💸 How (and where) to spend your money in 2025
To actually grow your podcast
Two years ago, we started a conversation on ‘how to spend your money, honey.’ Since then, Tink has been working with podcasts on managing ad spend with the goal of audience growth. We’ve learned a lot; I’ve learned a lot. My biggest learning is – whether your advertising budget is $100 or $5000, you can do a lot in podcasting if you put some patience and creativity into it.
In a time when we’re thinking about how to make more money, it’s only pertinent that we think about how to spend the money we have. Sooo, let’s talk about it!
Today, I’m talking about how to think about your ad spend and what to put it towards. To make it easy, I’m approaching it as – what to do with $100, $1000 (or so), and $5000 (or more). You’ll also hear from podcasters and advertisers who’ve got experience and insights on managing ad money.
If you only have time for one thing…
Spend money on tracking the impact of your ad spend. Use tools like Linkfire to gain a granular understanding of your RoI.
Now, we dispense some wisdom.
🫰You can do a lot even with $100
No amount is too small. If you’ve got a $100 or slightly more, you can:
📇 With $100: invest in physical assets
Arielle Nissenblatt, head of community and content at Pinwheel from Audily, says she’s been really into physical products lately.
For example, I have a podcast about podcast recommendations. Yesterday, I was working at a coffee shop in Brooklyn that had an entire bathroom dedicated to stickers. Anyone could slap a sticker onto the wall. I [...] chose a prominent location — directly eye level from the toilet seat — to stick them.
You can get really cheeky with your stickers too! Danielle Bezalel, Founder of the Sex Ed with DB podcast would agree –
I just purchased 1,000 "don't hate, masturbate" stickers[...]. If I aim to be anything, it's memorable 😁.
🗞️ With $100: place an ad in a newsletter
We might be biased but we love advertising in newsletters. Relevant newsletters have already done the work of curating a community for you; why not capitalize on that?
🌚 Shameless plugin – for just over $100 you can advertise in Tink Founder Lauren’s Podcast the Newsletter or Podcast Marketing Magic too!
Hannah Southern, Head of Audience Development at Lower Street, says these ads work –
We’ve been experimenting with sponsored ads in highly specific newsletters that align with niche podcast audiences, and the results have been promising.
💅 With $100: set up a reward fund for yourself
Podcasting, especially if you’re doing it by yourself, is very hard work. You can always put $100 in a little fund that you can buy yourself a little treat with. You are your greatest resource – maintain it well.
💎 Live a little with $1,000
If you’ve got $1,000 to spend on growing your podcast – first do a little victory dance. That’s an important milestone to celebrate!
At this stage, you can (and should) think more intentionally. I love what Heather Mason, Director of Product Marketing at Realm, has to add–
Focus on smaller, targeted spend in places you know your audience is. Are they subscribing to a specific Substack? Are they listening to another podcast? Are they at a physical location? If you're able to find the exact places your audience is and meet them there, your money will go much further than spending a lot more in the wrong places. Once you find something that works, then try scaling.
🎯 Most importantly – at $1,000: track your spend
Hannah Southern says it better than I –
We've been tracking everything through Linkfire, which gives us a clear picture of performance and helps direct future marketing efforts toward the most effective channels.
⤵️ With $1,000: invest in a paid feed drop
So far, feed drops are the highest converting advertising investment I’ve made for our clients. Ask a podcast, with high audience and tone alignment, what the feed drop rates are. This investment will go a long way!
Tip – if their quoted price is above $1000, ask them if you can pay $1000 and reciprocate the feed drop in another way on your end. You could do a promo swap or give them a shoutout on your newsletter/social media.
🖥️ With $1,000: buy a display ad on a listening app
Listening apps are a great place to capture audiences; they are already in a listening state of mind. For instance – for about $1,000 you can buy an in-scroll ad on Pocket Casts and have your podcast be seen by up to 110k people.
A lil caveat – I’d only recommend investing in display ads if you have stellar cover art. The RoI might not be worth it otherwise.
📋 With $1,000: audit your content
How will you know if that cover art is even good? Or that even if people find your content they will actually listen and like it?
Those are the kinds of questions a thorough content audit can help solve.
🌚 If I may, you can always do a Podcast Therapy session with us for $500 and buy ads with the remaining budget!
🦚 Diversify your investment with $5,000
At $5,000, you’re starting to play in the big leagues! It’s time to really zero in on your audience. I’m calling in Hannah once again –
We’ve been using Steven Pratt’s Attention Diet framework to better understand where our target listeners are actually spending their time online and when they’re in content consumption mode. My advice: figure out your audience’s “attention diet,” then focus your promo energy in those key places.
🤓 With $5,000: play around a bit
With $5,000, you can afford to experiment a little. Just like Perry Carpenter of The FAIK Files did with YouTube ads. Here’s what he learned –
In general, I think most channels (assuming they have interesting and useful content) can expect a cost per subscriber of around 60 cents if you are targeting the US, Canada, and UK. We really focused on those areas.
🤝 With $5,000: you can hire help
Danielle Bezalel gave me this idea when she said –
As the only full-time person who works on Sex Ed with DB, I understand the need to keep costs as low as possible and make sure my money is well-spent. Hands down, the best way to invest my money is with people who do a kick-ass job at helping me do the things I am both bad at and hate doing. Pay people who can help you make your podcast and brand shine -- when collaborations work, they are absolutely worth every cent.
🟪 Speaking of people who can make your podcast shine – hi! With $5,000 you can also hire a marketing agency that is dedicated to helping your podcast grow, be it PR or advertising. Kinda like Tink.
🔭 With $5,000: look to networks
With an investment of $5,000, networks like iHeart, Gumball, Lemonada, and Wondery offer targeted options on host-read and cross network advertising. Hit them up! (And tell them Shreya sent you).
🍾 A few parting shots
Lauren made an excellent point when I was discussing this with her –
Angie Griffith bought an ad on a billboard but she got more recognition from the photo she took of herself in front of the billboard! Isn’t that funny?
Really, it’s all about being creative and experimental with the money you have. I’ll let Arielle cap it off with –
I encourage all podcasters interested in purchasing ads or otherwise spending money on marketing to adopt a healthy guess and check mindset. Try something out and then iterate.
Thank you to everyone who contributed to this issue. If you’ve got any ad spend questions or case studies, let me know! I’m eager to learn and happy to help.
⭐ More Magic
Arielle’s newsletter Podcast Plunge has returned! I’m excited for more podcast recommendations, as always.
On Transom, Talia Augustidis is challenging the definition of ‘European’ radio, and ideating on how it can encompass transnational identity without sacrificing a culture’s individuality.
Magical news if you’re into analytics like me – Edison and Soundstack have partnered to launch a Download Metrics service, which promises to deliver “precise podcast download analytics” regardless of the publisher you use.
🟢 From the Desk of Tink
Mayo Clinic on Nutrition digs into the latest nutrition trends and research to help listeners understand what’s health, and what’s hype. Join Mayo Clinic dietitian Tara Schmidt as she unravels the complexities of modern diets, offers evidence-based nutritional advice, and debunks common myths about the things we eat.
Phew! That’s all folks. Thank you for reading! Wil returns next week with more podcast marketing magic.
Until then,
Shreya 💜