11 Essentials Every Podcast Sponsorship Template Must Have for New Brands

Podcasters

Sep 19

Sponsoring a podcaster to promote your brand and need a podcast sponsorship template? These are the most crucial provisions every brand needs.

Having the right podcasters promote your brand can really boost your sales, but if you're anything like me, you are researching everything you need to ensure you have everything you need to ensure your brand is properly represented and your brand's reputation is protected. As a lawyer myself who drafts contracts for small brands like you, I am giving you the crucial terms your podcast sponsorship template must have to protect your business, money and reputation.

You will learn about all the important terms your podcast sponsorship template needs for anyone on your podcast sponsors list, including podcast sponsorship pricing.

After learning about all the essentials for your podcast sponsorship template, you will be ensured of a great relationship with each of your podcasters while protecting your brand and money.

This post is all about the essential terms every podcast sponsorship template needs for new brands for a successful sponsorship.

Ultimate Podcast Sponsorship Template

Essentials for your podcast contract template

1. Script

There are many options when it comes to the script for your podcast ad.

You could either:

create a complete podcast script yourself so it's clear what the podcast must say word-for-word,
create a broad outline of the element that should be mentioned, giving the podcaster a bit more freedom to create a script in their own words, or
have no outline at all and just specify what products the podcaster must promote, so the podcaster has complete creative freedom.

Your podcast sponsorship template should include alternatives for all these options.

In the two latter cases, ensure your podcast contract template makes the podcaster's script subject to your approval.

2. Show notes

Even if the podcaster knows your brand really well, you need to have a section in your podcast sponsorship template in which you specify the exact details the podcaster must include in their show notes, such as:

your brand name,
name(s) of your product(s),
your social media handle with an embedded link,
an (embedded) link to your website,
the discount code, if applicable, and
any other information.

You need to be very specific, so there is no room for error.

3. Compliance with (influencer) advertising laws

Your podcast sponsorship template should include clear wording stating that the podcaster:

is fully and solely responsible for ensuring the ad complies with all applicable (influencer) advertising and marketing laws, and
must indemnify you if you suffer damages due to a breach of those laws, meaning that the podcaster must compensate you if you are fined for non-compliance.

You may want the podcaster to make the statement about the ad being a sponsorship in a specific way, like "This podcast episode is sponsored by [brand name]" or "Thank you, [brand name], for sponsoring this podcast episode".

Your podcast sponsorship template should also include a section where you can insert what the podcaster should state in the ad and the show notes.

4. Minimum period

When you pay to sponsor one or more podcast episodes, you want your ad and those podcast episodes to remain published. It is not an Instagram Story that disappears after 24 hours.

So, you may assume that the podcast episode remains in the podcast sphere for eternity. However, if you make no agreement on how long the podcast episode (including the ad) must remain published, legally, the podcaster could delete that podcast episode or just the ad one week later.

You want the podcaster to commit to a minimum period to ensure your ad remains published.

The minimum period should be explicitly stated in your podcast sponsorship template.

5. Ad ownership

The next essential element your podcast sponsorship template must include is a clause on the ownership of the intellectual property rights to the ad.

You could have all rights assigned to you, so you become the sole owner of the ad, and you can use the ad for your own podcast or, if it's also on video, your social media platforms and your website.

However, the podcaster may not want that or wants some control over how you may use the ad. In that case, you could pay a higher fee for ownership, or you could, instead, agree on a license. In the case of a license for your own marketing and advertising purposes, the podcaster could ask for royalties. Ensure that you only have to pay those royalties for the period you actually use that ad.

You could also agree on a royalty-free license that can be used for any purpose, which gives you almost the same freedom you would have in the case of full ownership.

It depends on the specific collab which option suits the sponsorship best.

So, your podcast sponsorship template should include all these options.

6. Creative pricing (when on a tight budget)

If you are a new brand, you might not have a large budget for podcast sponsorships.

But there are ways around that. I do not recommend extending the payment term if you don't have the money to pay for the fixed fee. There are more creative ways to go about pricing.

For example, you could agree on a success fee if a certain number of listeners purchase your products with the podcaster's discount code. Another option is to pay the podcaster a commission for every sale made through the podcaster's discount code.

These creative payment options should be included in your podcast sponsorship template.

7. Pricing for future collabs

Even if you do not intend to do another sponsorship with the same podcaster in the near future, you may want to later on.

For the event where you want to enter a new sponsorship with the podcaster, you might want to get it for the same price, say, 6 to 12 months from now. You might not want the podcaster to ask for a higher price or negotiate on a price all over again.

Therefore, you should include a price list in your podcast sponsorship template and ensure that those prices are fixed for future collaborations with the same podcaster.

The podcaster might not want to do another sponsorship for the same price in the future when more than a year has passed, or the audience of the podcast has grown significantly. In that case, you could still use the fixed price list as a starting point for negotiations.

8. Timing of payments

Be very specific about when the podcaster is paid. Is a deposit paid upon signing the podcast contract agreement or within several days after that? Is the (remaining) amount paid before, upon or after the publication of the podcast episode?

As a new brand, you may not have a large budget, but you can have a leg up on other brands by agreeing to pay the podcaster on the day that they publish their episode. If a podcaster does not have to wait for payment, like with the bigger brands, that might make your offer more attractive.

9. Protection of reputation

Of course, we want to assume that the collaboration goes great and your brand and the podcaster have a great relationship.

But, as a lawyer, I must warn you of the things that can go wrong.

The podcaster could:

make incorrect or misleading statements about your products either in the podcast episode itself or on any other platform,
breach applicable advertising laws,
infringe another podcaster's or influencer's intellectual property by creating a script for your brand that they made for another brand or
say negative things about your brand or products after the sponsorship.

Unfortunately, these things happen, and you need guidelines to handle those situations. These guidelines must be clearly stated in your podcast sponsorship template. It should also include consequences, like suspension of payments or reimbursement for damages.

10. Suspension and chargeback of payments

Speaking of the suspension of payments. You need to ensure the right to suspend payments is specified in your podcast sponsorship template. "Suspension of payments" means that you can withhold any payments. You want to be able to withhold payments for the disparaging reasons already mentioned above or when the podcaster simply does not deliver (on time). Another reason could be that the podcaster breaches the exclusivity obligation.

You also want to include the right to charge back or claim repayment for any payments already made, like your deposit, if the podcaster does not deliver or publish the ad you agreed upon.

The right to chargebacks and repayment should also be specifically included in your podcast contract template.

11. Exclusivity

The last thing you want is to pay a podcaster to promote your product in a podcast episode only to promote a similar product of a competitor one week later in the next episode.

Therefore, you need to have an exclusivity clause in your podcast sponsorship template. As the brand, you want to make the exclusivity clause broad so that even competitors that may not be direct competitors are excluded. But ensure that your exclusivity clause is clear and unambiguous. Otherwise, it might not be enforceable.

Depending on the type of (other) business the podcaster is involved in and considering the podcaster receives certain (confidential) information about your brand and product, you might want to include a non-compete that ensures the podcaster does not create a similar product themselves.

Podcast sponsorship agreement template

If you want to ensure your podcast sponsorship template includes all the necessary provisions you need as a new brand, I sell a template with brand- and podcaster-friendly provisions.

When you buy my template, you actually get two templates: one for the brand and one for the podcaster, with alternative clauses for each sponsorship.

Both templates include explanations for each alternative clause, so you completely understand the contract and can completely tailor it to your situation.

You can find my podcast sponsorship template on this page of my contract shop.