To get podcast sponsors, start with brands that already pay for podcast ads in your category, decide whether a host ad marketplace or your own outreach suits the show, and send a short pitch that names one placement, the delivery data behind it and how you will report results. Before you sign anything, check that no hosting or marketplace contract has already given someone else the exclusive right to sell ads in your episodes.
Find brands that already buy podcast ads
A brand that has paid for a podcast read before has a budget line, an approval process and some idea of what it expects. That makes it a warmer prospect than a brand that has never bought audio. Listen for evidence rather than guessing:
- Play the latest few episodes of shows whose listeners resemble yours, and note every read that opens with a label such as “sponsored by”, along with the episode and date.
- Read the show notes of those episodes for promo codes and vanity URLs, which tell you the brand measures podcast results.
- Separate host reads from produced spots. A host read means the brand works with talent directly; a produced spot more often comes through a marketplace or agency.
- Treat back-catalog episodes carefully. Acast's marketplace article explains that dynamically inserted ads can change with the listener's location and the inventory available, so an old episode can play a new advertiser; only a baked-in read tells you who bought the original slot.
- Look for a partnerships, creators or affiliate page on the brand's own site, which usually names the right inbox.
- Check the category against your host's and platforms' rules before you pitch; YouTube's branded content policies, for example, prohibit some categories outright and restrict others.
Disclosure rules make this research easier: when hosts label reads as the FTC and UK regulators expect, the sponsor's name is spoken at the top of the read, so you rarely have to infer it.
Sponsor prospect tracker
Keep one row per brand and never pitch a brand whose evidence cell is empty. The general deal pipeline, from first reply to payment, lives in our brand deal tracker template; this version is for the research stage.
| Brand | Evidence they buy podcast ads | Contact route | Fit with your listeners | Status | Next action and date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Brand A] | Host-read mid-roll on [show], episode [n], [date]; code [CODE] in show notes | Partnerships inbox listed on the brand's site | [The listener problem the product solves] | Researching | Send pitch on [date] |
| [Brand B] | Produced spot heard across several shows in [category] during [month] | Likely an agency; ask the brand who buys its audio | [Why your audience matches] | Pitched [date] | One follow-up with a relevant episode on [date] |
| [Brand C] | Creator program page invites podcasters to apply | Application form | [Category exclusivity conflicts to check] | Applied [date] | Diary a check-in on [date] |
Host marketplace or direct deal
Marketplaces bring advertisers to you; direct deals mean you find them. The routes can coexist, but only if your contracts allow it.
| Route | How brands reach you | Your control | Contract point to check | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Acast Marketplace | Your marketplace profile; shows with 1,000 monthly listeners can apply, and review can take up to 10 days | You set ad positions and blocked categories; you can refuse a proposed sponsorship | Standard terms give Acast exclusive selling rights and split net ad revenue 50/50 | Acast marketplace guide and Acast terms |
| Buzzsprout Ads | Other podcasts buy promos, offered to shows with matching language and categories | You hear and approve each ad before it runs, and can remove it later | Paid per monetized download into a wallet; it covers podcast promos, not brand sponsors | Buzzsprout Ads help |
| Spotify Sponsorships tool | Not a marketplace: you still sell the deal | Schedule, replace or archive host-read video sponsorships and export delivery data | Partner Program members only; video episodes only | Spotify Sponsorships help |
| Direct outreach | Your pitch | Everything, from the read to the price | Whether any host agreement already restricts selling | Your own contracts |
The exclusivity point deserves a careful read. Section 7.1 of Acast's standard creator terms says Acast has the exclusive right to monetize the show and that you will not approach advertisers to sell ads in it, yet the marketplace help article says shows that keep their own commercial messaging can still receive marketplace ads, just not Acast sponsorships. Ask Acast in writing which applies to your plan before you sign a direct sponsor. The Buzzsprout details come from its ads help page, and the Spotify tool from its Sponsorships article, which asks you to confirm each uploaded asset is host-read rather than an advertiser-supplied ad.
The podcast pitch email
A podcast pitch differs from a general brand pitch in one way: the buyer is purchasing delivery, so the email has to say how delivery is measured. Fill the brackets and keep it to one screen.
Subject: [Show] listeners and [product category]: a mid-roll idea for [month]
Hi [first name],
I host [show], a [weekly or monthly] podcast for [specific listener] about [topic]. I heard [brand] in [comparable show], episode [n], and our listeners have the same problem your product solves: [one sentence].
I'd like to propose one host-read mid-roll of about [length] in [number] episodes between [dates], opened with a clear sponsor label and carrying your [code or URL] so you can track it.
Recent episodes averaged [downloads] downloads within [number] days of release, as measured by [host], which [does or does not] follow the IAB Tech Lab podcast measurement guidelines. [Optional: Spotify and Apple listener figures, each labeled with its dashboard and date range.]
After the flight I'll send downloads per episode at day [number] and any listener feedback, and you can share code redemptions with me.
Happy to send a one-page media kit and a sample read. Is a short call next week useful? [Name, show, email]
Put the media kit behind the reply rather than in the first email, and make sure every number in it carries its source; our podcast media kit template shows how. For general outreach structure and follow-ups, see our brand pitch email templates, and price the placement with the podcast CPM worksheet before anyone asks.
Terms to confirm before you record
- Placement and length: pre-, mid- or post-roll, and the target duration of each read.
- Baked-in or inserted: a baked-in read stays in the episode for good, so agree whether later downloads are included in the fee; an inserted read ends when the flight ends.
- Flight and delivery: which episodes, which dates, the download figure the fee assumes, and what happens if delivery falls short.
- Approvals: talking points or verbatim copy, how many review rounds, and how fast each side turns them around.
- Claims: what the brand can substantiate, what you must not say, and your right to describe only your own experience.
- Disclosure: the exact spoken label and where it sits in each read.
- Exclusivity: which competitors are excluded and for how long, checked against any marketplace contract.
- Platform copies: whether the read appears in the YouTube or Spotify video edition, which brings those platforms' rules into play.
- Usage, reporting and payment: whether the brand can reuse clips, what you report and when, and the fee, schedule and cancellation terms.
The platform point catches many shows. YouTube's RSS delivery page says podcast content uploaded through RSS cannot contain advertisements and that host-read promotions must be declared with the branded content box, and Spotify's Partner Program monetization policies exclude video with a disproportionate host-read ad load from Premium video revenue. The negotiation itself is covered in how to negotiate brand deals, and if an offer arrives out of the blue, run it through our fake brand deal checks before you share bank details.
After the first flight: report, then propose the next
The recap you send after a flight doubles as your renewal pitch. Send it within a week of the last read, using the same measurement you quoted in the pitch, so the numbers line up. A useful recap covers:
- Downloads per sponsored episode at the agreed day, with the host and date range named.
- For Spotify video episodes run through the Sponsorships tool, the figures Spotify's sponsorship analytics provides: impressions, audience reached and completion rate, which it can export as CSV files.
- Anything listeners said about the product, quoted only with their permission.
- Links to each published read and a note of where the label sat.
- A proposal for the next flight: same slot, a longer run, or a different episode type, with the price already worked out.
If the read underdelivered against the figure the fee assumed, say so and offer the remedy you agreed, such as an extra read, before the brand asks. Raising it yourself makes the next booking an easier conversation.
Disclosure travels with every deal
The FTC's endorsement guide answers include a close parallel to co-hosted podcasts: when paid talk-show hosts discuss a product, the disclosure should come at the start of the segment and when products are endorsed, in plain words rather than phrases like “we've partnered with vendors”. The UK's CAP podcast advertising advice says the ASA is likely to hold the brand and the podcast's creator jointly responsible for an ad that is not obviously identifiable. In Australia, the ACCC has warned businesses that scripts should never require influencers to misrepresent their experience or views of a product. Build the label into the brief from the first call; our podcast ad script template shows where it goes.
Limitations of this guide
Marketplace thresholds, terms and features come from each company's pages on 1 October 2026 and can change, and marketplace help articles are not contracts, so the signed terms decide. Listening research shows who bought ads, not what they paid or whether the ads worked, and no pitch template can make a brand say yes. Disclosure notes here summarize regulator guidance for general information; they are not legal advice, and contract questions such as exclusivity or cancellation are worth a lawyer's read when the money is significant. For the bigger picture of where sponsorship sits among your options, see how to monetize a podcast.