AdvertiseOnPodcasts.com

Booking your first podcast ad

TAKEOliver Wakefield-Smith · Digital SignetSources checked July 31, 2026

Cue

How do you buy a podcast ad?

Self-serve is the fast route: open an account on Spotify Ads, Acast, or AudioGo, upload or build a 30-60 second spot, target one geography and one audience, set a budget at the platform floor (Spotify publishes 250.00), and launch with a promo code and pixel wired up first. Live within a day.

  1. 01 Open the account and confirm the floor

    Create an advertiser account on your chosen self-serve platform. Spotify's help center states a 250.00 minimum campaign budget; Acast and AudioGo publish no verified minimum. Confirm the current floor in the checkout itself before planning around it.

  2. 02 Prepare creative to spec

    For pre-recorded spots: a 30 or 60 second audio file to the platform's spec, or use in-platform creation tools. Script rule: one offer, one URL or code, stated twice.

  3. 03 Set targeting narrow

    First campaign: one geography, one audience segment. Wide targeting makes results unreadable. You are buying rate discovery, not reach.

  4. 04 Set budget and flight dates

    Start at or near the platform floor with a two-to-four week flight. Frequency caps on: hearing the same spot ten times burns audience for nothing.

  5. 05 Wire measurement before launch

    Create the promo code or vanity URL, install the platform pixel if offered, and add 'how did you hear about us' to checkout. None of this can be retrofitted honestly.

  6. 06 Launch and check the first 48 hours

    Verify delivery is pacing, the audio plays correctly, and clicks or code redemptions register end to end. A misconfigured campaign discovered on day 10 is a wasted flight.

Platform notes

The 250.00 figure is Spotify’s published minimum ; platform interfaces change often enough that this page describes the flow, not the button labels. Acast’s self-serve publishes starting CPMs of $15 pre-recorded and $25 host-read , which is what your first campaign’s effective CPM should be compared against. AudioGo’s flow is the most hand-holding for non-marketers; see the AudioGo profile.

What first-timers get wrong

Three recurring mistakes: no frequency cap (budget burns on repeat listeners), national targeting on a local offer, and launching without the code or pixel live, which converts the whole flight into an anecdote. The measurement setup is half the work and all of the value: promo codes and pixels.

Budget context: the $500 test · Platform choice: AudioGo vs Spotify