One of the cornerstones of successful advertising is always testing new things, but who hasn’t been stuck in their comfort zone before?
We see this a lot with advertisers and content alignment. If you’re an advertiser looking for podcasts to work with, it can seem like there are a lot of obvious choices out there, but you might actually just be stuck in your comfort zone.
If you’re looking to brand out your advertising efforts while still maintaining content alignment, you’re in the right place.
The newest episode of the Podcast Advertising Playbook is a special one because True Native Media founder Heather Osgood is joined by one of our very own account executives, Ame Fuhlbruck. Ame has been with True Native Media for a few years, and in that time, she’s become an expert in analyzing successful advertising campaigns.
And today, we’re sharing all that knowledge with you.
My biggest encouragement is always keeping an open mind. Keep an open mind and keep very strict reporting. Both are equally important. And, with those paired, I think you can create a very easy roadmap for successful advertising within the podcast industry.
What is content alignment?
Content alignment is a fancy advertising term that refers to utilizing specific themes or subject matters of a show (like a podcast) as a target identifier. Ultimately, it comes down to understanding the themes and subjects of a show as well as who your audience is.
Consider you’re an advertiser working for Pampers, and you’re looking to reach new moms with your podcast advertising efforts. Your first instinct will probably be to reach out to podcasts that focus on motherhood or parenting – maybe even more female-focused shows. This creates a natural content alignment because your audience base aligns with theirs.
Overall… content alignment in itself is the idea of understanding the themes and the subjects of a show as a target identifier.
Now that you know what content alignment is, there are three things to consider when trying to achieve it.
The Content
This one is a bit of a no-brainer.
But before you look at a podcast’s content, you need to look at your own and ask yourself how your audience is consuming your content. We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again, how people consume content should impact how you create it – or how you chose which content to advertise on.
The Subject Matter
Now, it’s time to look at the subject matter of the podcasts you want to advertise on.
A lot of the time, you can create a natural content alignment when you find shows that have a similar subject matter to your brand. Keeping with the Pampers metaphor, if you’re Pampers, your subject matter is babies and parenting. In order to create content alignment, you’ll want to choose shows that have a similar subject matter.
The Audience
One key aspect of content alignment that is often overlooked is the audience that is listening. In order to see if the content is a good example of content alignment, you need to ask yourself why the audience is interested in this type of content.
If it doesn’t match why your audience is interested in your content, it might not be content alignment.
If my target audience is moms, does that mean I can only advertise on parenting shows?
Not at all.
At first glance, it might seem like content alignment is pretty restrictive, but it’s important to remember that the buyer you’re trying to target is a holistic person.
Let’s say you’re still trying to advertise to moms. Moms are people too, and they can have many different hobbies. We know, for example, that there are hundreds of mommy groups out there that double as hiking clubs. Advertising on hiking shows might not seem like natural content alignment at first, but when you remember your buyer is a holistic person, you find you have more content options.
What’s the difference between content alignment and audience alignment?
It might seem like the two are the same thing, but they’re actually completely different. The thing with content is that it can be incredibly interest oriented. While on the other hand, an audience can span many different categories.
Well, since the point of marketing is to target your audience, you’ll want to focus all your energy on audience targeting, right? Not necessarily.
It’s so often that we see brands focused primarily on their audience metrics. Which is great, but when you do this, you tend to lose sight of the bigger picture. It’s great if you’re trying to target moms, so you advertise on parenting shows, but don’t forget the buyer is a holistic person with many different interests.
Content alignment and advertising seems easy, right?
One thing Ame shared with Heather is that she often sees a misconception about content and brand safety. It’s important not to judge a show by its cover.
You can assume that maybe a True Crime podcast is going to, you know, have questionable subject matter. But the reality is, is that it really is show and host dependent.
Just because, on the surface, a show seems like it won’t be safe for your brand doesn’t mean that’s true. In these situations, it’s important to look at the show as an individual instead of only looking at your misconception of the genre.
More than anything, it’s important to keep an open mind as an advertiser. Don’t be afraid to try different shows or different ad campaigns. Your buyer is a holistic person with many interests, and your ad campaign should reflect this.
If you are interested in buying podcast ads but have no idea where to start, read this article, Podcast Advertising Best Practices Every Marketer Should Know, and contact us at truenativemedia.com.
If you find this content helpful, you will enjoy this article: 4 Ways Advertisers Buy Podcast Ads