Test small. Scale big.
Eric Smith is the SVP of Growth at Incremental Media. Want to share your thoughts or pick the brain of the author of this piece? Email Eric Smith at esmith@incrementalmedia.com.
Probably once a week at this point I get on a call with anew brand who either is interested in testing podcasts or has spoken to other companies in the space and they come back with one simple question:
The key part of that question is get a read. Many companies in the podcast space won’t even talk to you for less than $100k, and many require as much as $250k to “properly” test the channel. The reality is:
#1: Many brands, especially more lean or cash-strapped brands, can’t or simply don’t want to risk $100k+ on a podcast test.
#2: The companies who say that just don’t want to dedicate the time or resources to getting a podcast brand tested and live in podcasts for a budget less than $100k… which is totally fair because podcasts are a very labor-intensive channel, but from a brand standpoint that leaves you wondering how you can test podcasts without breaking the bank.
The reality is, you can get a read on podcast advertising for $35k - $50k. In our early days we tested brands as low as $25k, although I wouldn’t recommend that low, and many of those brands scaled significantly in podcasts.
Of course. That means you can test more podcasts in more genres to get a broader read on where your brand is seeing the best traction, but if you have a prevailing theory (i.e. “My brand does well with health and wellness influencers on Instagram… maybe I can translate that to podcasts too!”) you can test out that theory with a mid-five figure budget.
The moral of the story: Don’t always believe what you hear. Podcasts are a rapidly growing media channel that more brands should test, especially ones that have exhausted search and social and are looking for more channels to acquire new customers, but they should do so with the right strategy and approach to the channel, so you can test your hypothesis about podcasts and then scale from there.
Eric Smith is the SVP of Growth at Incremental Media. Want to share your thoughts or pick the brain of the author of this piece? Email Eric Smith at esmith@incrementalmedia.com.
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