Podcast episode promo: a 20-second avatar host clip, cost by tier

Audiograms are flat. A host clip, where a face says why this episode is worth 40 minutes, tends to hold attention longer in a feed. If the real host has no time for a daily promo, a reusable avatar can read the hook. Here is the cost and the request.

What 20 seconds costs

Twenty seconds is about 50 words, enough for a hook, the guest and one sentence on what a listener will learn. The default aspect ratio is 9:16, which fits Reels and Shorts.

A weekly show

A weekly show with one promo per episode at standard costs 52 x $3.68 = $191.36 a year. At plus it is 52 x $4.90 = $254.80. Neither number counts the $0.95 to make the avatar once.

Request with captions

Ask for burned-in captions so the clip reads on mute.

curl -X POST https://api.sume.com/v1/avatar-1.0/talking-video \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $SUME_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"avatar_handle":"@host","quality":"plus","aspect_ratio":"9:16","captions":{"enabled":true,"style":"tiktok-green"},"script":"Episode forty: why your first hire should not be an engineer. My guest has hired six teams and regrets one choice. Listen before you post a job."}'

Cover art and show notes

The video does not carry the cover art. Add your artwork in the post, or send the avatar a scene with a branded background photo. Keep the link to the episode in the caption of the post, since the clip itself will not contain a clickable link.

Pick the right tier

For a daily feed post, standard is enough. Use plus (the default) when the promo will run as a paid ad, and keep max for a trailer. Because the preview is the same at every tier, you can test the face at no extra cost and decide later. If your show is bilingual, write the script in the second language and re-render; the cost per second does not change.