Podcast hosting platform PodBean has announced the launch of a ‘VIP program’ designed to tempt creators with large audiences over to its ad marketplace, including free hosting and unlimited storage.
In addition to benefiting from connections with thousands of advertisers within the marketplace, podcast creators will also have access to features on the platform such as unlimited bandwidth for downloads, and the ability to manage an unlimited number of podcasts from one account.
Other benefits of the program include analytics data on their audience demographic as well as mentorship and support through PodBean’s customer success team and regular free training to help aid in podcast creation and promotion.
“As a leader in the space, we understand the future of podcast advertising and the needs of our creators,” said PodBean CEO David Xu. “This program is a game changer for creators and will elevate their podcasts to the next level.”
Members of the program must commit to keeping their podcast on PodBean’s platform and using its programmatic ad insertion technology but creators can also receive ads from third-party sources as the program doesn’t require exclusivity.
Only “large volume podcasts” qualify for the PodBean VIP program and will have to submit an application through the platform’s website to receive an invitation. The podcasts must meet certain criteria before applying including a minimum of 10,000 monthly downloads, meeting the requirements of PodBean’s Acceptable use Policy, and not promoting content targeted towards children.
PodBean offers a number of pricing plans including a free option for “Podcast Starters” that includes five hours of storage space, a monthly bandwidth of 100GB, your own podcast site, distribution to all third-party podcast platforms, and a basic level of advanced IAB certified stats. Other pricing plans range from $9 monthly for unlimited audio to $79 monthly for networks.
The introduction of a VIP program is part of PodBean’s effort to compete with other major podcast ad marketplaces like Acast which uses dynamic ad insertion technology and keyword targeting tools as well as Libsyn’s AdvertiseCast which allows for either host-read or programmatic ads. While Libsyn’s marketplace also requires a minimum 10,000 monthly downloads for a podcast to qualify, Acast’s marketplace is more accessible to creators with a minimum requirement of just 2,000 monthly listeners.
Another podcast hosting platform that has also just announced a new feature launch is Blubrry which just released a Thrive Bundle for customers with Advanced Hosting plans on its platform. For an additional fee of $10 per month, users can get access to enhanced analytics and monetisation features including pre-roll dynamic advertising insertion - which was previously only available to customers on its enterprise-level Pro plan - as well as support for hyperlinks and Value4Value platforms in Quickinks, Google Analytics integration, plus Apple Podcasts reviews and two new podcast statistic metrics in the dashboard.
“These new features for numerous tools throughout our product line give podcasters a greater grasp of their audience as well as more control over their content,” said Blubrry CEO Todd Cochrane.
