 
  • Sell merch: Create merch that’s specific to your show in the form of clothing, water bottles, notebooks, etc. Merch is not only an additional revenue stream but it helps to solidify the community around your show. 

2. Advertising and sponsorships 

If you have a specific target audience and unique profile, it should be easy to secure an advertising deal. 

When you sell a sponsorship or ad, you’re essentially selling airtime before (pre-roll), during (mid-roll), or after your episode (post-roll). The best ad placement, and thus the most expensive, is generally mid-roll because your listeners are less likely to skip through. 

If you’re wondering about the effectiveness of advertising through a podcast in 2023, here are some stats that might sway your decision:

  • According to Ad Results Media, a whopping 68% of consumers said they were more willing to consider purchasing a product or service after hearing about it on a podcast, compared to  YouTube/Online Video (62%), Social Media (61%), Live or Recorded TV ( 54%), and Am/FM Radio (49%)
  • Ad Results Media also recently reported that podcast listenership has risen recently, with 120 million monthly listeners
  • What’s more, more than half of these podcast listeners consume nine podcast episodes a week

Typically, there are two types of podcast ads:

  • The host promotes the product: You, the host, share and talk about the product or service in question. This option can be less intrusive or disruptive to the flow of your episode.
  • Pre-recorded ads: The brand or company that buys the ad slot provides you with a pre-recorded advert. All you have to do is include the recording in the agreed number of episodes. This route is often also used with dynamic ad insertion tools

In terms of fees, you can charge a fee for every ad placement. The amount can vary depending on the length of the ad, size of your audience, how niche your audience is, etc. 

In a similar vein to advertising, you can approach companies that are a good fit for your podcast and offer them a sponsorship deal. They pay to have their brand mentioned and advertised during your podcast episodes. 


3. Gated content or paid memberships

If you have an engaged fan base, creating paid membership tiers is a surefire way to make money from your podcast. This is a great option for monetization since listeners feel they’re getting exclusive and intimate access to special content, so it’s of mutual benefit.

Plus, for brands that aren’t looking to monetize through other brands' advertising on their show, a membership structure is an effective way to still earn money from your content.

Or alternatively, if you’ve already got that lucrative ad deal under your belt, you could offer an ad-free option to your paying members. There are many different ways to go about generating revenue through gated content and paid memberships! 

If you want to go the exclusive, gated content direction there are a few things to consider: 

  • Create additional content: Create content that expands on or complements your show. This could be in the form of whitepapers, infographics, e-books or bonus video content like behind-the-scenes or bloopers.
  • Set up membership or a subscription model: This set up allows listeners to access the additional content in exchange for a fee. Offer different tiers of membership with varying levels of access to the gated community. There are different tools that do this for you such as Patreon or Buy Me a Coffee
  • Promote your gated content: Talk about it on your podcast, tease it on social media, and send out newsletters about it. Encourage your fanbase to sign up for a membership or even a trial period so they are more willing to take the leap. 
  • Offer discounts: Your true fans want to be early adopters so make the deal sweeter for them! Encourage them to sign up for a membership or subscription.
  • Provide value, value, and more value: Make sure you’re continuously providing value in the form of content to your subscribers to keep them engaged and happy. People want to know their dollars were well spent!

Insider Tip: you can always check out CoHost’s B2B Analytics Tool for generating valuable leads – it’s a great way to identify the companies that are tuning in and engaging with your podcast.


5. Affiliate marketing 

Affiliate marketing is a performance-based form of marketing where businesses recommend products or services to their audience and earn a commission for every sale that is made through the unique affiliate link. 

The best part is, since there’s less financial risk for businesses that provide affiliate links, they’re a perfect monetization method for up-and-coming content creators or brands who have just launched a podcast.

6. Merch and product sales 

Everybody loves a bit of branded merch. If you’ve got a recognizable logo or podcast artwork, you can instantly produce everything from hoodies to water bottles. 

The best thing about branded podcast merch is that it works twice. 

  • First off, the sale of the physical product is an additional income stream
  • Second, it’s an extremely effective way to market your podcast for free! Every time one of your listeners wears their branded t-shirt, they’re passively promoting your podcast (win-win!)

There are some great examples of podcast merchandise, including Alex Cooper’s “Call Her Daddy” merch that includes hoodies and baseball caps.

Remember, you can also branch away from physical products to include services such as books, e-books, an online course, or a coaching program. 

How to generate revenue from your branded podcast 

Generating revenue from your branded podcast requires a combination of creative strategies and a deep understanding of your target audience. 

By exploring various monetization methods such as:

  • Events and exclusive experiences
  • Advertising and sponsorships
  • Gated content or paid memberships
  • Affiliate marketing 
  • Merch and product sales

You can create a sustainable income stream while continuing to provide engaging and valuable content for your listeners. It's important to remain focused on your podcast's core mission and audience needs while incorporating these revenue-generating tactics, ensuring a harmonious balance between monetization and audience satisfaction. 

By staying true to your brand and consistently delivering high-quality content, you can cultivate a loyal listener base and turn your branded podcast into a profitable venture.

Quincy de Vries

Producer

After falling in love with the power of audio storytelling, Quincy has funnelled that passion into her work producing stellar audio content for brands. She has worked on narrative, interview, and hybrid shows and brings her strong research and writing background into everything she does.When she’s not busy producing, you can find her reading, writing, and making her third coffee of the day. Quincy holds a BA in History from McMaster University and an MPhil in Medieval History from the University of Cambridge.

Platform
Price
Pro’s
Con's
Anchor

Free

  • Easy to use
  • Automatically distributes your podcast to major platforms.
  • Embed media player.
  • Great if podcasting is a
    side hobby
  • Very basic editing
  • Since it’s a free tool, you don’t have full control over the monetization of your podcast.
  • Not the right platform for people taking podcasting seriously
Buzzsprout

Free for 2 hours of content per month

$12 for 3 hours per month

$18+ for 6 hours and up

  • Very user-friendly
  • Caters to both long term and beginner podcasters
  • Advanced analytics
  • Easy distribution of your episodes
  • They measure their size requirements to hours not megabytes
  • Bonus: get a free $20 Amazon gift card when you sign up for any paid hosting plan!
  • Advanced features like dynamic ad insertion need some work
Libsyn

$5/month for Monthly Storage 50mb

  • Oldest podcast hosting site.
  • Easy distribution to major platforms and great for scaling once your podcast gets bigger.
  • Hosted over 35,000 podcasts.
  • An iTunes Podcast partner.
  • Allows you to publish your podcast to specific directories.
  • Embed media player.
  • Price is based on storage
  • 50mb storage for $5 won’t be enough if you are publishing weekly so you’ll end up with a higher price point
Podbean

Unlimited audio package: $9/month

Storage space:

Unlimited

  • Great support & customer service features
  • Unlimited audio.
  • Pages are easy to customize
  • Can schedule podcast release dates.
  • Easy to use.
  • Uploads and changes to podcast titles and/or descriptions are automatic to Spotify.
  • Embed media player.
  • Simple Analytics
  • Analytics aren’t as advanced as other platforms
  • Upload and changes to podcast titles and/or descriptions take a day to change on iTunes.
  • Not an iTunes podcast partner.
  • The process to send a podcast to iTunes is more tedious. But, you will still be able to get on the platform.
Blubrry

Classic

$5/month

Monthly Storage

50mb

  • Podcast Wordpress plugin and management.
  • If you want to record a new introduction or conclusion, add in a sponsored ad or upload a new version of a podcast, it doesn't count towards your storage usage per month.
  • Blubrry allows a 25% storage overage each month
  • Prices are based on storage.
  • Usability is okay.
SimpleCast

Starting: $15/month

Recommendation: $35/month

Monthly Storage: Unlimited

  • Hosts your audio files no matter what the size!
  • Dynamic insertion for podcast ads or edits.
  • Incredibly detailed analytics including number of episodes completed and listener location tracking.
  • Embed media player.
  • Easy to use.
  • Great distribution! Easy access to all major podcast platforms.
  • Customizable podcast
    website.
  • Prices are slightly higher than other platforms, but well worth it especially if you have a branded company podcast!

Looking to generate reach, leads, and measurable results?

Chat with our experts about your podcast

chat with ouR team

Related Posts