What each slot is, in plain terms
There are three standard ad positions in an episode. Pre-roll runs before the content, usually right after your cold open. Mid-roll runs somewhere in the middle, dropped at a natural break. Post-roll runs after the episode is functionally over. Same show, three very different levels of attention.
| Slot | Where it sits | Attention level | When to sell it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-roll | Before the content, after the cold open | Partial. Some listeners are still settling in | Brand awareness, first-time sponsors, guaranteed reach |
| Mid-roll | Inside the episode, at a natural break | Highest. The listener has already committed | Your best sponsor, your highest rate, direct response offers |
| Post-roll | After the episode content ends | Lowest. Many listeners have stopped the file | As a bonus inside a package, never as the headline |
Those three positions are the whole standard menu. Everything else (a pre-roll and mid-roll bundle, a season-long category exclusive, a live read at an event) is a repackaging of the same three. What changes is what each one is actually worth to the sponsor, and that depends on your audience as much as the slot. The free sponsorship calculator does the per-episode math from your downloads and niche.
Why mid-roll commands the premium
Because the listener already decided to stay. By the time a mid-roll arrives, they are past the intro, invested in the conversation, and far less likely to skip. The read also sits inside the content rather than in front of it, so it lands as part of the episode instead of a toll on the way in.
There is a practical reason too. Mid-roll is the only slot a listener has to actively work to avoid. Skipping a pre-roll is a reflex, the thumb is already on the screen. Skipping a mid-roll means finding the spot, dragging, and landing back in the conversation without losing the thread. Most people just listen. Sponsors know that, which is why mid-roll is the position they ask for first and the one you should never hand over as a freebie.
Where to put the break
Placement inside the episode matters as much as placement inside the package. A mid-roll dropped at a stopwatch mark interrupts whatever happens to be playing. A mid-roll dropped at a seam feels like a breath. Your editor, or your own ear, can find that seam in one pass.
- Put the break where the conversation turns, not at a fixed time code. A read that cuts off a good answer teaches listeners to skip.
- Use the seam you already have. Most interviews have a natural handoff between the setup and the real substance.
- Record the read as its own file so you can swap sponsors later without re-editing the episode.
- Keep one mid-roll per episode until the show is long enough that a second one has somewhere honest to sit.
When pre-roll is the right slot to sell
Pre-roll earns its keep when a sponsor wants guaranteed reach or a simple brand mention. Every download that opens the file hears it, which makes it the most predictable slot you own. It is also the easiest thing to sell to a first-time sponsor who wants something small and low risk.
It is your simplest add-on, too. A sponsor who bought the mid-roll will often take the pre-roll as well, because hearing the name once before the full read builds recognition and makes the mid-roll land harder. Just keep it short. A long pre-roll, before the listener even knows what the episode is about, is the fastest way to lose them at the top of the file.
The honest truth about post-roll
Most listeners are gone. Post-roll runs after the episode has done its job, and a real share of your audience stops the file before it plays. Sell it as an add-on, a bonus, a thank-you inside a larger package. Price it like a headline slot and a sponsor who checks their numbers will not renew.
None of that makes post-roll useless. It is a good home for an evergreen affiliate link, a plug for your own newsletter or next season, or a second mention for the sponsor who already owns the episode. What it is not is a slot you quietly charge full rate for. A sponsor who discovers later that the position they paid for plays to an emptying room stops trusting your other numbers too, and that is the expensive part.
Rule of thumb: mid-roll is what you sell, pre-roll is what you add, post-roll is what you include. Price them in that order and your package tells the truth.
Host-read reads against programmatic drops
A host-read ad is you, in your voice, saying why the product matters. A programmatic ad is a pre-recorded spot an ad platform inserts into your feed. Host-read carries your credibility into the pitch. Programmatic is priced on volume, and volume is the one thing a small show does not have.
Why the host read wins for a smaller show
Your listeners came for you. A recommendation in your voice reads as a tip from someone they know, not an ad they scroll past. That is the asset a small show genuinely sells, and it is the one thing scale cannot manufacture. It also means the read has to be real. Say the product name the way you would say it to a friend, be specific about what you use it for, and cut any line from the sponsor's copy that you would never say out loud.
That trust is what your media kit has to communicate as well, because the sponsor reading it has never heard your show. Pod Green Room builds a media kit from your real show data, so the slots you list and the audience you describe are the ones you can actually deliver.
Build the inventory before you sell it
Your ad inventory is a real thing you own, so treat it like one. Before you quote a rate, know exactly how many slots each episode carries, which positions are already spoken for, and what is still open. Sponsors ask. Hosts who cannot answer quickly lose the deal to hosts who can.
- Write down every slot you actually have per episode, by name and position.
- Decide which ones you will sell and which stay yours for house promos and your own offers.
- Set a rate per position instead of one blended number, so the mid-roll premium shows up in the package.
- Track what is sold, what is open, and which episode each sponsor's read is due in.
None of that needs software on day one. A spreadsheet holds up until it does not, which is usually the moment you have two sponsors, three positions, and a guest calendar shifting underneath both. Pod Green Room does that job as a podcast CRM, keeping each sponsor, the slots they bought, and the episodes still owed in the same place as the show itself.
Placement is one decision inside a much longer arc. What a sponsor is actually buying, how to pitch it, and how to get renewed is all in the guide on how to get podcast sponsors.