What are podcasts?

Podcasting was seen as a dying medium that is underutilised and an overlooked marketing tool that has many benefits (Chaney, 2009). But now podcasting is on the rise again as companies started noticing the benefits of them. Podcasts are digital media typically audio files such as music or spoken voice over recordings but can also technically be videos. They can be downloaded over the Internet onto your computer or portable device. Podcasts are distinguished from other digital media tools due to the fact they can be subscribed to and automatically downloaded onto a person’s computer or device.

Benefits of podcasts:

The benefits of podcasts as a marketing tool are that they are highly targetable. They can be created on any topic, its very useful as a niche-marketing tool. By focussing on a particular niche a company can understand the needs of the customer and morph their products or service in away that appeals to them. If you give them what they want they wont be hesitant to pay you (Tardy, 2012). It’s also a very good way for companies to differentiate themselves from their competitors if they don’t already use them. Podcasting as medium has opened up a whole new way of doing business. It represents an extremely efficient and effective way to communicate with not only customers but also with employees and investors. Podcasts are easy and convenient to download as they can be downloaded from the iTunes store or other markets places that are similar for example on Amazon. They are also convenient as you can listen to them wherever you are. For example podcasts can be listened to while you are on the move whether you are on the bus or train or even if you a driving. It’s important to note that different People consume content in different ways. That’s why it is important to get your content and brand out using multiple channels (Cournoyer, 2012). Podcasts will appeal to people whom rather listen to content rather than seeing and reading it.

The characteristics of a good podcast and what to avoid:

The podcast should be high quality and provide information of value. This can be in the form of education, information and entertainment. By providing information that contains value companies can expand their customer base and keep listeners tuned and come back for more. Companies should try to avoid just broadcasting advertisements although they can be useful in creating awareness but this should be kept minimal, as customers may not be interested and this can possibly lead to subscribers being lost.

References:

Chaney, P. & Dawsonera 2009, The digital handshake: seven proven strategies to grow your business using social media, Wiley, Chichester; Hoboken, N.J. 149 – 163

Contrad, J et al. (2014). Why You Should Use Blogs and Podcasts to Market Your Business. Available: http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/234239. Last accessed 19/02/2015.

Cournoyer, B 2012. 3 reasons why podcasts should be part of your content marketing strategy. Available: http://contentmarketinginstitute.com/2012/01/podcasts-content-marketing-strategy/. Last accessed: 20/02/15

Tardy, J. (2012). 3 ways podcasting can land you customers. Available: http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/3-ways-podcasting-can-land-you-customers/. Last accessed 19/02/2015.