Podcasting Should Be A Marketer's New Best Friend
It is exactly how I feel.
Yes, I've been doing my own Podcast - Six Pixels of Separation - The Twist Image Podcast - for a while now (over eighty episodes in the can) and yes, I may be biased due to my passion of all things Social Media. Regardless, this new type of media will, without a doubt, challenge Marketers like no media channel before it.
First off, a little clarification: if you have audio or video on your site, it is not a Podcast unless it has a RSS feed. Meaning, if your Users can subscribe to the audio/video feed, then you're Podcasting (be sure to make it available via iTunes and other Podcast Directories as well). If you have streaming video or downloadable audio clips... sorry, those ain't Podcasts.
Now, the challenge for Marketers: how will you keep Consumers engaged in a media channel that they choose to subscribe to, they download to their computer, it can be ported to multiple devices (like an iPod or other portable media players), it can be paused, fast-forwarded, etc... How do we create engaging Marketing messages for a media channel that is so controlled by the Consumer? If you think of traditional media - TV, Radio, Magazines, etc.. they were created for Advertisers... there is a passive relationship between the Consumer and the Media. With Podcasting, there is much more engagement and portability... a true Marketing challenge to be sure.
The next issue (which I'm sure you're thinking about) is how accessible Podcasting is, and does it even have a chance to grow to the size of the more common mass media channels. While I'm not sure if we'll always be calling this new type of media "Podcasting," I can't imagine consumers going back once they experience the freedom of this channel. I think that Podcasting will - eventually - have some kind of paid model and that because the content hits such rich and deep niches, that the value to Marketers will be too high to ignore.
I know, it's still early days when it comes to Podcasting, but the market is primed and healthy. Last year Apple sold their 100th million iPod (and, trust me, millions more have been sold since). We're not even talking about the other manufacturers of portable media. We're seeing sharp inclines in Consumers' appetites for specialty programming, and more and more people are getting comfortable with the idea of downloading media.
My guess is we're approaching a perfect storm where Consumers are soon going to wonder why they ever waited until Sunday night at 7:00 pm to sit through commercials while watching 60 Minutes, instead of just downloading it and watching it where (and when) they choose.
In the meantime, as a Marketer, why not head over to iTunes, check out the Podcasts area? There's a category called "Business", and within there you'll find another sub-category called "Management and Marketing". They're all free, and will make your commute to work or time at the gym fly by. If you're curious to know what's at the top of the cue in my iPod, feel free to head over to my personal Blog, Six Pixels of Separation, and look at the "Listen To These Podcasts" on the left-hand side navigation.
I think it will inspire you to get your clients (or company) thinking about how you too can create compelling content for this new media channel, and what the ramifications might be to Marketers if we ignore this on-demand channel.
