Podcasts have been around for a long time, but it is only recently that they have started to become an audience favorite. The changing trend has inspired many people to start producing their own.
You can earn a great deal from podcasts, but the process needs a lot of effort. Below, we have listed some of the most profitable ways you can monetize your podcasts.
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Choosing the Right Audience
When it comes to marketing, the selection of your audience is the most important task. It is something you need to establish before you even start – you should have an audience in mind before researching and creating content. If you want to monetize your podcasts to the full, you need to make sure that what you deliver is of interest to your target listeners.
In most cases, people tend to go for the most commonly discussed topics to aim for a larger audience. However, in this case, you should do the opposite, i.e., instead, try out for a narrower pool of listeners.
If you go for general topics, it is virtually impossible to accurately target certain types of people. Also, with topics such as current affairs and other everyday themes you would be competing with hundreds and perhaps thousands of other podcasts in the marketplace.
Specialization automatically reduces your competition and allows you to offer interesting content. If you spend 10 hours researching general topics you cannot dig as deeply as you would if you spend the same amount of time researching, for example, stamp collecting, sailing, or dog training. Put simply, the narrower you go, the less competition there is and the deeper your content will be.
It is also much easier to find commercial backers, i.e., sponsors, if your audience is specialized. Focus websites tend to be able to charge more than their general counterparts as far as advertising is concerned.
Unless you are a very large company with relatively unlimited resources, competing for top-quality content is easier if you specialize.
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Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing, in this context, means promoting the product of another company. Specifically, products that are useful to your listeners.
This type of marketing allows you to receive a commission on the items you are promoting. You monetize your podcasts when people buy that product via your website.
There are thousands of affiliate programs worldwide; literally at least one for every product or service that exists. You can join networks to find which program is best for your type of listeners. Start with Amazon, as it is one of the most popular affiliate programs out there.
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Get Sponsorships
For every podcast producer, the biggest question is how to monetize a podcast. The answer lies partly in getting sponsorship for your content. This way you can earn several thousands of dollars every month.
Most podcasts starting out usually stick to one company, but that rule isn’t set in stone. Every company has its own commercial limits, so there will always be room for negotiation. It can go from $18 for 1k download in a 15-second pre-roll up to $54 for 3k download in a 15-second pre-roll.
There are several ways you can find sponsors. One way is to find out which companies are sponsoring your competitors. You could even write to them. They are probably the best prospects because you know they are already spending money that way. A prospect is a person, company, or other entity that you think could turn into a paying customer.
When you contact a potential sponsor, don’t just tell them how great you are. It is crucial that you explain what the benefits are for them too.
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Increasing Sales
In this type of business model, content is usually offered to the audience for free, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t find other ways to monetize your podcasts.
You need to start thinking strategically about how you can turn people into future clients and increase your revenue through more subscriptions.
One of the many ways to do that is through product giveaways or a special discount to people who are tuning in on a daily basis to your podcasts. If what you are offering can solve a problem for them, make sure to explain why clearly.
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Create New Relationships
Creating relationships is always crucial when it comes to marketing. For podcasts, most people won’t find it that valuable to create new relationships and build upon them.
That way of thinking isn’t really popular because podcast creators think that the better reputed a person is, the more people will want to listen to an exclusive interview of them through their podcasts. That is true- but only when you have generated a large audience.
Don’t waste time seeking super-famous celebrities if your listener pool is limited. Influencers and other well-known individuals demand a high minimum number of audience members.
Focus on what your business needs first. Instead of chasing high-status people, have interviews with people who you think will be willing to collaborate with your work and conduct business with in the future.
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Crowdfunding
Just as you are providing quality content to your audience, you can also ask them to provide a contribution through crowdfunding.
Patreon is one of the most popular crowdfunding platforms that allows creators to get support from their audience through diverse ways.
There might be some people who will be willing to provide their contributions with no strings attached. Unfortunately, there are very few of them out there. If you want more people to participate in your crowdfunding efforts, you need to offer them something in return; specifically, something that can be exclusively beneficial for them.
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Offer Premium Content
The best thing about podcasts is that the premium content can come in any form. Some podcasters keep their new episodes free for download but ask for payment to get access to their back catalog. Some podcasters offer additional interviews, quick access to RSS feeds, getting to know the host in Q&A sessions, etc.
Your premium content could consist of anything as long as members of your audience find them interesting and worth their while, especially if they are going to pay.
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Create E-Books
If you are giving out the information in your podcasts free of charge, make use of other forms of conveying information with a price to go along with it.
If you are good at writing, you can create an e-book about the topics you discuss in your podcasts. You can make use of the information in your back catalog as well, especially if that data has a long shelf life, i.e., does not become obsolete quickly.
You can also add social link buttons in eBooks so that they can easily be shared in different social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, thus increasing the range of your targeted audience.
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Sell Your Merchandise
Don’t think you can only monetize your podcasts through virtual means. Selling your merchandise is one of the physical forms of marketing that has been proven to be quite effective for many podcasters over the years.
Your merchandise may be shirts, mugs, phone cases, accessories, etc. You can even design your own logo and add pieces of creative artwork to the mix. There are firms that can help you set up an online store with various types of payment facilities, delivery options, customer loyalty points, and other e-commerce components.
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Deliver Online Courses
If you want to teach people about your subject in-depth, you should consider setting up online courses for them.
Since the advent of the Internet, how we work, play, shop, and study have changed significantly. Studying online has become extremely popular. If your topic can help listeners advance in their careers, you might be surprised at how lucrative your courses become.
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