10 Top Podcast Advertising Examples (2026 Guide): Ad Types & Campaigns

When was the last time you actually stopped what you were doing to listen to an ad? 

To many advertisers and businesses, that’s the reaction they dream of getting when launching a campaign. They want to connect to audiences that are really paying attention.

With podcast ads, that dream can easily be a reality. Looking for a loyal and engaged community? They can find it through advertising on podcast shows.

That’s where you come in. You can leverage podcast advertising to monetize your show. 

Check how other successful podcasters did it with these podcast advertising examples. 

If you’re considering how to amplify your message through sponsorships, understanding what makes podcast advertising effective starts with seeing it in action.

Let’s get down to business.

What Is Podcast Advertising?

Podcast advertising is a form of audio marketing where brands place paid commercial messaging before, during, or at the end of podcast episodes. 

Unlike traditional radio spots, podcast ads are delivered to highly engaged audiences who have intentionally chosen to listen to specific content.​ 

The format allows you to speak directly to podcast listeners through audio ads that can be read by the podcast host, pre-recorded by voice talent, or dynamically inserted using programmatic technology. 

Why use ads on podcasts?

Podcast advertising is attractive for brands and individuals who want to boost their visibility. Here’s what separates podcast ads from other forms of advertising:

1. Builds trust: There’s something authentic and intimate about hearing someone speak in your ear. This emotional connection between the host and listeners later turns into action.
2. Listeners are highly engaged: Your audiences often listen while driving, exercising, relaxing, or working, making it possible for ads to be a part of their daily routines and truly resonate with them.
3. Drives higher recall and brand awareness: Brands can reach new audiences who may have left traditional media behind. They can also connect with digital natives who activate ad blockers.
4. Tracks conversions: Through analytics, brands and podcasters can see exactly which campaigns performed and what worked.

10 Podcast Advertising Examples

Want to unlock the secrets of successful podcast advertising campaigns? Here are different marketing strategies by brands across industries that drove results.

From multinational corporations to direct-to-consumer startups, these campaigns showcase what makes effective ads in the podcasting space.

Let’s see podcast advertising right in action and explore what you can adapt when pitching for sponsorships.

1. Pepsi’s Local Flavor campaign: Advertising for podcast

Pepsi partnered with Studio Resonate to create customized streaming audio ads for ten different cities, featuring local food pairings with Pepsi. They used real accents, city-specific humor, and geo-targeting, making each ad feel special to listeners in every community.

• Results: Surpassed the campaign targets for brand favorability and purchase intent.
• What stands out: Geo-targeting combined with authentic local voices made the ad feel like a natural part of each listener’s community rather than a generic national campaign.

2. LUXE Bidet’s Conan O’Brien partnership

When a bidet brand let Conan O’Brien riff on their product in his own comedic style, the ads became as entertaining as the show itself. The campaign gave Conan creative control, making the ad feel authentic and shareable, a win for the brand in laughs and awareness.​

• Results: Virality and flood of user-generated content from a highly-engaged audience base.
• What stands out: This campaign shows how giving hosts creative freedom can create memorable and natural promotions.

3. Tostitos’ Hearty Dippers campaign

Tostitos tossed out a 15-second ad about cringe party moments, then positioned their chips as the solution. With relatable storytelling and smart timing, this campaign was humorous and natural.

• Results: Clearly communicated the product value and gained high social media engagement.
• What stands out: The campaign balanced humor and branding perfectly, creating effective ads that entertained while reinforcing product benefits.

4. Magnum’s 3D Audio Soundscapes

Magnum launched immersive 3D soundscapes, letting listeners “hear” the flavors in an audio journey. The brand combined these innovative audio ads with gamified display ads, podcast host reads, and live events to create a complete cross-platform campaign.​

• Results: Double-digit lifts in both brand sentiment and purchase intent.
• What stands out: The power of audio was maximized through high-quality production that put premium headphones and speakers to the test.

5. Grammarly’s Spotify pre-roll campaign: Podcast marketing examples

Grammarly used concise pre-roll ads to highlight its tone detection feature on Spotify. Listeners received quick value, tips for clear communication, and a premium upgrade offer.

• Results: The campaign achieved a 6% website conversion rate, 152% return on ad spend, and over 1,200 Grammarly Premium purchases.​
• What stands out: The whole campaign created a compelling call-to-action that felt like a natural extension of the listening experience.

6. Salesforce’s multi-format B2B campaign

Salesforce partnered with Spotify to run audio, display, and video ads targeting business leaders who listen to specific podcasts. The campaign included both pre-recorded ads and host-read spots promoting Customer 360, their tool that helps unite teams and companies.​

• Results: Increase in interest, intent, and traffic to Salesforce’s website.
• What stands out: The multi-format approach allowed Salesforce to test which ad formats worked best while effectively reaching B2B decision-makers.

7. HelloFresh: Mid-roll host-read strategy

HelloFresh always opts for mid-episode host-read ads. Podcast hosts share personal meal stories, making the offer sound very convincing. They also include exclusive listener promotions to sweeten the deal.

• Results: More natural-sounding ads that sound like personal recommendations drive higher conversions.
• What stands out: Engaging with audiences during peak moments, combined with personal host testimonials, creates ads that resonate deeply with listeners.

8. AG1’s long-term partnership model

AG1 chose continuous partnerships over one-off sponsorship deals with high-profile podcast hosts like Tim Ferriss and Dax Shepard. Rather than short ad campaigns, they maintain relationships and build on audience familiarity.

• Results: Easily tracking what works and communicates brand consistency.
• What stands out: AG1 builds trust over time and becomes a familiar, trusted brand to dedicated podcast audiences.

9. Feeding America’s holiday awareness campaign: Podcast ads Spotify

Feeding America tapped into emotional moments during the holidays, using host-read podcasts to drive support for food insecurity.

Targeting adults above age 25, they utilized host-read ads across a range of podcasts to emotionally connect with listeners, resulting in significant lifts in message association and increased intent to support the cause.​

• Results: More donations and inspiring a sense of mission in people.
• What stands out: The strategic timing, combined with emotional host-read storytelling, demonstrated how nonprofits can effectively use podcast advertising for social impact.

10. Kimbo Coffee’s product launch campaign

Cafè do Brasil ran a series of unskippable audio podcast ads on Spotify to introduce Italian audiences to their new coffee pods. Multiple ad versions reduced listener fatigue, delivering a strong launch and building brand recall.

• Results: 30 million impressions, exceeding the brand’s expectations for reach.
• What stands out: Choosing Spotify’s non-skip ad option maximized exposure during an important brand repositioning moment.

How Does Podcast Advertising Work

If you’re planning to open your podcast show for advertising opportunities, it’s important to understand how they work:

1. Pitch your show: Contact businesses yourself and present a proposal and your rates.
2. Respond to offers: Sometimes, brands or agencies will message you with their ask.
3. Agree on an ad format: Once you’ve established your partnership, agree on the ad placement, delivery, and messaging. 
4. Agree on pricing: Decide how you’ll be paid. Most sponsors opt for CPM (cost per 1,000 downloads), where your episode’s reach dictates how much you earn.
5. Launch the campaign: Bake in your sponsor message into your episodes or dynamically insert it.
6. Report the performance: Share analytics data and campaign reports to brands so they know exactly how the ad campaign went.

If you’re new to podcasting, check out this guide to understand the basics.

Types of podcast ads

Understanding the different types of podcast ads helps you choose the right podcast strategy for your campaign goals.​ Here are the different examples by placement, delivery, and format:

1. Pre-roll ads: Short ads played at the start, often for awareness. Low cost and broad reach.
2. Mid-roll ads: Longer ads placed mid-episode. These are heard by the most engaged listeners and are great for conversion.
3. Post-roll ads: Played at the end of an episode. Best used combined with other placements.
4. Host-read ads: Ads that are read and personalized by the podcast host. Listeners love these because they feel more authentic.
5. Pre-recorded ads: Produced by voice actors or brand reps, making ads sound polished and consistent across all campaigns.
6. Baked-in ads: Once you insert these ads, they’re forever in your episodes.
7. Dynamically inserted ads: Placed by platform tech based on listener location and behavior.
8. Branded segments: Built into episodes, such as sponsored interviews or features.

Podcast advertising costs vary based on the type of ad. Learn about them so you can price your rates well.

Podcast Advertising Best Practices

To create effective ads for podcasts, you need to understand what makes podcast listeners respond. Here are some podcast advertising best practices you can apply:

1. Choose brands that align with your target audience: Don’t select the highest-paying deal just because. Think about your audience’s experience because it’s your relationship with them that leads to sustainable success.
2. Leverage host-read ads whenever possible: Trust is the currency of podcasting, and host-read ads feel more genuine than intrusive.
3. Keep messaging conversational and natural: The tone, pacing, and personalization of ads should match the show’s style. No to the sudden use of corporate jargon and salesy language.
4. Respect listener time with concise ads: The best podcast ads deliver clear value propositions without saying too much. You wouldn’t want listeners to skip the most important parts.
5. Integrate ads with content seamlessly: Effective ads feel like a natural part of the show rather than jarring interruptions. 

Learn more about how podcast advertising works, specifically platforms and companies out there.

Podcast advertising trends and statistics 

Podcast advertising statistics in 2026 reveal powerful trends that demonstrate what works when connecting with audiences through audio. Here’s proof of this powerful channel and the results it can achieve:

1. Global podcast ad spend: By 2025, this is projected to reach over $4.46 billion, showing the thriving market (Statista, 2025).
2. Listener engagement: Two-thirds of Americans over the age of 12 listen to podcasts monthly (Sirius XM Media).
3. Brand recall for podcasts: 86% of engaged listeners recall podcast ads, higher than any other platform (Media Bodies, 2025).
4. Audience trust: 68% of listeners have made purchases based on podcast recommendations, and 88% have taken some action after hearing a podcast ad. (NCSolutions Consumer Survey).
5. Video podcasts: 51% of people in the US have watched a video podcast, with YouTube as the leading video podcast platform (Edison Research, 2025).
6. Dynamically inserted ads: 90% of all podcast ad revenue comes from dynamically inserted ads, doubling between 2022-2024 (IAB).
7. Mobile device listening: 88% of podcast listening happens on mobile phones (Buzzsprout).

Podcast ad script examples

One important thing that can’t be missed when talking about podcast ads is writing your script. Unlike branded commercials, your listeners expect you to sound human and not just another sales pitch.

1. Use authentic storytelling: The best podcast ads tell relatable narratives. Instead of listing product features, show your audience how a product provides real-life solutions that fit into their lives.
2. Write in a conversational tone: No to rigid scripts. For host-read ads, especially, reflect your natural speaking style.
3. Keep disclaimers natural: If you’re required to say legal disclosures, try not to shift your tone. Suddenly going monotone or saying overly complicated terms can throw listeners off.
4. Include clear calls-to-action: Tell listeners exactly what to do next. Whether visiting a specific URL for affiliate marketing, using a promo code, or downloading an app, ads should provide simple, memorable instructions.
5. Be authentic: Having your own voice makes you stand out. Make sure you also consistently show up in front of the same audience.

That said, here’s a 15-second ad script template you can follow:

“[Relatable problem statement]. [Brand] [solution in one sentence]. [Unique benefit]. Visit [URL] and use code [PODCAST] for [specific offer]. That’s [URL], code [PODCAST].”

Following that template, you can get:

“Tired of cooking the same meals every week? HelloFresh delivers fresh ingredients and chef-designed recipes right to your door. You’ll discover new flavors while saving hours on meal planning. Visit HelloFresh.com and use code COACHING for 50% off your first box. That’s HelloFresh.com, code COACHING.”

How to Advertise a Podcast

Want to get more eyes on your podcast? Having a strong audience is what attracts brands to advertise on your show. Here are tips to market your podcast and get more listeners:

1. Distribute widely on podcast directories: Make sure your podcast is listed on all the major platforms like Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, and niche directories. 
2. Leverage YouTube: Upload your episodes as videos, even if it’s just an audiogram or static image with your audio. 
3. Repurpose content: Turn episodes into blog posts, social media clips, or newsletters to engage different types of audiences.
4. Collaborate with other creators: Guest appearances, joint episodes, and shoutouts allow you to tap into their audiences and grow your own listeners quickly.​​
5. Collect testimonials: Ask your loyal listeners to leave ratings and reviews. Make it easy and thank them for helping spread the word organically.​

Monetize When You Advertise

Podcast advertising examples show the amazing outcome when businesses and podcasters partner with each other. 

Brands reach niche audiences who already trust the show they’re listening to. Meanwhile, podcasters find ways to monetize their show and support their career.

Prepare your podcast for these types of sponsorship opportunities. Grow your audience base by producing quality content, like interviews with interesting guests.

Your next viral moment is just a guest away. Find the right guests for your show with Talks.

This simple system uses AI to refer profiles that match your niche and show format. You get easy and relevant matches without breaking a sweat.

Sign Up for a Free Talks Profile and Find Your Ideal Interview Guest.