If monetization is a priority for your podcast, we want to help you meet that goal. Enrolling in Acast Marketplace is a great way to get started, but once you're set up with Marketplace, you'll need to take a few extra steps to ensure that your dynamically inserted ads play perfectly. So, let's go over how to set your Ad Markers.
What are ad markers?
An ad marker is a tool in the Acast dashboard that allows you to tell us where you want your ads to play in your episode. They are broken up into three types: pre-roll, mid-roll and post-roll.
Pre-roll markers usually play at the start of your episode or can be moved up to 25% from the start of your episode.
Mid-roll markers can be placed in any episode that is at least 10 minutes in length or longer (this is to avoid ad fatigue on short episodes for your listeners). Because this is is the most lucrative ad spot it's important to put it somewhere in the middle of your episode where it won't feel disruptive. For tips on where to set your mid-roll marker check out the article over here!
Post-roll markers usually play at the end of your episode or can be moved up to 50% from the end of your episode.
How to Insert Ad Markers
To insert an ad marker your first need to select an episode. You can either publish a new episode or edit an already created episode from your episode dashboard.
Once you've clicked on your episode you will see two separate sections for creating your episode, Episode details and Publishing settings. Your ad marker settings live under the Publishing settings.
In the Ad Markers section, make sure that the Enable monetization for this episode-box has been ticked.
The Ad Markers section will then expand to include several features:
A waveform which represents your entire episode
A play/pause option you can use to hear your episode to find the perfect spot for your ad markers
A snap to silent areas feature that can assist you in placing markers where silence is detected (these silent areas are also included in the "Silent positions" column for each ad marker type further down)
A zoom in/out feature you can use if your episode is very long
The pre-roll and post-roll markers will automatically get placed at the very beginning and the very end of your episode, respectively. You can move your preroll marker by clicking on it and dragging it up to 25% into your episode. You can do the same for your post-roll marker up to 50% from the end of your episode.
The mid-roll markers will become available on all episodes that are at least 10 minutes in length. To edit its position click on "Activate" next to it in the Markers type list.
Once you've placed all markers where you'd like, click "Save Markers" and you're all set!
And of course, if you have any questions please reach out to support via the chat box.