Podcasts are seeing their first significant growth since their birth over ten years ago, but is podcast sponsorship right for your brand? With the wild success of episodic crime podcast Serial, broadcasters and publishers are jumping into this space, from Buzzfeed to the new master of podcasting, NPR. Mass media company iHeartMedia (formerly Clear Channel) recently hosted their own “SoundFront” to announce their own series of original audio programming.

The way people listen to music is changing and advertisers, both locally and nationally, are catching on. But smart marketers will keep their pulse on how people are consuming other audio content. In addition to the entertainment series recently gaining traction, most popular talk radio shows are now available in podcast form like ESPN’s Mike & Mike and iHeartMedia’s Elvis Duran morning show. But there are hundreds of thousands of podcasts out there, from celebrity astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson’s Star Talk to niche amateur podcasts like Knit 1 Geek 2 which serves the boy-crazy-Canadian-girls-that-knit market.

Here are some things to consider if you’re thinking about sponsoring audio content:

1. Spend some time researching what audio content is out there in your category. What are your competitors doing? What are top industry experts saying? Get to know the media so you understand it and can stay on top of trends.
2. Unlike streaming music, sponsoring a podcast gives a brand the ability to align itself with content that is consistent with its brand. It may take some time and research, but you might just find a perfect audience match.
3. Consumers listening to podcasts are engaged; this is not someone scanning the stations in his or her car. Podcast listeners actively seek out and make time to listen to their shows; it’s appointment radio.
4. Data and measurement is still an unknown. As we’ve seen with other fast growing, new media, it takes a while before advertising monetization and measurement models are standardized.
5. Evaluate your resources and bandwidth to determine whether your company might consider creating its own podcast. This is a great way to show thought leadership in your category. But be sure you have a solid strategic plan in order to avoid wasting valuable time and money. Podcasts require the right content, delivered by the right voice(s), and need to be marketed the right way.
6. While some local radio programs also have their own podcasts, the ability to geographically target mainstream and national programs is not there yet. But stay tuned on that…