Which podcasts are best for advertising?

I used to think the best podcasts for advertising had to be the ones at the top of the charts — you know, those huge shows that everyone talks about. But after dipping my toes into podcast ads, I realized that the smaller, niche podcasts often perform way better.

Here’s why: niche podcasts attract dedicated communities. A tech startup founder is more likely to religiously follow a business or SaaS-focused podcast than some massive entertainment show. Parents will hang on every word of their favorite parenting podcaster. And fitness fans? They’ll trust the health and wellness podcasters they listen to like personal trainers.

That intimacy is what makes podcast advertising so effective. When the host reads your ad, it feels like a recommendation from a friend. And that’s why I say the “best” podcasts are the ones that align tightly with your product category, not necessarily the ones with the most downloads.

Now, when you go through traditional Podcast advertising agencies, they’ll usually try to sell you on the biggest shows because those are the ones they have deals with. But if you really want flexibility, I’d recommend using Podvertise.fm .  It’s basically a huge searchable database of over 600,000 podcasts where you can filter by niche, audience, or location. That means you can get hyper-targeted and go straight to the podcasts that actually matter to your brand.

From my own experience, some of the most effective categories include:

• Tech and business shows for startups.

• Parenting and lifestyle shows for family products.

• Health and wellness shows for anything fitness-related.

• Entertainment and true crime for brands that want a wide but loyal audience.

So in short: the best podcasts for advertising aren’t necessarily the most popular ones. They’re the ones where your audience is engaged, loyal, and trusting. And platforms like Podvertise.fm make it so much easier to find those hidden gems without having to go through layers of Podcast advertising agencies.