Acast is a global podcast hosting and monetization platform that connects podcasters with advertisers through sponsorship campaigns. These collaborations involve more than ad placements. They include scripts, revisions, approvals, timelines, and a lot of coordination between multiple parties.
As Acast continued to grow its marketplace, the team focused on improving how advertisers and creators communicate during sponsorship workflows while giving Acast the visibility and control needed to keep campaigns on track.
Too many conversations, not enough structure
Before CometChat, communication around sponsorships lived everywhere. Some discussions happened in Acast’s internal comment sections. Others spilled into email threads or phone calls. Important context was scattered, replies were missed, and conversations were tied to single pieces of content rather than evolving over the life of a campaign.
The existing comment system was intentionally lightweight, but that simplicity became a limitation. There was no real back and forth, no read indicators, no presence, and no way to support ongoing discussions across multiple campaign stages. Users often replied directly to notification emails instead of returning to the platform, breaking flow and creating confusion.
Acast needed a way for advertisers and podcasters to communicate directly inside the product, while still allowing internal teams to step in when needed. The solution had to be mobile friendly, extensible, and flexible enough to support campaign based workflows rather than one off messages.
Campaign-based chat with room to grow
Acast uses CometChat to power in-app conversations between advertisers and podcast creators, with each sponsorship campaign mapped to its own chat context. Conversations are structured as groups, making it easy to keep discussions, files, and decisions tied to a specific campaign rather than a single message thread.
With CometChat, Acast enables real-time messaging with read receipts, presence indicators, and mobile friendly experiences that work seamlessly in the browser. File sharing supports scripts, audio assets, and media files, while reply and threading features keep conversations readable even as they grow more complex.
Custom messages and metadata allow Acast to embed actions directly into chat, such as approvals or revision requests, and trigger backend workflows through APIs and webhooks. Role-based controls let internal teams join conversations as moderators when needed, review history, intervene, and then step out without disrupting the flow between advertisers and creators.
Notifications are configurable and branded, helping pull users back into the product instead of pushing conversations into email. Moderation tools and content controls give Acast guardrails against spam, off-platform communication, and inappropriate behavior, all while keeping the experience natural for end users.
Clearer collaboration, fewer dropped threads
By moving sponsorship communication into CometChat, Acast replaced fragmented conversations with a single, structured system built around campaigns. Advertisers and podcasters now know exactly where to talk, share files, and make decisions. Internal teams gain visibility without becoming bottlenecks.
The result is less back and forth over email, fewer missed messages, and conversations that actually match how sponsorships work in the real world. Communication stays connected to context, actions stay close to discussion, and collaboration feels like part of the product instead of an afterthought.
That makes sponsorship workflows easier to manage today and far easier to extend tomorrow.
