Pay Per Action : Podcasting's Payday is Arriving

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Advertising, Blogroll, Marketing, New media

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John Wall, Ronin Marketeer extraordinaire, published a blog post talking about the advent and rise of pay per action advertising in the Googleverse, and what it means for marketing online. His conclusions: CPM (cost per impressions) and PPC (pay per click) models are on the way out for the most part, because CPA (cost per action or conversion) will be at the forefront of advertisers’ demands.

From the perspective of a CTO at an Internet company, CPA is a godsend, because we’ll be able to accurately measure the true results of our advertising campaigns. Ultimately, CPA *is* the bottom line – for the Student Loan Network, signed applications are currency. Clicks on an ad are an expense.

From the perspective of a podcaster, CPA is going to be a gold mine for podcasters. Why? Because podcasters generally speaking have niche audiences, highly focused, highly engaged. Few podcasters have mega-media reach; if Nielsens were available for podcasters, compared to TV, the ratings for any one podcast show wouldn’t even be a rounding error.

However, if the advertising model changes from CPM/PPC to CPA, podcasting is going to be a wealth-building business, because the close relationship podcasters have with their audiences will make CPA a home run. No need to run banner ads, no need to relentlessly flog a web site to build clicks – simply mention a sponsor or advertiser in a relevant, high quality way, and even just a few conversions will be the payday that podcasting has been looking for.

Why? Because most advertisers, including the Student Loan Network, are willing to pay significantly more for a conversion. Example: the Student Loan Network pays $100 per completed, signed student loan consolidation application via the StudentATM program. When was the last time you saw any advertiser paying $100 per click?

Podcasters: get ready. It’s payday.

Comments

9 responses to “Pay Per Action : Podcasting's Payday is Arriving”

March 28, 2007

Matt Searles

I think its pretty inevitable that we move in the direction of the cpa.. but I don’t know that I expect such a thing to happen over night.. and even if it did, there’s a value to the impression, and a number of other difficult to quantify aspects of the whole.. so we’ll have to adjust to that.. and I’d imagine that there’d be places where you’d have verying degree’s of quantify-ability.. where, say in PR, its a bit like trying to understand the behavior of sub atomic particles via Newtonian physics.. I guess my concern usually lies is how we relate to the metrics… But then I also know that I tend to take this sort of position at the expense of reality.. and haven’t studied this stuff quite enough yet.. so I don’t know…

Reply
March 28, 2007

Matt Searles

I think its pretty inevitable that we move in the direction of the cpa.. but I don’t know that I expect such a thing to happen over night.. and even if it did, there’s a value to the impression, and a number of other difficult to quantify aspects of the whole.. so we’ll have to adjust to that.. and I’d imagine that there’d be places where you’d have verying degree’s of quantify-ability.. where, say in PR, its a bit like trying to understand the behavior of sub atomic particles via Newtonian physics.. I guess my concern usually lies is how we relate to the metrics… But then I also know that I tend to take this sort of position at the expense of reality.. and haven’t studied this stuff quite enough yet.. so I don’t know…

Reply
March 28, 2007

Bryan Person, Bryper.com

Dear advertisers and marketers:

New Comm Road is willing to listen and consider your advertising pitches. Please contact me at [email protected] 🙂

I agree that the model won’t change overnight, but I think it would be especially helpful for podcasters if it happened sooner rather than later.

Reply
March 28, 2007

Bryan Person, Bryper.com

Dear advertisers and marketers:

New Comm Road is willing to listen and consider your advertising pitches. Please contact me at [email protected] 🙂

I agree that the model won’t change overnight, but I think it would be especially helpful for podcasters if it happened sooner rather than later.

Reply
March 28, 2007

Christopher S. Penn

Question: how many podcasters (at least reading this blog) are signed up on Commission Junction/Linkshare?

You don’t need to solicit sponsors – there are plenty of affiliate programs willing to work with you right now.

Reply
March 28, 2007

Whitney

the conversion through one site and/or attribution is going to be tricky I think for some niches like mine- I am flogging knowledge and books and authors, but have no idea who buys online or who goes to the local bookstore and picks it up at borders, or what.

But then again, I didn’t get into this niche to make money.

I think it’s going to end up being a blend to be honest.

We just don’t have all the metrics worked out in a meaningful way, let alone having everyone understand what a podcast is. I think Leah’s project about engagement is going to be important.

Reply
March 28, 2007

Christopher S. Penn

Question: how many podcasters (at least reading this blog) are signed up on Commission Junction/Linkshare?

You don’t need to solicit sponsors – there are plenty of affiliate programs willing to work with you right now.

Reply
March 28, 2007

Whitney

the conversion through one site and/or attribution is going to be tricky I think for some niches like mine- I am flogging knowledge and books and authors, but have no idea who buys online or who goes to the local bookstore and picks it up at borders, or what.

But then again, I didn’t get into this niche to make money.

I think it’s going to end up being a blend to be honest.

We just don’t have all the metrics worked out in a meaningful way, let alone having everyone understand what a podcast is. I think Leah’s project about engagement is going to be important.

Reply
November 17, 2008

fast cash

a gold mine for podcasters. Why? Because podcasters generally speaking have niche audiences, highly focused, highly engaged. Few podcasters have mega-media reach

Reply