How to advertise on Economics Explained: what it costs, who buys, and how to book

Spotsnow attributes a fully direct-response ad profile to Economics Explained: every host-read the platform tracks on the feed is built to convert, not to build brand memory. The show sells its host-read inventory direct, quoted per campaign rather than off a public rate card. Indeed, the top spender, has run roughly 4 to 4 ads here, a small repeated run rather than a one-off test, which tells you the math is working for someone. Spotsnow estimates all of this from tracked advertiser activity, not audience surveys.

For the full picture, see Economics Explained on Spotsnow.

Why Economics Explained is built for host-read direct response

The show is hosted by William Kohls, a finance-trained economist who runs one of the largest educational finance channels online. It sits in information technology & services advertiser territory, where the two biggest buyers, Indeed and LinkedIn, live.

Spotsnow puts the direct-response share at the ceiling: 100% of tracked reads chase a coded offer, a promo URL, or an attributable signup. That format only pays off when the audience actually listens through the break, and this show earns that. Kohls narrates long-form economic explainers where the ad sits inside the argument, not bolted onto the front. A host-read borrows that sustained attention. When the person walking you through UK immigration economics hands you an offer in his own voice, the credibility carries. Spotsnow estimates the audience at roughly 385,000 listeners, and that figure is an estimate, not an audited count.

The influence is concentrated in the feed and on video rather than spread across every platform. Spotsnow data shows an Apple Podcasts average of about 4.5 stars across roughly 140 to 160 ratings, a YouTube following near 2.86 million subscribers, and roughly 19,000 on Instagram. That's a deep, engaged core rather than a thin spread, and for a host endorsement that depth is the point. The audience skews male, clusters in prime working-age brackets, and over-indexes on high income, concentrated in the US with meaningful UK and Canada tails.

Who is advertising on Economics Explained

Spotsnow tracks a recent roster of roughly 19 to 22 brands, and it reads business-services and finance heavy: recruiting and professional platforms, banks and payments, plus one big retail name. Recognizable buyers include Indeed, LinkedIn, Nordstrom, PayPal, and American Express.

The anchor advertisers, broken down

Indeed

Indeed runs the global job search engine that aggregates listings for seekers and sells sponsored postings to employers. Spotsnow data shows a run of roughly 4 to 4 ads with an estimated total spend over $10K, all direct response. Hiring managers and career-minded professionals are exactly who tunes in for macroeconomic analysis, so a recruiting pitch lands without friction.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn is the professional networking platform for jobs, recruiting, and B2B reach. Spotsnow attributes roughly 3 to 3 ads and an estimated total spend over $10K, classified direct response. The show's working-professional, high-income listener is LinkedIn's core user, which is why the platform keeps buying against it.

Nordstrom

Nordstrom, the American fashion retailer, is the outlier here and a useful one. Spotsnow shows roughly 2 to 2 ads, and it buys for brand building rather than coded attribution. Its recent read is a 125-year anniversary spot, pure association, no promo code. That a straight awareness advertiser shows up alongside the direct-response crowd tells you the feed can carry more than one objective.

All spend figures are Spotsnow estimates.

Why information technology & services brands cluster here

Recruiting and professional platforms don't chase raw reach. They chase intent. Economics Explained gives them a room full of high-income working professionals who already think about labor markets, wages, and where the economy is heading, and a host whose whole authority rests on explaining those forces. When Kohls hands off to Indeed or LinkedIn, he isn't interrupting the show, he's extending the same subject his listener already trusts him on. That alignment between the host's credibility, the audience's money-and-career mindset, and the product on offer is why IT and services brands treat this feed as a repeat buy rather than a test. Nobody who sells hiring, payments, or investing tools has to explain to this audience why the category matters.

How your ad could sound

Here's a confirmed host-read that ran on the show, a Kikoff credit-building spot that matches the finance-minded audience:

Host-read for Kikoff on Economics Explained

What works: the hook ties straight to the episode topic ("scores end up paying nearly twice as much"), so the ad reads as a continuation of the argument, not a break from it. The framing is personal ("which surprised me because tools this helpful usually cost way more"), and the offer is clean ("80% off your first month, that's as low as $1 to try it out"). The handoff back to content is natural ("At its core, insurance..."), which is exactly how a host-read should exit.

Two things to tighten. The offer is delivered as a URL slug, "go to getkickoff.com/economics," rather than a short spoken promo code, which is harder to remember when someone is listening in the car. And there's no time pressure, no reason to act now instead of later. A dated offer window would give the read the urgency the rest of it earns. View what a great sample ad looks like here.

What makes a show like this convert

1. The host-read format carries the credibility. Spotsnow classifies 100% of tracked reads as direct response, and they work because the endorsement rides on the host's authority, not a produced jingle.
2. Host credibility does the persuading. A finance-trained economist explaining money is a natural fit for a hiring, banking, or investing pitch.
3. The audience is the buyer these brands want. Spotsnow describes a high-income, working-age, mostly male audience concentrated in the US, the exact profile recruiting and payments brands pay up for.
4. Repeat buying proves the math. Indeed's run of roughly 4 to 4 ads is a returning flight, not a single test, which is the clearest signal a coded offer is paying back.

Economics Explained in a nutshell

The audience skews male, high-income, and working-age, with the biggest block in the US and real tails in the UK and Canada. Recruiting and professional platforms already buy here on host-reads, from Indeed and LinkedIn to PayPal and American Express, with Nordstrom running a straight awareness play alongside them. The show sells direct, quoted per campaign, and every read Spotsnow tracks is direct response, so it fits a coded-offer buyer better than a pure branding one, though the Nordstrom run shows awareness works too.