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Podcast platform Acast has made its self-serve ad platform widely available to all advertisers, including those running campaigns as low as $250, ahead of an uncertain economic climate. The tool has been running for two months, available for just 100 of Acast’s ad customers, and is already seeing early signs of success.
The tool lets advertisers and their agencies set up audio campaigns at their own pace and budget. Advertisers can narrow targeting from location, podcast category and listener device.
Acast has about 2,400 customers in total, according to the company. Since the tool has been live for 100 advertisers, some 23% have already booked a campaign with the platform, according to Acast product manager Niklas Lagerberg.
“We took some time over the summer to fix some things that didn’t work well,” Lagerberg told Adweek.
The economic outlook is uncertain, with advertisers acting more cautiously about where they place their ad budgets. Acast is one of several companies that is creating a new tool to lower the barriers of entry for advertisers, encouraging more to spend even small amounts with the platform, while ultimately driving more revenues for Acast. The platform would not share how much revenue it expects the platform to generate.
For one U.S.-based customer that booked a $500 campaign running between Nov. 15-17 this year, the advertiser targeted males aged between 25-44 and females between 18-44 in the U.S. across all devices and selected podcasts in English in the True Crime and Storytelling categories. The CPMs for the campaign were $16.20 with the goal to deliver 30,864 impressions. The campaign delivered 31,516 impressions, overperforming the goal by 102%, according to Acast. Looking at the average CPM for the audio space at large, which includes all audio formats like streaming music, satellite and terrestrial radio, the cost for a 15-second audio ad is $18 and $25 for a 60-second ad, per Advertisecast.
Prepping for the holidays
The self-serve tool is live in time for the holiday shopping period. According to Capterra‘s 2022 Holiday Retail Preparations Survey, 63% of small and medium businesses expect to see higher holiday profits compared to 2021. The same survey found 45% of SMBs expect to offer more holiday deals this year because of inflation and 85% expect to increase holiday marketing spend across one or more channels.
This is one of a number of advertiser-friendly tools Acast is releasing, recently launching a Keyword Targeting tool earlier in November.
The results from Acast’s self-serve tool will be reflected in its fourth-quarter report, according to Acast. The company reported a 21% net sales growth in Q3.
An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that revenue from the self-serve platform would be broken out and included in its fourth-quarter report.
