How do Campaigns work?

Campaigns is Transistor's dynamic ads feature, also called dynamic audio insertion (DAI). It lets you insert ads or other audio clips into your episodes, including your back catalog, at specific timestamps, and remove them again whenever you like.

Why can't I see the Campaigns tab?

Campaigns is included on Professional plans and above. If you're on the Starter plan, you'll need to upgrade to use it.

What's the difference between an ad and a campaign?

Ads are the individual audio clips you upload to the Ads section. A campaign is a reusable layout of those ads: which ones play, where, and in what order. You can apply one campaign to as many episodes as you like, and give it a start and end date with scheduling.

Can I run two campaigns on the same episode?

No. An episode can only have one campaign at a time, because a campaign is the complete layout of every ad in that episode. To run several ads together, put them all in one campaign.

Why can't I hear my ad?

Check these first:

• Does the campaign contain any ads?
• Is the campaign applied to the episode you're listening to, and is it shown as Live?
• Is the episode a trailer? Trailers never get campaign audio.
• For a mid-roll, does the episode have an ad location? Mid-rolls are skipped without one.
• Are you listening at the right point? Earlier ads push later ones back, so a 30-second pre-roll makes everything after it play 30 seconds later.

Why does my ad play at a different time than I set?

• 10 seconds or more out: earlier ads make the episode longer. If you expect an ad at the 5-minute mark, add the length of any ads that play before it.
• 1 to 2 seconds out: this usually comes from how the episode audio was exported. Variable bit rate encoding makes exact placement hard. Re-export your audio at 44,100 Hz and around 128 kbps, using constant bit rate (CBR), then upload it again.

Why are my ads louder than my episode?

We don't change the loudness of your ads or episodes, so they play at the levels they were exported at. Export both your episode and your ad audio at -16 LUFS so they match.

Can I have more than one pre-roll or post-roll?

Yes. Add as many as you like, and they play in the order they're listed in the campaign.

How do mid-rolls and ad locations work together?

Mid-roll ads go in the ad locations you set on each episode, in order:

• A campaign can include as many mid-rolls as you need, and an episode can have as many ad locations
• To play two mid-rolls back-to-back, set two ad locations at exactly the same time
• If an episode has no ad locations, its mid-rolls are skipped
• If an episode has more ad locations than the campaign has mid-rolls, the extra locations are left empty. Ads aren't repeated to fill them.

Can I set ad locations on lots of episodes at once?

Get in touch and we'll suggest what might work for you. We don't recommend setting ad locations in bulk, though, because the ads end up interrupting mid-sentence. It's best to listen to each episode and pick a natural break, ideally with a second or two of silence.

I imported my podcast from another host. Can I keep my mid-roll locations?

Yes, we can help. Get in touch with us on Live Chat or at support@transistor.fm, and we'll let you know what to get from your previous host so we can move your mid-roll timestamps over to your episodes in Transistor.

How do I see how my ads are performing?

Go to Campaigns › Analytics to see impressions for each campaign and each ad over the time period you choose.

Do campaigns work with video?

No. Campaign ads aren't inserted into video. The audio version of your episode still includes them, except in versions of Apple Podcasts that play HLS video (some older iOS versions may still get them).

Are my ads included on YouTube?

No. We publish each episode to YouTube once, using your original audio. If we included your ads, they couldn't be changed or removed later, so an old ad would stay in the YouTube video after you updated your campaign.

If you have additional questions please reach out to us:

• Email - support@transistor.fm
• Live Chat: https://transistor.fm/contact/

Updated on: 04/11/2026