How to advertise on I Think Not!: what it costs, who buys, and how to book

I Think Not! sells its host-read inventory direct, quoted per campaign rather than off a public rate card. Roughly 98% of the reads that run here are direct-response, Spotsnow data shows, and its top spender has run roughly 21 to 24 host-reads on the feed. That mix tells a buyer this is a coded-offer engine, not an awareness placement. Spotsnow estimates all of this from tracked advertiser activity, not audience surveys. The full profile lives on I Think Not!.

Why I Think Not! is built for host-read direct response

Best friends Ellyn Marsh and Joey Taranto host the show, mixing true crime narratives with comedy. Spotsnow files it under information technology & services on the advertiser side, because its anchor buyers are commerce and software platforms.

About 98% of reads carry a code, a URL, or an offer, per Spotsnow. That format matters because it makes performance visible: a HungryRoot.com slug or a Wayfair rewards mention ties a listen to a checkout. Spotsnow estimates reach at roughly 240,000 listeners, and that figure is an estimate, not a counted number.

The reason a host-read lands here is the banter. The hosts talk through a case, then slide into a read in the same voice, so attention doesn't drop at the ad break the way it does around a produced spot. A host endorsement borrows that sustained attention. That's what a coded offer needs to convert.

The show's pull is concentrated in the feed itself rather than spread across a stack of social channels. Listeners come back episode to episode for the hosts, and that in-feed loyalty is what repeat advertisers are buying.

Who is advertising on I Think Not!

Spotsnow tracks north of 100 brands on the show in recent months, weighted toward commerce, home, wellness, and streaming. Recognizable names include Shopify, Whatnot, Wayfair, Mint Mobile, and AG1.

The anchor advertisers, broken down

Shopify

Shopify sells e-commerce software that lets anyone build and run a store. Spotsnow attributes roughly 21 to 24 host-read appearances and estimated total spend of over $200K on the show, classified direct-response. A young, mostly female, side-hustle-friendly audience is exactly who opens a store.

Whatnot

Whatnot runs live-streamed shopping auctions for collectibles, fashion, and beauty. Spotsnow attributes roughly 16 to 19 host-reads and estimated total spend over $200K, all direct-response. Its impulse, entertainment-driven shopping maps onto an audience that shows up for a good watch.

Wayfair

Wayfair sells furniture and home decor online. Spotsnow attributes roughly 12 to 14 host-reads and estimated total spend over $80K, all direct-response. Home and nesting content threads naturally into the hosts' own redecorating chatter, which is where the read tends to sit.

USAA, the awareness outlier

Not everyone here chases a code. USAA runs on the show entirely as produced brand-awareness spots, per Spotsnow, proof that a straight association play can also work against this audience even when the feed skews direct-response.

All spend figures are Spotsnow estimates.

Why commerce brands cluster here

Look at who repeats and the pattern is clear. Shopify, Whatnot, and Wayfair all come back for double-digit reads, and they're all selling a next step: start a store, join an auction, buy a rug. The audience skews young, mostly women, middle to upper income, and overwhelmingly US-based, and it's in a buying frame of mind. True crime pulls people in for the story; the comedy keeps the mood loose enough that a shopping pitch doesn't feel like an interruption. The hosts have credibility because they endorse the way friends do, not the way a rate card does. That combination, a warm handoff and a listener already inclined to click, is why direct-response commerce keeps writing checks here.

How your ad could sound

This host-read does the fundamentals right. The framing is personal ("I feel safe ordering and eating from Hungry Root"), the offer is clean (40% off the first order plus a free item in every box for life), and the code and URL are spelled out clearly. The handoff into the Wayfair segment is natural because it rides the hosts' own banter about redecorating, ending on a line that sells the value in plain terms: "it's like they're paying you to shop."

Two things to tighten. The offer gets repeated to the point of clutter, which crowds out the payoff. And the Wayfair handoff carries no code and no urgency, so attribution on that second brand is weaker than on the first. Give every brand in a stacked read its own trackable ask.

View what a great sample ad looks like here.

What makes a show like this convert

1. The format does the selling. Nearly all reads are host-endorsed and coded, so a listen ties straight to a checkout.
2. The hosts have earned trust. Marsh and Taranto read in the same voice they use to crack jokes, so an endorsement lands as a recommendation.
3. The audience is primed to buy. It skews young, mostly female, US-based, and middle to upper income, the profile DTC brands target.
4. The repeat buying proves the math. Shopify's roughly 21 to 24 reads, per Spotsnow, is a brand renewing because the numbers worked, not testing once.

I Think Not! in a nutshell

The audience is young, mostly women, US-based, and comfortable spending, drawn in by true crime and kept there by comedy. Commerce and home brands like Shopify, Whatnot, and Wayfair already buy, almost all on coded host-reads. The show sells direct, quoted per campaign rather than off a rate card. If your goal is measurable direct response, this is a natural fit; if you want pure awareness, USAA shows a produced spot can work too.