How “Tip Jars” Can Tip the Balance for Podcast Creators
Ad revenue isn’t the only way podcast creators can get payback for the passion they generate from their listeners. Merchandise, live shows and, perhaps simplest of all, a crowdfunding page can make a big difference. In The Canadian Podcast Listener 2019, we looked into these types of contributions, and who was contributing.
Online “tip jar” services like Patreon and Indiegogo have long been a popular way for podcasts to generate revenue. A quick look at the math shows the appeal: at a $25 Cost-Per-Thousand (CPM) for ad impressions, each listener earns you 2.5 cents per impression. A fan of your podcast who chips in even a dollar is contributing 40 times that amount, and could still be exposed to your ads. This allows smaller shows that may not have enough audience to appeal to large advertisers to punch above their weight in revenue.
A lot of this comes down to the uniquely engaging relationship between listeners and their favourite podcast. We found a good example of this in the #1 podcast among Quebec listeners in the Canadian Podcast Chart from this year’s study. Despite drawing from the small geographic base of 8.5 million Quebecois, the comedy + interview podcast Mike Ward Sous Écoute ranks among the leading podcasts worldwide for number of patrons on Patreon’s crowdfunding platform (as of November 28, 2019), ahead of some much better known U.S. podcasts.
One of every ten monthly podcast listeners in Canada say they have donated money to a podcast through a crowdfunding service. That nearly doubles to 18% among Power Listeners, those listeners who spend 5+ hours a week listening to podcasts, making them a key target for all kinds of discovery and engagement. Four in ten Power Listeners have contributed directly to podcasts one way or the other, either through crowdfunding, buying merchandise or going to a live show.
Who besides Power Listeners donates to their favourite podcasts? Men and younger demos are most likely to contribute via crowdfunding, peaking at 15% among 18-34 men. Reflecting Mike Ward’s success in Quebec, Quebec podcast listeners are also more likely than others to have tossed a few dollars in a podcast’s “tip jar.” Buying merchandise and attending live shows were popular across the same demos as crowdfunding, though women aged 25-54 were on par with male listeners when it came to attending live shows. And it’s not about income. It’s about engagement: listeners with $100k or more in household income are just as likely to contribute to podcasts as those with $75k or less.
Do you have a podcast—or an idea for a podcast—that taps into deep listener passions, but may not have a big, advertiser-friendly audience? Think about how you can super-serve and reward your fans so that they will fill up your tip jar, come to your live show and/or buy your merchandise. You might just carve out a whole new path to success.
The Canadian Podcast Listener Study 2019 is co-published by Signal Hill Insights and Ulster Media, with support from The Podcast Exchange (TPX). Results are based on online surveys using a market representative sample of more than 4,500 Canadian adults from Maru Voice Canada. A free summary report of top-line findings from this year’s study is available here.