Acast has launched a new feature on its self-serve podcast advertising platform which makes it more efficient for advertisers to plan and book host-read sponsorship campaigns, the independent podcast company announced.
The newly-introduced Availability Calendar feature on the platform allows advertisers to access an up to date inventory of host-read sponsorships across Acast’s marketplace with the prices included for each podcast. The feature will also increase the discoverability of smaller podcasts by making them more available for monetisation opportunities.
This announcement follows Acast’s launch of AdCollab in August this year, a feature on its self-serve advertising platform which aims to reduce the ‘back and forth’ between sales teams and advertisers and simplify the host-read sponsorship buying process for podcasters and advertisers by allowing them to work together in real-time.
“In launching our self-serve advertising platform and bringing AdCollab to market, Acast has made it easier than ever to book and produce podcast advertising campaigns,” said Acast senior director of product Milly Botes. “Now, we are helping advertisers to improve the efficiency of their campaign planning.
“Globally, podcast ad spend is inadequately distributed to the largest shows, but by improving planning and discoverability tools for advertisers, Acast is increasing the scalability of their brand message while also making it possible for each of the more than 100,00 podcasters on Acast to earn money from their craft.”
According to Acast, the AdCollab feature has successfully reduced the time it takes to book host-read campaigns by 85%. Acast launched host-read ads on its self-serve platform in June this year to allow brands and agencies to purchase host-read podcast advertising on a self-serve basis
In addition to podcasters being able to see which brands are interested in working with them through the AdCollab portal, they can also instantly accept or reject brand proposals as well as connect directly with them to start planning campaigns. Acast also introduced self-serve spot ads in November last year which allow advertisers to book pre-recorded ad campaigns with minimal interactions.
The new feature announcement follows Acast’s Q3 2023 results which were published on Tuesday this week. Acast reported a successful quarter having increased its net sales by 32% and decreased its operating loss by 57% year on year. The growth in net sales was largely attributed to strong performance in North America which contributed to an overall net sales growth of 10% since the previous quarter.
