Please see below for step-by-step instructions, followed by a video tutorial.
Use the Orders page (within a Campaign) to dynamically insert ads into both current and past episodes or across entire podcasts. There are a variety of options for how to set up Orders as a subset of your Campaigns, explained below.
1) Create your Order.
Start in the Campaigns Library. You can find that by clicking on “Campaigns” in the left-hand navigation. Here you will find the various Campaigns associated with your shows and can then click into an existing (or create a new) Campaign to begin creating an Order.
2) Press the "Create Order" button and fill in all subsequent fields.
Here are the options you’ll be presented with when creating your Order under the "Details" tab:
Order Title: recommended to include order targets name (podcast, episode, etc.) and flight dates for easy sorting.
Impressions - Goal and Cap: The Cap Impressions field caps the number of impressions an order will receive. For example, if you have an order sold for 100,000 impressions, this field will automatically end the order after it receives 100,000 impressions. For optimal results, we recommend you cushion caps by margin of roughly 10%. It's important to note that a cap of greater than 1000 impressions increases accuracy and reduces the likelihood of exceeding the cap. The Goal Impressions field allows you to identify a target of Impressions you would like this Order to receive. Setting a Goal will not ever stop the Order from inserting into a podcast/episode but can be used for tracking success of an Order in the future.
Pacing: By default, Megaphone paces an order to deliver as quickly as possible within an order's flight dates. Enterprise customers on IABv2 have the three options for pacing (Accelerated, Even or Predictive) and can learn more info here.
Tracking URL: Optional field to setup additional third-party tracking of the campaign (must already be established with the outside organization, such as Podtrac, DCM, etc.). Can add up to five tracking pixels per order. See more information here.
Price Type and Rate: Optional field to include the anticipated revenue for the order. This field is helpful for organizations that use Billing Admins to reconcile invoices directly in Megaphone. Price type can either be set as Flat Rate or CPM.
Position: Position determines the order of campaigns with respect to one another when targeted into the same episode. For example, when you target two separate orders - each containing one pre-roll ad - against an episode with two Pre-Roll insertion points, Megaphone uses the Position Number to determine which ad is played first. You can also select "No Position" when targeting an order. When "No Position" is selected, the order will insert into any open position within the placement type (either Pre-, Mid-, or Post-Roll).
Priority: Priority determines which order should run when multiple orders compete for the same inventory. For example, if you have two separate orders, each containing one pre-roll ad, targeted against an episode with only one pre-roll insertion point, Megaphone will deliver the order with the highest priority. Note: In the scenario outlined above, if two orders have the same priority and are competing for the same slot then Megaphone will do a 50/50 alternating split ("round robin") on which ad is delivered.
GeoTargets: GeoTargets give you the ability to limit the run of an ad to a specific geographic region. Currently you can choose any country, limit by region, by any of the 210 DMAs (Designated Market Areas) in the United States, or by zip code. For example you can select to have an ad run only in New York, NY and Austin, TX.
Start & End Date: The Start Date of your Order is the first day when any advertisements included in the Order will be inserted into targeted episodes/podcasts. The End Date of your Order is the last day these ads will be inserted.
3) Mark and/or Upload Advertisements
Next, you'll click to the "Advertisements" tab to mark where in each episode you would like the order to run (Pre, Mid, or Post-Roll). Keep in mind that marking more than one location will cause the order to run in all the designated spots (Pre AND Mid versus Pre OR Mid).
In addition to identifying the ad slot(s) you’d like to include in the episode, you can also upload MP3 files to those ad slots though this is not a required step. You’ll also be able to upload audio files to these slots on the Edit Episode page for whichever podcast episode the order is targeted at (often uploaded by a producer in the case of host-read ads). If you do upload files in the New Order form, make sure you upload your MP3s to the correct ad type that you want them to correspond with in your episode/order.
4) Target your Order to the Episode or Podcast
The final required tab is the "Targets" tab where you will choose which Podcasts, Episodes, or Tags (assigned to Podcasts) you'd like the order to run on. After you've designed the targets, you can click save and the order will be set to run or you can add optional Ad Copy.
5) Optional: Include Ad Copy, a Promo Code, and Vanity URL
For campaigns that require ad copy, promo codes, and/or a vanity URL to be made available to producers, all can be added under the "Ad Copy" tab. For Ad Copy, you have the option to release it now, or schedule the release for a set date. Once you've finished adding your ad copy, etc., you can hit save and the order will populate!
Few Additional Notes
Order State: All Orders in Megaphone have a binary state – either “On” or “Off.” By default, whenever you create a new Order the state will be “On.” An Order must be in the “On” state to get inserted into an episode or podcast.
If at any point you want an Order to immediately stop inserting into an episode/podcast you can simply toggle the Order state to “Off.”
Order Status: The status "Needs Audio" will appear when at least one advertisement in the Order has no audio. The status "Deliverable" will appear when the order is ready to be inserted. The "Scheduled" status will appear when the order is ready to be inserted prior to the Start Date. The "On Hold" status will appear when the order is ready to be inserted, but have been temporarily disabled by a user. And finally the "Complete" status will appear when the order has reached it's impressions cap or the End Date of the order is reached.
If you are participating in the And/Or selection Alpha program, you can learn more about it here.