Hook Them Before You Sell Them

Making your podcast better isn’t just about having the right gear; it’s about engaging your audience right from the start. Think about the great sitcoms we all know and love—Seinfeld, Friends, Cheers. They all had something to grab our attention immediately. It’s like when you tune in to see what hilarious thing Jerry is going to say or how Joey is going to mess up this time. The key takeaway? Hook your listeners before you hit them with the ads.

You Monetize an Audience

Sure, we all need to make a buck, but drowning your audience in pre-roll ads will probably send them clicking away faster than you can say 'next episode.' Instead, sprinkle in the ads after you've given them a reason to stay. This way, they’re invested enough to endure a few promos. After all, nobody tuned in to hear about a new brand of socks—they came for the laughs or the insights. So, start strong, keep it relevant, and remember: nobody's Joe Rogan, so don’t act like you can throw endless ads at your audience and keep them around. They’ll just take a hard pass and move on to something more entertaining.

How Many is Too Many Ads?

On the flip side, let’s chat about ads. We all know they’re a necessary evil in the podcasting world, but there’s a fine line between making a living and making your audience feel like they’re watching a commercial marathon.

Take a look at the Hallmark Channel—32% of their airtime is ads when I watched one of their Christmas movies.. That’s not just a little excessive; that’s a full-on assault on our patience.

Aim for around 10% ad time in your episodes. If you’re doing an hour-long show, 6 to 10 minutes of ads sprinkled throughout isn’t too much to ask. But please, for the love of all that’s holy, don’t start your show with a three-minute ad block. You’ll have listeners fast-forwarding to the good stuff and wondering if they accidentally clicked on a commercial instead of a podcast.

Remember, the best way to monetize is to sell your own stuff or create premium content. It’s way easier to get one person to buy a coffee than to chase thousands of downloads.

So, to wrap it up, if you want to keep your podcast thriving and your audience engaged, think like a sitcom writer. Get them hooked, keep the ads reasonable, and leverage your unique content to build a loyal audience.

I’m Dave Jackson, your podcast consultant, and I’ve been helping podcasters find their voice for over 20 years. Join me at schoolofpodcasting.com to take your show from ‘meh’ to ‘wow’!

Links referenced in this episode:

1. profitfromyourpodcast.com
2. schoolofpodcasting.com

This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:

OP3 - https://op3.dev/privacy