Message From Ad Buyers To Creators: Be Everywhere.

More is more. That’s the word from advertisers in today’s media world. Audiences are fragmenting across channels and platforms, which means broadcasters and podcasters need to offer more than just their core products. At NAB New York’s Radio + Podcast Interactive Forum, the message was be everywhere.

Zach Sang, who landed a syndication deal with Westwood One in his early 20s, where he was heard in nights on CHR stations across the country, has taken a multimedia approach to his career. The former Nickelodeon personality who now hosts an interview podcast for Amazon told conference attendees that content today “needs to be everything while still being true to its core thing.” That can involve transforming audio source material into video and then repurposing that into social video. “The only thing that really travels wherever that content goes is the environment in which it’s in,” said Sang, who streams a video version of his show on YouTube. “It’s really taking advantage of the visual universe in which the show takes place in.”

While host reads are still where a podcaster’s bread is buttered, even that is evolving. “We’re moving into this [era where] you’ve got to be everywhere and do everything, and someone wants to buy all of it,” Sang explained.

Liz Alesse, the former VP of ABC Audio at ABC News, agreed that advertisers are moving away from siloed ad buys with separate buyers for radio, podcast, and streaming. “It feels like there’s a lot more cross pollination,” she told the audience. “The sales teams I worked with on the podcast side and the radio side were two distinct teams,” she relayed. “They were coming to me with a similar messaging from the buyers and agencies, which is that they want to be everywhere. So, a radio buy would like to have some spend attributed to podcasts and to social and to streaming. It's kind of a more is more approach.”

Sang contends that podcasters and broadcasters should offer as many verticals to advertisers as they can, from radio and podcasting to FAST TV channels, Snapchat, and YouTube. He also advocated for “maximizing the universe” of the room where the show is recorded, such as the bottles and cups guests drink from, along with pillows and other objects that logos can be festooned on.

Experiential is also part of the recipe. “People have a hunger to get out and be together. So, mobilizing your community and offering that up in whatever way you can to a potential partner or sponsor would really go a long way,” Sang said. “People are clamoring to just connect with each other in physical spaces again. There's a desire to be together.”

Buzz Knight, the longtime programming exec (Beasley Media Group, Greater Media) turned podcaster (“Takin’ A Walk”) said the secret to growing brand dollars in podcasting isn’t all that different from radio. “The most effective collaborations are the ones that have that authenticity of brand. To be able to merge a client need with the strong character of a particular podcast or a host seems to be what will unlock future dollars.”

But when it comes to the metrics advertisers use to place podcast buys, there still is no industrywide currency. “This is one of those areas where podcasting is still figuring itself out,” said Alesse. “There hasn't been a ton of standardization in terms of every buyer looking for the same metric to base a determination on where they're going to spend their money.” That makes it incumbent on the publisher to amass as much information as possible, both qualitative and quantitative, she said, and not always rely on the same sales playbook. Since Spotify and Apple use different engagement metrics, Alesse said it’s imperative to “pull together a full complement of how engaged your audience is and create a full, well-rounded story with all the information at your disposal to paint a picture of who that listener is and what their listening habits and consumption habits look like.” While relationships with advertisers still matter, metrics that go beyond downloads, such as listen-through rates are essential.

The panel was moderated by Deborah Parenti, President/Publisher, Streamline Publishing.