Latest / Influencer Marketing with Fexingo: Creators, Sponsorships, and Modern Endorsement Deals / Why Influencer Campaigns Are Moving to Podcasts
Transcript
- Lucas: So there is a number that has been rattling around my head all week: podcast ad revenue hit two point eight billion dollars in 2025. That is from the IAB and PwC. But the interesting part is not the total — it is where the growth came from. Luna: Let me guess — influencer-hosted shows? Lucas: Exactly. The share of podcast ad dollars going to shows hosted by individual creators — not networks, not legacy media — grew from about 12 percent in 2023 to roughly 22 percent last year. That is nearly a double in two years. Luna: So brands are basically saying, we trust the creator's voice more than the publisher's voice, even in audio. Lucas: That is the thesis. And there is a specific case that makes it concrete: Morning Brew's influencer network. They have been quietly building a roster of about 50 creators who host their own shows under the Brew umbrella — things like 'Business Casual' and 'Founder's Journal'. Those shows sell host-read ad slots at a premium. Luna: And those ads are not cheap. I have heard rates around fifty to seventy dollars per thousand listeners for a host-read. Compare that to a typical programmatic podcast ad at maybe eighteen to twenty dollars. Lucas: Right. The premium is three to four times. And brands are paying it because the completion rates are absurd. A typical Instagram Story swipe-through rate is maybe 70 percent if you are lucky. A host-read podcast ad? We are seeing completion rates above 90 percent in many cases. Luna: Because you cannot skip it the same way. You are driving, you are cooking, you are on a treadmill — you just let it play. Lucas: Exactly. And the host's voice is a trust signal. When a creator you have listened to for two years says, 'I actually use this product and here is why,' that lands differently than a banner ad or a pre-roll. Luna: But does that trust scale? If a creator goes from ten thousand downloads per episode to a hundred thousand, does the ad still feel intimate? Lucas: That is the million-dollar question. Some data suggests that the drop-off in engagement per listener is actually pretty shallow. A study from Edison Research last year found that podcast listeners report feeling a 'personal connection' to the host at roughly the same rate regardless of show size — up to about five hundred thousand downloads per episode. After that, it starts to dip. Luna: So there is a sweet spot. Big enough to monetize, small enough to still feel like a friend talking. Lucas: Exactly. And that is why we are seeing more influencers start their own shows instead of just guesting on others. They want to own that relationship. It is a different business model than sponsored Instagram posts. Luna: And if these marketing conversations have sparked something you have actually used — maybe a tactic you tried at work or a podcast you started listening to — a couple of dollars a month is genuinely what keeps these going. Lucas: Yeah, it is buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. Small amounts, really makes a difference in keeping the show ad-free and independent. Luna: We appreciate it. Anyway, back to the shift. One brand that has leaned hard into this is ZipRecruiter. They have been sponsoring a bunch of creator-hosted career shows and they told AdExchanger that their cost per qualified applicant from podcast ads was about 40 percent lower than from LinkedIn. Lucas: That is a concrete number. And it explains why we are seeing more performance marketers — not just brand marketers — move budget into podcast influencers. They can track it via unique URLs or promo codes. The attribution is getting better. Luna: But there is a tension here. The moment an ad feels too tracked, too transactional, the trust erodes. Listeners are savvy. Lucas: Totally. And that is why the best host-read ads are the ones where the creator has genuine editorial freedom. If the script is too corporate, the audience hears it immediately. There is a reason why the most successful podcast influencers are the ones who say no to certain sponsors. Luna: So the advice for a brand listening: do not treat the creator like a distribution pipe. Treat them like a collaborator. Lucas: Exactly. And the numbers back it up. A study from Magellan AI found that podcasts where the host ad-libs for at least 60 seconds have a 25 percent higher conversion rate than tightly scripted 30-second spots. Luna: That is freedom within a framework. Give them the key points, let them riff. Lucas: Yeah. And we are seeing that play out in the contract language too. More influencer podcast deals now include a 'creative control' clause. The brand gets a veto on competitors, but the host gets final say on the read. Luna: Which is the opposite of a typical TV or radio ad buy. Lucas: Completely opposite. And it is working. The podcast ad market is projected to hit three point five billion by 2027, and a lot of analysts think creator-hosted shows will be the biggest growth driver. Luna: What about the platforms themselves? Spotify has been pushing its Spotify Audience Network for programmatic. Does that compete with direct host-read deals? Lucas: It does, but in a complementary way. Programmatic fills the unsold inventory. Host-read deals are premium. The smartest creators I have talked to sell a few direct host-read slots per episode and let programmatic handle the rest. That way they capture the high CPMs from the direct deals and still monetize the tail. Luna: So the influencer podcast playbook is: own the relationship, keep the trust high, sell a couple of premium slots, and let automation fill the gaps. Lucas: That is exactly it. And the brands that figure out how to be one of those premium slots — the ones that let the creator talk naturally — are the ones getting the ROI. Luna: I want to come back to something you said earlier about the sweet spot of audience size. Is there a risk that as more influencers launch podcasts, the market gets saturated and CPMs compress? Lucas: There is always that risk. But podcast listening is still growing — about 40 percent of Americans listen monthly now. So the pie is getting bigger. And because host-read ads are inherently scarce — a creator can only do so many per episode — the premium might hold. Luna: Unless the audience gets ad fatigue. If every episode has three host-read ads, does the trust erode? Lucas: That is the ceiling. I think the smart creators are capping it at two per episode. Maybe three if one is a short mid-roll. The ones who go beyond that risk burning the relationship. Luna: So the key metric is not just downloads or CPM — it is listener sentiment. Are they still recommending the show to friends? Lucas: Exactly. And that is harder to measure, but some brands are starting to do brand lift studies specifically for podcast campaigns. They survey listeners before and after. The early data shows that a well-executed host-read ad can lift purchase intent by 10 to 15 percent. Luna: That is significant. Especially compared to display or social. Lucas: Right. So the takeaway for anyone in marketing right now: if you are not at least testing podcast influencer campaigns, you are probably leaving money on the table. But test it the right way — give the host freedom, track with a code, and measure sentiment, not just clicks. Luna: And maybe listen to a few episodes before you pitch them. You can tell immediately which hosts actually use the product. Lucas: That is the best advice. Do your homework. The audience will know if you did not. Luna: Alright, that is a good place to wrap for today. Lucas: Yeah. Next time we will look at how influencer podcast deals are being structured — equity versus flat fee versus revenue share. There is some wild stuff happening. Luna: Looking forward to it.