[FAQ]

Hello all,

My podcast has recently become eligible for Spotify’s Automated Ads feature, and I’m thinking about enabling it to help cover some of my production costs.

However, I’m a bit wary of disrupting the listening experience. My biggest concern is having ads that feel jarring or badly placed, which might put my regular listeners off. I want to be as thoughtful about it as possible.

For those who are already using this tool, what are your best practices? How many ad slots do you typically include in an episode, and where do you find is the best place to insert them (pre-roll, mid-roll, post-roll) to make them feel less intrusive? Is there any way to control the types of ads that get served to the audience? Any advice on making this a positive experience for both the listener and myself would be brilliant.

[Jeff Bullas]

Thinking about the listener experience first is the right way to approach monetization.

Short Answer: The best practice is to place your ad slots at natural breaks in your audio content to avoid disrupting the listener’s flow. Start with fewer ads, such as one pre-roll and one mid-roll, to maximise revenue without alienating your audience.

Let’s focus on how to integrate this new audio content in a way that respects your existing program.

Your primary goal is to make the transition between your show’s audio and the ad’s audio as seamless as possible. First, you must place your ad breaks only at logical transition points in your content, for example, between distinct topics or after you have finished a thought, never mid-sentence. Second, for most podcasts, starting with one mid-roll ad placed at a major segment break will be your highest-earning and most effective slot. Third, while you cannot select the specific ad creative that plays, you can and should use the category filters in your dashboard to block ads from sensitive topics that do not align with your show’s brand or text-based content. By carefully managing the placement and context of these ads, you can generate revenue while preserving the integrity of your primary audio content.

Cheers,

Jeff

[Author]

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