Podcast Strategies for Cybersecurity Marketers: Targeting the Right Airwaves

Podcast advertising is a promising strategy for any marketing campaign, with 51% of podcast listeners agreeing that hearing a podcast ad made them more likely to make a purchase from that brand.

Cybersecurity marketers are in no drought for opportunities here, with dozens of long-running and far-loved shows capturing the ears of your audience.

We used Sparktoro and additional tools to find the top-listened podcasts from decision makers in cybersecurity; put a bug in their ear about you, yeah? 

Note that this audience is extremely sales and advertising averse. They don’t appreciate self-promotion. While you can of course pay to sponsor the show and get a host-read ad in front of your audience, be extra thoughtful about your messaging and position as you do so.

8 Podcasts that your cybersecurity audience loves

Darknet Diaries

Darknet Diaries has amassed a cult-like following for its deep-dive episodes exposing true, first-hand stories about “hackers, breaches, shadow government activity, hacktivism, [and] cybercrime.” Host Jack Rhysider, whose own background is in security operations, makes staggering stories accessible and captivating for both technical and non-technical audiences. The show brags over 90 millions downloads and received praise in The Guardian, Vulture and The New York Times.

Opportunities: If you happen to know someone or know someone who knows someone with an insane cybercrime story to tell, the connection may be worth making just to get your company’s name floating in Jack’s network. Otherwise, you can contact the team by emailing jack@darknetdiaries.com to inquire about sponsorship. See the complete list of active sponsors here. It includes a number of personal and professional security solutions and IT solutions. 

Click Here Podcast

Hosted by former NPR investigations correspondent Dina Temple-Raston, Click Here brings listeners audio stories from the “shadowy characters behind ransomware attacks, disinformation campaigns, and hacks and … the people trying to stop them.” Show topics range from “peek inside a North Korean malware lab” to  “how hackers settle their disputes – think People’s Court without all the robes.”

Opportunities: Click Here belongs to an ecosystem of cyber-related news produced by The Record from Recorded Future News. The publication sends a daily newsletter to its audience of “hundreds of thousands” via a mobile app.If you have a news tip, and perhaps an expert to lend, about cybersecurity startups, cybersecurity attacks, or policy surrounding privacy, disinformation or cybersecurity policy, you can pitch your story by reaching out to therecord@recordedfuture.com. The show also has in-show advertisements, maybe one per episode or so.

2.5 Admins

“2.5 Admins is a podcast featuring two sysadmins called Allan Jude and Jim Salter, and a producer/editor who can just about configure a Samba share called Joe Ressington.” The show covers tech news and answers listener-submitted admin-related questions.The show’s audience is well-educated high-earning IT professionals.

Opportunities: The show welcomes interested sponsors to get in touch at show@2.5admins.com. 

Late Night Linux

Late Night Linux is a family of seven podcasts, including 2.5 Admins, all about "Linux, open source software, and systems administration.” Late Night Linux was the group’s first show, and covers all things free and open source software.

Note that the show contains explicit content. 

Opportunities: To advertise on any of the Late Night Linux shows, contact joe@latenightlinux.com. 

Open Source Security Podcast

Hosted by Kurt Seifried and Josh Bressers, Open Source Security Podcast delivers weekly conversations on all things IoT, application security, operational security, cloud, devops, and security news.

Opportunities: You can email the hosts from their website. Both Kurt and Josh are active on infosec.exchange, part of a decentralized social network powered by Mastodon. Sounds like a good place for some audience research, at the very least.

Smashing Security

Hosted by cybersecurity veterans Graham Cluley and Carole Theriault, Smashing Security offers a “helpful and hilarious take on the week’s tech SNAFUs.” Winner of the "Best Cybersecurity Podcast" in 2018, 2019, and 2023, and the "Most Entertaining" in 2022 and 2023, Smashing Security has had over nine million downloads. 

Note that the show contains explicit content. 

Opportunities: Smashing Security has generous options for sponsors, including opportunities “for sponsors to appear in 15-minute featured interviews included within the podcast.” To learn more about sponsorship, email studio@smashingsecurity.com. Smashing Security also conveniently features all past episode guests on a nice list. Pursue it and let ideas flow: who in your organization would fit here? Guest list.

Security Now

Running for nearly twenty years, Security Now offers weekly conversations on security topics such as malware, ransomware, and hacks; digital identity, data privacy, and policies; hardware and IoT security concerns; software and plug-in security patches and updates; and many more. The show hosts are cybersecurity authority Steve Gibson and technology expert Leo Laporte, each bringing “their extensive and historical knowledge to explore digital security topics in depth.” 

Opportunities: Security Now belongs to the TWiT faTmily of podcasts, a group that amasses a yearly audience of 25 million downloads. TWiT’s podcasts have built a relationship with listeners over several decades, which is great news for you; not only is 88% of TWiT’s audience tech or IT decision makers, but 88% of listeners have actually made a purchase based on a TWiT host-read ad. Get started by emailing advertise@twit.tv. 

Risky Business

Risky Business Media was founded in 2007 by cybersecurity journalist Patrick Gray. A rotating group of hosts including Patrick and others publish multiple episodes each week for their audience of cybersecurity professionals.

Opportunities: Risky Business’ audience is “top heavy,” meaning that a majority of their more than 25,000 weekly listeners are CISOs or information security decision-makers. View Risky Business’ media kit for more information about their audience, and contact sales@risky.biz for pricing. You can also reach out with editorial opportunities. Note that Risky Business Media also publishes two cybersecurity newsletters. 

Tips and best practices for podcast advertising

Reaching your audience: Baked-in/title-by-title vs Dynamic insertion/audience network

There are two ways to target your audience vis podcast advertising. The first is with baked-in or title-by-title targeting. Baked-in ads are added to the podcast audio file itself, making them permanent. This means that all listeners will hear the same ad when they listen to that episode of the show, regardless of their location, demographic or when they hit play. These ads can appear anytime in an episode and can be longer than thirty seconds.
Dynamic insertion or audience network podcast advertising inserts ads into ad spots (pre, mid, or post-roll) which can be targeted to the person listening. This allows podcasters to keep the advertising on their shows fresh, and it allows advertisers to select contextual targeting and third-party segments. The ad is then inserted in whatever shows that audience is listening to.

Host-read vs pre-recorded

Host-read ads are created and voiced by a show’s host, and are usually read in the style of the show. Because of the host’s narration, these ads seem like a personal endorsement to audiences. 

Host-read ads are a great choice for most cybersecurity podcast ads because the target audience aligns closely with specific podcast shows, like those listed above. We can select a show or a few shows and have host-read ads for cyber solutions during those shows.

Pre-recorded ads are scripted by an advertiser and then recorded by a voice talent before being added to the podcast pre, mid, or post-roll. This type of podcast ad is best if your podcast advertisements won’t be on one specific show.

For example, using a title-by-title approach doesn’t sense if your targeting requires a geographic restriction.

Here, we can pick contextual targeting so the podcast episode has to be about that topic. Then, we can also layer on third-party segments, such as the user interests or experiences. Finally, layer on location targeting.. 

A voice talent will read the pre-recorded ad that can then be dynamically inserted whenever a podcast listener meets all of those requirements.

Is it best to purchase pre, mid, or post-roll ad spots?

It all depends on your budget, goals and even the length of your spot. Compare each spot below.

Where do podcast ads fit in a full-funnel strategy?

Podcast ads aren’t clickable in most cases, so they are definitely a top-of-funnel awareness play. However, you can drive action from a podcast ad by having a great offer. Most podcast ads have a very enticing offer such as saving a certain percent on a product or a first month free.