Manual monetization is one of the two monetization options offered by Ausha.
It is available starting from the Boost plan, with no minimum number of listens required! 💰
For an overview of all available monetization options, discover our article: What monetization opportunities are offered by Ausha?
What is manual monetization used for, and which podcasts is it best suited for?
💰 Manual monetization, available with the Boost, Supersonic, and Ausha Pro hosting plans, allows you to manually integrate your own advertising campaigns into your episodes, created with advertisers you have personally selected.
It is particularly relevant if you want to keep full control over your advertising messages and how they fit into your editorial content.
It is also an ideal solution if you already have sponsors and want to manage and distribute their campaigns directly from Ausha! 🚀
With manual monetization, you can:
choose the advertisers you work with
select the episodes on which your ads will be delivered
define the ad placement within the episode, at the beginning or at the end
set the campaign duration
set a maximum number of listens
💡 We use the term manual monetization to distinguish it from automatic monetization, as in this case, you decide when, on which content, and with which ads the campaigns are integrated.
What are the different types of manual monetization campaigns?
With manual monetization, Ausha allows you to create three types of campaigns, depending on how ads are integrated into your episodes.
An episode can contain only one monetization campaign at a time, during a given period.
If it contains a pre-roll campaign, it cannot contain, during the same period, a post-roll or host-read campaign.
🎧 Pre-roll
A pre-roll is an ad delivered at the beginning of the episode, before the content starts.
This format is very often preferred by advertisers, as it guarantees a larger audience. At the start of an episode, listener reach is at its highest.
With a pre-roll campaign, you can:
deliver an advertising message as soon as the episode starts
maximize campaign reach
meet visibility or launch objectives
💡 Tip
We recommend creating pre-roll ads that do not exceed 45 seconds.
🎬 Post-roll
A post-roll is an ad delivered at the end of the episode, once the content has finished.
This format is often appreciated by advertisers who want to reach a highly engaged audience. Listeners who make it to the end of an episode are generally the most loyal to your podcast.
With a post-roll campaign, you can:
reach listeners at the peak of their attention and engagement
speak to your most loyal audience, often closely aligned with the advertiser’s target
include a call to action after listening, as listeners may visit a website or resume using their smartphone or computer
💡 Tip
For post-roll campaigns, a duration of 25 to 30 seconds maximum is recommended.
🎙️ Host-read
A host-read is an advertising message integrated directly into the episode content, and read by the host.
This format is often used for campaigns created in collaboration with an advertiser, such as brand content episodes, interviews, or co-created content. It allows for multiple mentions throughout the episode, in a natural and fluid way.
With a host-read, the campaign is not used to insert an audio file. Instead, it allows you to track and measure listens for a global campaign, integrated directly into one or several episodes created in partnership with an advertiser.
❌ Ausha does not support mid-roll campaigns, meaning ads inserted in the middle of your content.
Campaigns can only be delivered at the beginning of an episode, at the end of an episode, or integrated as host-reads, which gives you more editorial freedom to include mentions throughout the episode.
🧭 How to set up a manual monetization campaign
Follow the steps below to integrate a manual monetization campaign into your episodes:
Go to the Monetization > Manual section in your Ausha dashboard.
Click + New campaign.
In the General information section, enter a campaign title (not visible to listeners) and choose the campaign type: Pre-roll, Post-roll, or Host-read (see the previous section of this article).
❌ Reminder: mid-roll campaigns are not supported on Ausha.
Upload the audio file for your Pre-roll or Post-roll campaign using the + Add your audio file button.
💡 If you are creating a Host-read campaign, no audio file is required, as the advertising content is already integrated directly into the episode.
In the Campaign period section, set a start date and an end date, and optionally define a maximum number of listens, after which the ad will stop being delivered.
In the Episode selection section, choose the episodes on which your campaign will run.
You can select all episodes of your podcast, including episodes that will be published later.❌ Reminder: it is not possible to run multiple campaigns at the same time on the same episode.
Save your campaign.
⚠️ Once your campaign is saved, it can no longer be edited.
If you made a mistake, you will need to delete the campaign and create a new one.
💡 Good to know: a pre-roll or post-roll campaign is triggered on an episode only after a first listen has occurred after the campaign start date.
If you are the first person to listen to your episode, the ad will not be delivered.
Don’t worry: it will be delivered starting from the second listen of that episode. From that point on, campaign listens will be counted for the episode in question 🚀