Brand safety in podcast advertising: Why you need to know exactly where your podcast ads are ending up
It is possible to curate a podcast media plan where you know exactly which shows you’re buying before you press go, and this isn’t just true for host-read ads on specific shows. Publishers and networks should be able to provide a list of the shows that appear in the different ‘categories’ they offer.
The only time they can’t do this is when they have the rights to sell other publisher/network/podcaster’s inventory as part of a much bigger category buy, or they’re using 1st/3rd party data targeting parameters.
If you have enough budget to cover every single podcast on the market that aligns with your brand, or you are an FMCG brand whose product is just as relevant to a single 55 year old business owner as it is to a 24 year old parent of 3, then by all means take advantage of the 1st and 3rd party targeting capabilities that will maximise your reach and reduce your CPM.
However if you are trying to be smart with your budget, have a specific target audience, or have brand safety concerns, then you should know exactly where your ads are ending up before you start a campaign.
Here’s some reasons why.
Brand Safety in podcast advertising
Many networks offer AI and tech solutions that ensure their advertising campaigns are brand safe. Their software transcribes all podcast episodes and use key words or topics to ensure your ads don’t run on certain podcasts.
However, some cases are impossible to detect using robots, you need a human monitoring the campaign and making sure everything is running smoothly. We’ve started working with an alcohol brand whose ads had previously ended up on kids podcasts. The result of a programmatic buy and incorrect tagging from the podcaster / network.
Another real-life example (sorry for the @) was when I heard Nature’s Way Kids Gummy Vitamin ads appearing on Credlin & The Bolt Report on 18th November 2024. Just as their hosts were coming out in defence of Alan Jones, who had just been arrested with 24 charges over historical indecent assault and sexual touching offences. The youngest against a 17 year old.
ADS
Whether Alan Jones is guilty or not, it is not the sort of conversation a brand would want to be anywhere near or seen to be sponsoring in any way. Especially one whose ads are being read by Libby Trickett, an ex-Olympian and children’s sports advocate. I let them know and they were grateful for the heads up.
This isn’t the fault of the brand or podcast network, but someone should have picked up on this. I doubt anyone from Nature’s Way knew that a large amount of the impressions they had bought were ending up on these daily news shows amongst this very specific audience.
This brings me nicely onto the next point.
Know where your impressions are being served and to whom
To use the same example above, I heard that same Nature’s Way ad play 5 times on both those podcasts. So that is 10 impressions served to me in 2 shows (I wrote all the specific time slots down as I’m a big podcast advertising nerd, see below).
These are daily podcasts with a specific audience who, based on the content and views of the hosts, I personally don’t think would believe in Gummy Vitamins for kids, more likely referring to the product as a load of old bollocks (or equivalent Aussie term).
According to the Triton Digital Ranker, Credlin gets 102,724 downloads and 39,235 individual listeners per month, so if someone is listening to the show every day, the frequency for that person would be off the scale.
Another issue is that the entire episode is ‘progressively downloaded’ (see here for detailed explanation on how podcast tracking & measurement is done). All 5 impressions stitched into the show will be counted even if only a few mins of the podcast is listened to.
Know which ad slots you’re in
However, at least Nature’s Way were in the first ad slot in each break across both shows.
What about poor old Bunnik Tours and Employment Hero that appeared in the 3rd ad slot of each pod!
When the listener finally gets bored of hearing the Nature’s Way ad 5 times an ep, it’s fairly likely they’ll be skipping straight through whatever is next.
I’ve used this example but it is something that happens frequently, whether it’s 4 competitors advertising in the same ad slot, or me getting served ads repeatedly for help with the menopause (I am a 30 yo male).
Matching your audience with hosts and content
If the above example isn’t enough to scare you into taking more time with your podcast media buying, you’ll want to still make sure the podcasts you’re advertising on align specifically with your brand.
When there is a plethora of Parenting & Kids podcasts out there, why aren’t the Nature’s Way ads all focused there?
As a brand owner you should be able to listen to a podcast and within 5 minutes know whether it is right for your brand or product.
Yes it’s more time consuming, but there’s a reason long term podcast advertisers like Better Help and AirBnb have had such success in the channel.
If your podcast advertising is just an afterthought bolted on to a wider media plan, with focus on reach rather than impact, be prepared for the results to be underwhelming (and the possibility of an urgent email from your PR team).