No More Midroll Mayhem

For creators, it feels lousy when podcast ads underperform, and sponsors drop off. You can’t help but wonder where you went wrong.

Here at Gumball, we had a thought: It might just be your midroll placements.

Of course, there are many aspects to ad performance. But where you place your midroll ad markers has an outsized—and underappreciated—impact. Really!

THE MIDROLL MAYHEM PROBLEM

For a long time, many podcasters have taken a casual, even haphazard, approach to ad placements. That’s the beauty of podcasting, right? Show lengths vary, ads go wherever, right? Freedom!

But this scattershot approach does a major disservice to your buyers, and your show. (It’s also very 2017.)

Reasonably, advertisers want the inventory they buy to produce results. They don’t want their ads inserted into the back third of your episode, once the audience starts dropping off. And they don’t want it buried in a 14- or 15-ad pileup that turns your midroll break into the sponsorship equivalent of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.

Luckily, our team has developed guidelines for you to follow after studying insights from thousands of ads delivered on our platform. We give you (trumpet fanfare):

THE ROADMAP FOR BETTER MIDROLL PLACEMENTS

1. Keep host-read ads under two minutes. Again, this isn’t 2017; longform improv on your sponsor’s products is going to get skipped. Say it like you mean it, and keep it tight.
2. Set midroll ad markers consistently every episode. Memorize this mantra: Midroll ad break 1 at 15 minutes, Midroll ad break 2 at 30.  We’re going to break this down for you based on show length: 

Let’s zero in on just the midroll insights:

• A 30-minute show should have 1 midroll ad break of 2-3 ads each, placed around the 15-minute mark. 
• A one-hour show should have 2 midroll ad breaks of ~2 ads each. Place the first between minutes 15-20 and the second between minutes 30-35.
• For 90+ min. shows: 2-3 midroll ad breaks of ~2 ads each. Please note, your midroll breaks do NOT adjust proportionally. Treat this episode like a one-hour show plus bonus content. Again: midroll break 1 at 15-20 minutes and midroll break 2 at 30-35 minutes. If you have a high sell-through rate, you might offer a third midroll break at  the ~70% mark but be transparent with your ad buyers about its positioning. Perhaps offer this spot at a discount to compensate for audience drop-off.

While most shows that are longer or shorter can follow this general rubric, if you have a show under 20 minutes, put that midroll at or before the halfway point and skip the preroll altogether!

Here’s how this looks in practice, with three anonymous shows on Gumball (the vertical axis is ad length; the horizontal axis is episode length).

THE RENEWAL IS YOUR REWARD

These days, ad verification tools like Magellan and Podscribe give sponsors visibility into how their ads are performing. “Good faith” delivery numbers are meaningless. 

Instead, advertisers typically “test” shows with ad buys of 2-4 ads. If the tests perform well, your show may get a renewal: a buy of at least five ads.

NOTE: a good renewal rate is above 30%; a great one is above 45%. They are already hard to get! And your renewal percentage is more likely to sway future advertisers than a stat like listen-through rate. If you’re trying to juke your listen-through stats by delaying midroll ad breaks, you’re only hurting yourself! 

THE BOTTOM LINE

Consistent midroll placements—and thoughtful ad loads—drastically increase an ad spot’s chances of being heard, and resonating with your audience. So use these guidelines, boost your renewal percentage, and say goodbye to midroll mayhem forever!