AFFILIATE MARKETING
How to make money in podcasting (Complete guide for 2023)
When you work hard on your podcast, it shows. Hours of dedication put into creating well-crafted, interesting content pays off with a fine-tuned product— your very own podcast. A show that listeners discover and keep coming back to week after week. And while having a great show and a growing audience is rewarding, you may want to get the full benefit from your work. We’re talking about a payday.
Whether you’re a bedroom podcaster or a seasoned pro, Acast believes that everyone deserves to find their audience and make money from their craft. So if you’re looking for tools to turn your passion into a side hustle or even a career, we’ve got you covered.
Getting podcasters paid is our business at Acast. We provide creators with the best monetization tools that enable them to find a model that works for both them and their audience. From ads and sponsorship to subscriptions and one-time payments, Acast makes it easy to get paid for doing what you love. We’ve already paid out over $240 million to creators, and they’re all earning in different ways — we put the creator in control.
In this article, we will talk about how to make money podcasting and the different monetization methods available on Acast and beyond. We’ll cover how to get started with ads, sponsorships, and subscriptions, and how you can track your earnings and growth with clear and transparent metrics. As well as touching on additional revenue streams such as merch, live events, and affiliate marketing.
Why and when should I monetize my podcast?
Look, we know that not everyone gets into podcasting to make money. In fact, we don’t encourage people to start a podcast specifically to make a quick buck — it doesn’t work like that, but more on this later. But the beauty of podcasting is that it allows you to turn a passion project into a side hustle that can earn you money and, if you’re lucky, even develop into a career. If you’re in it for the long haul, you’ll want a strategy when it comes to monetizing your show.
Getting paid will allow you to sustain making episodes. For example, if you have an interview podcast, you can attract more guests by offering a fee for their time. If your podcast involves traveling, you can fund your next trip to produce future episodes. You may decide to hire specialists such as sound designers, social media managers, or a producer, to take your show to the next level and improve the quality of the show going forward.
Having a little extra money in your pocket can pay for essential podcasting equipment and recording gear. Maybe there’s a snazzy new microphone you’ve been coveting, or you want to upgrade your editing software. If you don’t record at home, monetizing can also help pay for regular studio time in a professional podcast studio.
As for when to start monetizing, it’s down to the individual. You can start straight away with ads on platforms like Acast to open up an income stream, and there’s no risk in launching a subscription early on to start developing your offering. Keep in mind there are some limitations on how much revenue you can generate while your audience is limited, but there’s nothing wrong with starting early.
What do I need to start monetizing my podcast?
As we said, we don’t encourage people to start a podcast to make money fast. Podcasting is a medium that takes planning, managing, and a fair bit of hard work to start seeing success—don’t rush to the bank after starting a podcast with one episode.
While there’s no definitive list of things you need to start making money from podcasting, as it can differ from podcast to podcast. Here are the foundations that you should have in place before exploring monetization:
Quality content
When you’re starting out with a new podcast, it’s important to focus on creating the best possible content you can. This all starts with your idea, concept, and format for the podcast. Something that plays to your strengths as a creator, and offers listeners something different that they can’t hear on any other podcast. We love the phrase “Build it, and they will come” because it is so true in podcasting. We’ve got a great guide for how to start a podcast called Aclass Essentials with tons of helpful insights into how to create quality content, which is a great place to start.
Building an audience
Building and sustaining a podcast audience is crucial for monetizing — it’s your audience that advertisers are paying you to reach, or the listeners themselves who will support you financially. Ultimately, it’s a case of steadily growing your podcast and building your audience — keeping listeners tuning in, episode after episode. It’s about making sure that they don’t “dip in”, but rather hit the follow button and keep coming back for future episodes.
It’s all about consistency, which is the fuel for podcast growth. Keep a regular release schedule, and use seasons to give yourself a break. Your listeners are creatures of habit, and podcast listening is habitual behavior, so they’ll appreciate knowing exactly when new episodes are out.
The best and most obvious way of getting an audience to return is simply to ask them. Make sure you always tell listeners their support matters and tell them to follow wherever they get their podcasts — as well as leave a positive review. Point out you’ve got social media accounts they can follow, and that you’d love to hear from them. The relationship between the podcast host and the listener is an unusually close one, so make the most of this bond.
Some podcasters take advantage of other marketing channels to entice returning listeners. This could take the shape of an email newsletter, dropping a reminder of the next episode into listeners’ inboxes. Your podcast should feel like a club, where your most valuable listeners are the ones who keep coming back – the ones who reach out to let you know they’re listening. Let them know you’re listening, too.
Choosing the best podcast monetization platforms
If you’re serious about developing a successful podcast monetization strategy, your best bet is to work with specialized partners in generating revenue for your podcast. These platforms offer tools that do all the heavy lifting for you, so you can focus on doing what you do best — making podcasts. Platforms and tools vary in what they provide; from podcast advertising networks, membership subscriptions, one-off payments, donations, merch, and more.
There are a lot of choices out there, which can leave podcasters feeling overwhelmed about which platforms to choose. That’s why Acast developed its podcast hosting platform to be a one-stop shop for the most effective podcast monetization. Podcasters can access our podcaster advertising network, the ‘Acast Marketplace’, where they can monetize with ads and, once they’re big enough, sponsorships. We also have our industry-leading subscriptions and one-time payments tool ‘Acast+’, which allows podcasters to get paid directly by listeners in return for premium content, ad-free episodes, and much more. You can find out more about these monetization tools below.
How do podcasts make money?
Here we go, your complete guide to the various podcast monetization methods, along with helpful explainers and tips on how to get started.
Podcast advertising and sponsorships
Podcast ads and sponsorships are the bread and butter of podcast monetization. If you’ve ever listened to a podcast, chances are you’ve heard what these sound like. These commercial messages from brands and businesses are what put the most money in podcasters’ pockets and keep podcasts free for listeners.
First, let’s define a few important terms:
- Ads are shorter commercial messages in podcasts, usually, 30-60 seconds in length, that are typically created by the advertiser, brand, or business themselves. These will often feature their own signature voice, tone, or music associated with that brand.
- Sponsorships are commercial messages that are direct endorsements of a brand, often read by the podcast creator themself — also known as host-read sponsorship. These are typically longer, around 1-3 minutes in length. As sponsorships are personally created and read by podcasters, this ad format is suitable for podcasts with bigger listenerships.
- Dynamic Ad Insertion is a technology that inserts ads and sponsorships into your podcast, which Acast invented all the way back in 2014. Dynamically inserted ads and sponsorships are heard on your podcast episodes at the right time, targeting the right audience, across all of your shows’ episodes. This means that your podcast, no matter how far back in your catalog your listens are taking place, will generate passive income even from episodes published years ago. Neat!
In the majority of cases, it’s recommended that you sign up for a podcast host that’s got a built-in podcast advertising network, like Acast. On Acast’s platform, you have everything you need for podcast creation, publishing, and monetizing — including access to the Acast Marketplace where you can start making money through ads and sponsorship that uses dynamic ad insertion, and manage and track your revenue all from the same place.
Monetizing with Acast means you can make money from advertising no matter what app is used by your podcast listeners, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, and any other app that catches your RSS feed.
One of the beauties of podcasting is just how individual and tailor-made advertising can be, so we’d encourage even beginners to see how ads can start working for you, whatever stage you’re at in your podcasting journey.
Acast works with the world’s biggest and best brands, so you don’t have to worry about any dodgy ads. On top of this, we ensure that ads sound right at home on your show by putting you in control of setting criteria for any brands or categories that you don’t feel are right for your listeners. It’s our job to make sure your audience hears the right ad that won’t interfere with their experience.
You also have control of showing us exactly where you want ads to be heard in your episodes, using what is known as ‘Ad Markers’.
- Pre-roll markers usually play at the very start of your episode
- Post-roll markers usually play toward the end of your episode
- Mid-roll markers can be placed in the middle of any episode that is at least 10 minutes long. And want to know a secret? – this tends to be the most lucrative ad spot.
Before an ad plays in your episode, we play our iconic audio logo (the Acast North Star) to let your listeners know the difference between your show and the ads.
Once ads are in your episodes, it’s time to get paid. The amount of money you earn depends on the number of listens, your show category, how brand-safe your content is, and a few other factors. Crucially, ad revenue is dependent on CPM (Cost Per Mille), which is a fancy way to say the cost-per-thousand impressions (listens) from your listeners. This can range between advertisers, but typically falls between $5-50 per CPM. Once you’ve reached a certain monthly threshold (for example, $50 in the US), you’ll receive simple steps to tell us where to send your money. You can also track your earnings through the dashboard with our transparent metrics.
As your podcast grows and you get bigger, you may find that advertisers want to hear from you directly, in your voice. These are podcast sponsorships, and Acast can help connect you with sponsors. Sponsorships are podcast host recorded endorsements of a product or brand read aloud by the podcast creator. Podcasts allow you to fully take control of advertising in your own style. In fact, it’s that personal connection between you and the listener that our advertisers want to tap into. Eligibility for the sponsorship on Acast starts at 500 listens per week, but sponsorship campaigns are managed on a case-by-case basis through our dedicated podcast sales team.
Of course, there’s the option of going it alone and pitching potential sponsors yourself for your podcast. Before you reach out, you’ll need to have some numbers ready. Advertisers will want to know how many downloads or listens your podcast gets, and therefore how many impressions their ad is likely to get. In other words, how many people are likely to hear it. You should also be prepared to talk in detail about who your listeners are, and why they’d be interested in the sponsor. For most podcasters, this is very time-consuming and difficult to manage whilst doing everything else it takes to create a podcast. And keep in mind, if you have your own baked-in ads you are not eligible for sponsorship opportunities from Acast.
Podcast subscriptions, memberships, and premium content
Working with brands isn’t the only route for making money in podcasting, increasingly a lot of creators are supported directly by their listeners through subscriptions or memberships, as well as one-off payments for premium content. And you may not need masses of listeners to make this work – you just need them to be really into what you’re doing.
It’s a bit of a different approach to advertising – one that relies on building a loyal audience base before it can be truly sustainable. But when it works it can be so effective in creating revenue that grows alongside your show’s popularity and helps you build a strong, two-way relationship with the people who are investing in you.
There are a few platforms out there for podcast subscriptions, such as Supercast and Patreon—which Acast has integration with. Acast also has its own supercharged subscription tool called Acast+, which is included in its hosting platform. Think of Acast+ as the ultimate podcast membership club, all available through the same platform you host and publish your podcast.
Podcast subscriptions and premium content are a way to offer listeners all sorts of benefits or perks in return for a monthly fee, or one-time payment. Essentially you’re creating a paywall for exclusive content. Acast+ subscriptions work across pretty much every listening app including Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Pocket Casts, Podcast Addict, and many others. This means a super seamless experience for your listeners. No changing apps or even feeds to access their Acast+ benefits.
Let’s look first at monthly subscribers—that is, listeners who pay a monthly subscription fee, set by you to access benefits. On average, we’ve seen that around 2-5% of audiences could become paying subscribers using Acast+. Shows that promote frequently and persistently can see upwards of 7-10%. This process can take a while – podcasts are slow-burning experiences built on trust and faith so don’t be disheartened if things take a while to ramp up. Persevere, focus on your show, and the subscribers will come in time.
You’ll need to work out what you can offer your listeners in return for their subscription. You can set up a range of tiers for different amounts of money and assign perks to each. Benefits that you can offer through Acast+ include:
- Ad-free episodes: Acast can automatically remove ads from episodes for paying listeners.
- Bonus episodes: Exclusive podcast content for the people who love it most.
- Early access: Get episodes to your superfans before anyone else can listen.
- Access to archive: Holding back your archive is a great way of turning new listeners into paying subscribers
You can also customize these tiers to fit with the themes and stories of your show. Take a look at some of Acast’s popular podcasts that are using Acast+, including WTF With Marc Maron, Sh**ged, Married, Annoyed, and Owning It.
Acast+ brings all the tools you need to convert your audience to membership, including a dynamically-inserted intro message added to your regular episodes, explaining what your subscription is and how to subscribe. And cleverly, you can make sure these messages aren’t served to any existing subscribers. You can also put a custom call-to-action in your show notes so people can easily click straight through to your subscription offering.
You can also test your listeners’ appetite for subscriptions with one-time payments for special episodes, bonus content, or bundles of episodes in one go. This can be a really great, low-stakes way of bringing them closer to your show without the pressure of ongoing payments. You’re also not limited to podcasts. Audio content like audiobooks, stand-up sets, live recordings, and more can all be delivered to your audience through Acast+.
You don’t just make money with Podcast subscriptions, they’re also a great way of building an email list—which you can use to build a closer relationship with your biggest fans.
Podcast subscriptions work because they are a great example of what makes podcasts so special. It’s about you, it’s about what you love and connecting you with the people who love what you do.
Affiliate programs
Affiliate programs allow you to earn commission by promoting a business’s products or services. When your listeners use your affiliate link to make a purchase, you earn a percentage of the sale. Here are some steps to help you make money in podcasting using affiliate programs:
- Choose a niche: Identify a specific niche that your podcast caters to. For example, if you host a podcast about personal finance, you can promote affiliate products related to finance and investments.
- Find affiliate programs: Research and find affiliate programs that align with your niche. There are several affiliate networks available, such as Amazon Associates, ShareASale, and Commission Junction. Acast also has its own affiliate program.
- Select products: Choose products or services that you genuinely believe in or have used yourself. It is crucial to promote high-quality products that will provide value to your listeners.
- Promote products on your podcast: Once you have selected the products, you can promote them on your podcast by creating engaging ad spots. You can also add links to the show notes or your podcast website.
- Track your earnings: Keep track of your earnings from affiliate marketing to determine the effectiveness of your efforts. This will help you make adjustments to your strategy and optimize your earnings.
Acast has its very own affiliate program, which can earn you a 30% recurring commission every month for each podcast customer you refer to Acast who signs up for one of our paid-for plans. This is perfect for podcasters as you’re already speaking to people interested in the medium, and can talk from experience about the joys of podcasting.
Additional ways to monetize your podcast
Donations and crowdfunding
Similar to one-time payments, there are tools to request one-off donations from your listeners to support the podcast. People often phrase this to their listeners as helping them buy a cup of coffee, a beer, or an in-joke related to their podcast. You can do this through Acast+ easily by creating a one-time payment tier and customizing the message.
Crowdfunding is a slightly different approach than a donation, but still involves your fans contributing to support the podcast. Usually, creators will launch a crowdfunding campaign to launch a new podcast or series, using platforms like Kickstarter—which has a whole section dedicated to funding podcast projects. For example, James Acaster, co-host of Off Menu, funded a new podcast using Kickstarter.
Merch
Another way to earn money directly from your diehard fans is by selling merchandise. This is a great way to put money in the bank but also to build a community with your audience around your podcast — like a real fan club. Using e-commerce platforms like Shopify and Everpress or specialist merch platforms like Spring, you can create branded t-shirts, mugs, hats, or even books or an online course that ties in with the topic of your show.
Live events, live streams, and gigs
In-person live events and live streams offer podcasters the opportunity to connect with their audience in a more intimate way. The relationship between podcasters and listeners is unlike any other medium, so many fans want to be able to interact with their favorite podcasters. You can run events such as live Q&A sessions, behind-the-scenes looks at your show, and even exclusive interviews with your guests. And the best part? You can charge your audience to access these events.
To get started, you’ll need to choose a platform to host your live events and live streams. There are plenty of options out there, including YouTube, Facebook, Twitch, and Zoom. You’ll also want to promote your event through your podcast, social media, and email list to get as many people to attend as possible.
And here’s an idea, why not try using one-time payments on Acast+ to sell tickets to your live events?
Summary
There you have it, a comprehensive look at all the different ways to earn money through podcasting. Monetizing is just one aspect of podcasting, but an important one if you’re looking to turn your passion into a profitable venture. From ads and sponsorships to merchandise and subscriptions, there is a monetization strategy that can work for you and your audience. At Acast, we offer a variety of tools and features to help you monetize your podcast on your own terms. Get started by signing up or switching to Acast today.
AFFILIATE MARKETING
How to Make Money on Pinterest
Some influencers make tons of money on Instagram and TikTok, but a truly hidden gem of a platform that has the potential to generate tons of passive income is Pinterest (NYSE: PINS). Many think that Pinterest is just a platform for wedding planning and home décor, when it actually offers a great opportunity because it has around 500 million monthly active users, meaning that whatever you post on it could be seen by millions. Here’s how to make money on Pinterest by leveraging its vast userbase to your advantage.
Creating a Website
Before you start thinking about how to make money on Pinterest, you need to take a look at the pins of anyone who makes money on the platform, like any popular Pinterest influencer. Most of the pins direct people who click on them to a specific website, so if you want to make money on Pinterest, you have to have a website of your own. Creating your own website isn’t a hard thing to do, since you can use websites like Canva.com or Hostinger.com to create a website, but they aren’t your only options as there are many platforms that you can find easily by googling “create a website” and use to create a website that you can use to publish articles that’ll link to your Pinterest posts.
Finding a Niche
You need to figure out what type of content you want to create, because that’s what your website and your Pinterest blog will revolve around. Try to find a niche that people are interested in, but don’t go for something that’s overly saturated on Pinterest, like fashion or home décor. It’d also help you a lot if that niche is something you’re passionate about, so you don’t get bored easily and give up on creating content for it, but instead go on to treat the money you make from it as an extra bonus to posting about something you love.
Creating a Professional Pinterest Account
You need to create a professional Pinterest account. It costs nothing to upgrade your account from a normal account to a professional one, but having a professional account helps you with a variety of things like viewing analytics and managing ads, so it’s definitely the way to go if you want to make money on the platform.
Creating Boards
After creating your account, you’ll need to open Pinterest and start creating boards, and make sure they’re boards that people can actually search for. Most of the time, people using Pinterest will search for boards, so your chances of getting more visitors will be higher if you create a lot of boards. But, don’t go all in at once and create hundreds of boards with thousands of pins, because this can be a red flag to Pinterest and the platform might think that you’re spamming and end up hiding your posts. Ideally, you want a dozen different boards, with each of them having 20 to 30 pins.
Boards are also extremely useful because they will help increase the number of visitors to your Pinterest blog because you can add to them other people’s posts, so you’d get the combined traffic from multiple people’s Pinterest accounts. If you’re wondering how you can find a name for your board that would get clicks, you can simply use the Pinterest search bar to see what people are already looking for. For example, if your Pinterest blog revolves around cooking, you can simply look up “cooking” and you’ll see results like “cooking for one” or “cooking recipes” and that makes it easy for you to know what keywords to include because that’s what people are searching for.
Creating Pins
You should learn to create pinnable images that people are going to actually click on. It’s important to understand that Pinterest works in the same way as Google (NASDAQ: GOOG), meaning that the first pins that come up when you search for something are the top ranking ones, so you’d need to create a pin that’s similar to the top ranking ones. By looking at the popular pins, you’d see what words and colors work well and then you can include them in your pictures when you’re editing them. You can edit and design pins on Canva for free, and Canva even has multiple Pinterest layouts for you to edit and use, so you can easily create attractive Pinterest pins without needing to be an expert graphic designer.
A good tip for creating pins is to save them, after you’re done with the design and edits, with the keyword of the group board, because this will help it rank better in Pinterest, and reach your intended target audience. For example, if you create a picture about a cooking recipe and you want to add it to your cooking recipes board, you should save the picture as “cooking recipes”. Then, you can post that picture to your Pinterest blog, but don’t forget to add in a bunch of keywords so more people can find your post, link the article about the pin from your website to it, and to also add your post to the right board.
How to Make Money on Pinterest
There are two ways to make money on Pinterest, and both of them require you to grow your views to something around a couple of thousand views per month, because having a lot of views may result in people clicking on your pins and actually going to your website, and that’s where all the magic happens.
Running Ads on Your Website
Once your website gets enough visitors, you can go to the Google AdSense website and sign up to allow Google to run ads on your website, which can give you anywhere from $50 to $100 per month if you have around 10,000 viewers per month, or even more, depending on how many people visit your website. Aside from Google, another website that can run ads on your website for you is called Media.net.
While this amount of money might not seem like a lot of money, but think about it this way, if you’re already doing Pinterest and you love using the platform, you can just link your own website to each pin you already post for free, but actually get paid by allowing businesses to run ads on it. Not only that, but once you hit around 25,000 views per month, you can sign up on Mediavine.com, which could help you get better deals when it comes to making more money with the ads that run on your website. Additionally, the income you earn from Pinterest can eventually turn into passive income as your website and Pinterest blog grow, because they will remain online forever for people to see and click on, even if you decide to stop posting on them.
Pinterest Affiliate Marketing
Running ads is just one way of earning money through Pinterest, and it’s the more passive one. But, if you want to earn more money, and have more time to invest into growing your Pinterest blog and website, then you should do Pinterest affiliate marketing. With affiliate marketing, you basically partner up with companies, allowing them to give you unique referral links to their products that you can share with people, and if those people use your link to buy the products, you get a commission on that sale.
There’s a lot of money to make in it because you can promote multiple products and join multiple affiliate programs for free, and you don’t have to enter an exclusive agreement with just one company, which diversifies your affiliate marketing revenue streams. As for how you’d get paid, different companies have different types of commissions. For example, some companies might just give you $50 for every purchase someone makes through your referral link, while others might give you something like 10% of the sale.
A great tip for starting Pinterest affiliate marketing is that you should start thinking of products that are related to your niche and you want to promote, before you even start creating the content, so you’re able to build the content around the products. The easiest way to get started with affiliate marketing is through joining the Amazon Associates program, which allows you to create affiliate links for any product that’s being sold on Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN), and you can get a commission of around 10% when people use your link to buy it within 24 hours of clicking on the link.
Keep in mind that you need to have your own website and personal brand to apply for the program, as Amazon would need to know that you’re legit and won’t just spam the link everywhere, and where you’re promoting the products. If the product you want to promote isn’t on Amazon, you can simply google the name of the product or the company that makes it, followed by affiliate program, and you might be able to find an affiliate program for it. In fact, a lot of affiliate marketers prefer to work with the companies directly, rather than Amazon’s program, because commissions can be higher this way.
Once you’ve found the product you want to promote, you can create content around it and post it on your website, and you can put your affiliate links in the website posts, then link the posts to your Pinterest pins. Even better, you can directly put your affiliate link in the description of the Pinterest pin, which could increase the chances of people clicking on it.
The Bottom Line
It’s important to note that while these two methods of making money on Pinterest can help you make a lot of money in passive income, they’re not really passive at first, since you’d need to invest a lot of time into growing your blog and your Pinterest account. In other words, don’t expect this to make you a millionaire in two weeks, but be patient and stay committed to growing your Pinterest presence, then you can hire someone to do all the work for you, and turn the income you make from Pinterest into a true passive income.
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AFFILIATE MARKETING
The future of affiliate marketing in a crumbling cookie world, ET BrandEquity
Ratan Tata backed company Earnkaro is a website that offers users an opportunity to earn an income via affiliate marketing. With the third party cookie crumbling, Earnkaro is adopting local storage, a technology that stores data directly in the user’s browser. Local storage uses the capabilities of a user’s browser, to establish tracking mechanisms. This technique involves storing data on the user’s device to track interactions and transactions, operating independently from traditional cookie-based systems. It enables Earnkaro to accurately track when a transaction leads to cash flow to a partner site, by storing information about the transaction directly on the user’s device. Essentially in a browser, there are three types of storage – localStorage, sessionStorage and cookies. This is where first party, second party and third party data come from. Earnkaro also uses a technology called server to server integration – which it already has in place with its partner sites like Myntra, Nykaa and Flipkart.
“As we transition away from using cookies, we’re adopting a method known as server-to-server integration. Instead of relying on cookies to track purchases and activity, we monitor these transactions through a session that’s saved on the retailer’s server. Once a purchase is made, the transaction details are tracked and shared directly with the affiliates from the server, eliminating the need for third-party data sources,” says Rohan Bhargava, co-founder of Earnkaro and Cashkaro.
Earnkaro is 60% into implementing these technologies to prepare for a world where the third party cookie has crumbled. The main reason a cookie was needed is to solve for the challenge of marketing attribution challenge. Everytime someone visits a web link from a certain source, the cookie captures the source of traffic.
Addressing the attribution challenges in the absence of third-party cookies, Pradeep Kumaar, the CEO of NP Digital India, mentions the viability of contextual advertising and new tools like Google Fledge as potential alternatives for tracking engagement and behavior. “Contextual advertising and technologies like Google Fledge represent a new frontier for tracking user engagement in a privacy-conscious world,” he says.
What needs to happen at a technology level, for affiliate marketing to carry on smoothly is that the cookie needs to be replaced. “If anybody carries out a transaction, when the pixel fires right at the transaction stage, you identify who is the last click attribution – who’s the person with the last cookie. Obviously with the world we’re moving to, you can’t store third party cookies. We’re using local storage instead of the cookie for last click attribution,” says Bhargava.
Bhargava explains that another alternative is using a Mobile Measurement Partner (MMP), such as Branch or AppsFlyer, which is used to determine where a user’s last interaction came from before making a transaction, whether it’s Google, Facebook, or another source. MMPs are crucial for advertising in an in-app environment where cookies aren’t used. As we move towards a world without cookies, brands are incorporating MMPs’ software tools, known as SDKs (Software Development Kits), into their websites. SDKs provide the necessary tools to integrate with these MMPs, offering a unified view of where traffic is coming from. This approach ensures a consistent source of information, avoiding discrepancies between different data sources. According to Bhargava, using these technologies, the affiliate industry can smoothly transition to operating without cookies.
The world of affiliate marketing is bracing for a significant shift as Google prepares to phase out third-party cookies from its Chrome web browser by the third quarter of 2024. On January 04 2024, Google Chrome began its phase out of third party cookies from its browser to 1% of its users. With the removal of these cookies, marketers will need to find alternative ways to gather user data for targeted advertising and personalisation. For affiliates, who generally work on a ‘pay per performance basis’ – the challenge lies in tracking user journeys from an affiliate link to a purchase, which could potentially affect the accuracy of attributing sales to the correct affiliate.
The phase out of the third party cookie is largely driven by growing user concerns around privacy as well as regulations passed by other countries such as General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). GDPR was passed in the European Union in May 2018. Under this regulation, websites cannot store third party cookies without user consent. CCPA was passed in the same year and it mandates that websites must offer an opt-out option for users regarding cookies that sell personal information.
30% of Paisabazaar’s business comes from its affiliate marketing efforts, but Sachin Vashishtha, the chief marketing officer at Paisabazaar is not worried. “Affiliate marketing makes up a small part of our media mix spending. However, it’s worth noting that affiliates that rely on third party tools to capture convergence would be in trouble, with the demise of third party cookies, these tools would face challenges and so would affiliate marketers who use these tools,” he says.
Paisabazaar relies on first party cookies and data and does not encourage the use of third party tools. Vashishtha also mentions that Paisabazaar has server side attribution in place. Affiliate marketing campaigns for the brand are only limited to a few channels like email marketing.
“We are anyway advertising on platforms like Google and Facebook and that’s why we discourage affiliate campaigns on those platforms,” he says. He emphasises that in general, the brand’s reduced dependence on third party cookies and data means it will not be affected overall by the cookie phase out. He also stresses the importance of investing in robust data architecture and having a good CDP in place to try and capture as much data as possible using first party cookies. These platforms help create unified customer profiles from direct interactions, significantly reducing the dependency on third-party data.
In a world moving away from third-party cookies, affiliate marketers must explore fresh avenues for partnership with influencers and content creators. With influencers also dabbling in affiliate marketin, adapting strategies to maintain these collaborations becomes essential. “Most social media users are creators and influencers who focus on first party data. They can directly present to their audiences about a brand and can share the link and affiliates and marketers can make use of the data from that link,” says Kumaar.
Publishers will also have to figure out ways of diversifying traffic sources in the new cookie-less environment and according to Kumaar, the only way to do this is by creating more interactive and engaging content. Consent based marketing which builds trust between the consumer and the brand is the way forward as the third party cookie crumbles.
Kumaar also underscores the potential of deep learning and AI in maintaining hyper-personalised targeting capabilities through contextual advertising, similar to the precision previously enabled by third-party cookies. This advancement is beneficial for advertisers by facilitating more accurate campaign planning and audience targeting based on consumer behavior insights. “The integration of deep learning and AI with contextual advertising brings us closer to achieving the level of personalisation we had with third-party cookies,” Kumaar remarks.
AFFILIATE MARKETING
Which Video Site Is Best To Make Money?
If you’re curious about the differences between YouTube vs. Rumble – such as which will bring you the most ad revenue as a video content creator, you should definitely keep reading! In this comparison breakdown, we’ll discuss:
- The pros and cons of the two platforms
- Comparisons of ad revenue
- Audience size
- User interface
- And more
So, let’s determine which online video-sharing platform will be best for you as a creator in the online video industry.
YouTube vs. Rumble: Comparing Ad Revenue
The main difference between Rumble and YouTube is how they monetize their content. This dramatically impacts potential earnings for creators. We compare Rumble vs. YouTube advertising revenue below.
YouTube Monetization
YouTube’s Partner Program is how creators monetize their content and earn money on the platform. Unlike Rumble, YouTube has video monetization requirements creators must meet before they can start earning money.
Before they will pay creators, YouTube makes their creators make and share videos without earning money from the ads they place in their videos. YouTube can place ads on your videos without you even being eligible for monetization. This is a point of contention for some creators.
Monetization requirements for joining the YouTube Partner Program include having:
- 1,000 subscribers
- 4,000 hours of watch time in the last 12 months or 10 million Shorts views in the last 90 days
Reaching 1,000 subscribers is the main hurdle creators face when trying to achieve YouTube monetization. This requirement sometimes deters new creators from continuing with this endeavor. Learning how to increase YouTube subscribers is a key part of creators’ journeys on the path to start earning money from their quality content.
Between the two platforms, YouTube has more monetization requirements than Rumble.
YouTube Partner Program
So, how does YouTube pay its creators?
The YouTube Partner Program will pay creators based on a revenue-sharing model.
Ads are served on your video content, and creators earn a percentage of the ad revenue. This monetization method means you could earn a lot of money as your videos gain popularity. After you start monetizing, earning YouTube passive income is a great way to earn more money as a creator.
Rumble Monetization Options
When learning how to make money on Rumble, creators are often surprised at the monetization options that are readily available to them.
Unlike YouTube, Rumble offers immediate monetization options for its creators. It doesn’t have subscriber or watch time requirements. Having this ability to immediately start monetizing your videos gives Rumble an advantage that other platforms don’t have.
Monetization opportunities are instantly available for Rumble creators.
You can earn money in several ways as part of the Rumble Partner Program. These include:
- Rumble Player Revenue: Rumble also offers a revenue share model for its creators. Videos on Rumble earn money based on engagement, not only views. Creators will earn money based on comments, likes, shares, views, and more. The overall engagement on your video plays into the share of the advertising revenue you will receive.
- Video Licensing Deals: Creators can also increase their earnings by receiving video licensing deals. If a third party licenses your videos, you earn a percentage of the licensing fee. Fees are based on the terms discussed in each licensing agreement.
- Platform Partnerships: Rumble partners with other high-traffic websites and large companies, including Yahoo, Xbox, MSN, and more. When your videos are syndicated through these platforms, creators will earn a percentage of the revenue from these deals.
- YouTube Monetization: That’s right, Rumble has a channel on YouTube. Rumble will feature its creators on their YouTube channel. If your videos are featured, you will earn a cut from the ad revenue your video generated.
While YouTube monetization is limited to revenue share, Rumble offers its creators many more options. The additional monetization opportunities also present unique options for creators to feel like they have full control over their income streams.
When deciding between Rumble and YouTube, their vastly different monetization methods are the main factors to consider. The additional effort in reaching 1,000 subscribers can pay off in the long run for successful YouTube creators. But, the hard work required to reach 1,000 subscribers can feel daunting.
User Experience on Each Popular Video-Sharing Platform
What are the Rumble and YouTube differences when it comes to user experience?
YouTube User Experience
Since the platform has been around since 2005, many of its users have been consuming content on the platform for a very long time.
It’s undeniable that YouTube has played a key role throughout the history of vlogging. For many people with a free account, YouTube is the video platform where they watch a variety of videos during both their childhood and adulthood.
This storied history means many users already have a deep familiarity and comfort with the platform. Going to YouTube’s website to watch video content is likely second nature to many people. On the other hand, migrating to a new platform like Rumble can take a mindset shift for viewers.
Combined with a user interface that’s easy to navigate, YouTube offers a user-friendly experience.
Additionally, YouTube offers faster server speeds than Rumble. With such a powerhouse parent company (Google), it’s nearly impossible to beat YouTube’s server speeds.
Additional Social Options
YouTube also offers other ways for creators to connect with their audiences. Additional social aspects of the platform include:
- Shorts: An alternative to TikTok, YouTube Shorts are 60-second videos designed to drive traffic to your long-form videos.
- Posts: Creators can post short-form content and pictures directly to their subscribers. This feature is great for teasing upcoming content, alerting subscribers to new videos, and making channel announcements.
These additional features give creators unique ways to drive more traffic to their videos and easily communicate with their subscribers.
Rumble User Experience
Rumble also offers a user-friendly experience for its creators and viewers.
Watching videos on Rumble and YouTube is a very similar experience. The user interface appears to be almost the same as YouTube. The YouTube similarities are striking.
Additionally, Rumble operates on their own server. While this does translate to slower server speeds, they can still provide a great user experience when hosting live streams. This is imperative for gamers and other types of influencers. If live streams are a major part of your content strategy, Rumble could be a great platform for you to try.
Rumble also takes additional measures to help creators target their audience. This includes customized tags and a streamlined process to upload videos. If audience targeting and an easy upload process are important to you, Rumble could be your platform.
YouTube vs. Rumble: Comparing Audiences
How do audience size and engagement compare Rumble and YouTube? This is a major part of deciding which platform to upload videos to and spend your precious time on.
Audiences on YouTube
One of the key differences when comparing YouTube vs Rumble is the audience size on each video platform. When you look at the most visited websites worldwide, YouTube consistently ranks in the top two positions.
YouTube has a vast user base with billions of users on its video platform. When comparing YouTube vs Rumble, YouTube remains superior regarding user base size and monthly active users.
Viewership on Rumble
Rumble has a significantly smaller user base than YouTube. However, this can entice new creators because they can grow on the platform. After all, it becomes too big. The earlier you join new video platforms. You can become one of those larger creators because there’s less competition.
The platform’s main goal is to lift up smaller and newer creators with an edgy or alternative viewpoint. The platform likes content that goes against mainstream opinions and views. This can potentially translate into a viewership that’s looking for a specific type of content that may or may not align with what you’re creating.
One of the best parts of Rumble being a newer platform is that you can upload your existing YouTube content and earn money immediately. If you want to earn more money as a creator, this is a great option.
Comparing the Pros and Cons of Rumble vs. YouTube
We break down the key differences to consider when comparing Rumble vs. YouTube below.
YouTube Pros and Cons
Pros:
- YouTube is one of the most visited websites in the world, so it offers a huge user base that large and small creators alike can tap into. YouTube has a significantly wider audience compared to Rumble.
- YouTube offers a diverse range of content in its vast video library. Just how many videos are on YouTube? There’s so much content to choose from, including video essays, travel vlogs, tutorials, and so much more. Smaller channels can take advantage of the specific niches available to them.
- YouTube offers a user-friendly experience that is easy to navigate. You don’t have to be highly experienced in video software to use the platform. YouTube also offers unmatched server speeds that are faster than Rumble’s.
Cons:
- The downside to having a wider audience on YouTube is that it also means it’s more competitive as a content creator. You have to fight for attention against so many other creators and a large library of content for them to choose from.
- Achieving YouTube monetization can feel like a difficult task to accomplish. They have strict monetization requirements that video creators must meet before earning money from the platform.
- YouTube’s algorithm appears to prioritize larger channels in search results. This makes it harder for newer channels to receive organic search traffic from initial videos.
- Some creators report being demonetized, receiving copyright claims, or even being banned from the platform entirely. YouTube’s policies allow them to demonetize and delete videos at their discretion without providing a reason.
Rumble Pros and Cons
Pros:
- The biggest pro to posting video content to Rumble is that the platform offers immediate monetization. Rumble also provides various options for monetization in addition to revenue share. Options include licensing, platform partnerships, and YouTube revenue.
- Founded on promoting small creators, Rumble’s algorithm appears to promote small and large creators equally in organic search results. Between Rumble and YouTube, Rumble offers an alternative approach that can be beneficial to new vloggers.
- Rumble offers security to its users by taking a strong stance against copyright infringement claims. Theoretically, being demonetized or banned from the platform is significantly less likely.
- Rumble promotes itself as a safe haven for free speech, alternative viewpoints, and creators that go against the status quo.
Cons:
- Rumble has a significantly smaller number of users compared to YouTube. Additionally, their alternative audience might not be your target audience. Due to its edgier reputation, your audience might not be spending time on Rumble yet.
- As the Rumble platform continues to grow, the algorithm will most likely evolve over time. And this potential evolution brings a lot of unknowns.
- Rumble has a slower server speed when compared to YouTube.
Rumble vs. YouTube in Conclusion
Ultimately, choosing between Rumble vs. YouTube comes down to your goals for your video content. Now that you have a breakdown of the differences and pros and cons, you can make an informed decision for your own channel.
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