Audio & Podcasts
April 13, 2009 by Kine
In the beginning of this semester, each group got assigned a topic to present for the rest of the class e.g. Social & B2B Professional Networking, Video Sharing, Wikis, Social Micro blogging etc. and my group and I got Audio & Podcasts. Through this post I want to share some of the information from our presentation.
Apple explains podcast as “a free video or audio series, like a TV or radio show, that you download from iTunes and play on your computer, iPod, iPhone or Apple TV.” In other words according to Wikipedia, podcast is “a series of audio or video digital media files which is distributed over the Internet by syndicated download, through Web feeds, to portable media players and personal computers.” A podcast is distinguished from most other digital media formats by its ability to be syndicated, subscribed to, and downloaded automatically when new content is added.
The term is a portmanteau of the words “iPod” and “broadcast”, the Apple iPod being the brand of portable media player for which the first podcasting scripts were developed. As more devices other than iPods became able to synchronise with podcast feeds, a backronym developed where podcast stood for “Personal On Demand broadcast”. However, such a definition would create a misnomer, because podcasts are not available “on demand”. This definition would more accurately describe a direct download or streaming media.
Podcasting’s initial appeal was to allow individuals to distribute their own radio-style shows. The market for podcast consumption is growing rapidly, and currently there are over 6000 podcasts being produced. The listener market that consumes these podcasts is currently estimated at over 6 million and is quickly growing.
The typical Podcasting scenario:
The podcasting market is growing because people now have choices of content to listen to, when they want it, and in the format they want, they are listening to what interests them specifically. Over the last several years, the radio has reached its limited choices, and as a result of this a demand for creative and niche driven content has been built up.
There are several different types of Podcasting, e.g. on public services, education and academia, for entertainment, news, music, politics, publicity and marketing etc.
As a marketing tool, podcasting allows you to have the ability to leverage this highly targeted, high value listener. It is important to be aware of the fact that podcast listeners have a short attention span. For this reason, you can’t produce a podcast that is a hard sales pitch for 30 minutes that is only all about your product or service. People will never listen to the podcast if it is approached this way. Podcasting is a way to inform, “soft sell”, and extend your brand. The podcast show must be of value, interesting and informative.
Here are some benefits companies can gain by adding podcasting to your marketing mix:
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An additional communication tool for your business.
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Increased online visibility to your target market.
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Increased internet visibility from the search engines.
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Increased internet visibility & traffic from the RSS, Blog & podcasting directories.
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Communication medium is more powerful than text.
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Improved level of perceived expertise from your target market.
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Value added offerings to your target market that are only available in audio format.
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Increased mind share from your target audience.
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More frequent touch points and more frequent “top of mind” participation from your target audience.
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Increased perception of your product, service, brand or value in customers minds
Hi Kine,
That was a very informative blog entry, thank you for sharing all that information. I agree with you when it comes to the benefits you have listed from adding podcast to an organisation’s marleting mix.
Given the high degree of competition amongst web presence and increasing demand as well as expectations from target customers every added”extra” can enhance a brand’s competitive advantage. In my opinion brands in general should consider to make more use of new media tools and new technologies, otherwise they are in danger to be outperformed by more contemporary (or clever?) competitors and left behind…