The Consumer View

Pros:

• Easy to consume content anytime, anywhere -- I listen while exercising, driving, running errands, waiting in lines, and even while washing dishes.


• Timely information – I get daily and weekly feeds from sources that I find credible and consistent.


• Short pieces – segments of 4-10 minutes keep my attention the most.


• Easy to share photos– over the holidays, I found my iPod Nano very popular as it was passed around to family members who wanted to see dozens of my favorite photos of our kids.
  

• Long pieces -- I tried listening to an audio book on black holes but found it somewhat frustrating because it’s 11 hours of recorded content. I can read the exact same content in probably half the time. Commuters and air travelers will perhaps not mind this productivity issue.


• Business video -- Business video podcasts like BusinessWeek Market Reports are far less captivating than stunning consumer video like NASA’s space telescope. In fact, many business podcasters are dropping their video and sticking to producing compelling audio.

The Marketer View

Pros:

• Cheap -- costs only about $500- $2,000 to produce one podcast piece. That’s a fraction of the cost of a whitepaper, video, or other lead generation offers.


• Quick – podcasts can be as simple as an audio recording of an interview with your customer or an industry analyst.


• Builds relationship – once you have a subscriber base, podcasts can be a very easy way to deliver ongoing value to your constituents. Brian Carroll, author of Lead Generation for the Complex Sale, rightly recommends podcasts for “lead nurturing” rather than lead generation.

Cons:

• Poor metrics – for the most part, you can’t tell which subscribers actually listened to the podcast segments and for how long. VoloMedia claims they have a way to detect actual listens/views versus just downloads. Our clients who have done podcasting for a year have seen very little in the way of net new leads. They report that it’s more like advertising in that it’s hard to quantify the ROI but they know that podcasting helps with brand building and customer satisfaction in general.


• Limited reach – podcasts are still very low in the information source hierarchy. Most executives still rely on word-of-mouth, business and trade publications, the internet, and traditional TV/radio/print for their information sources.

Our Recommendation

We endorse podcasting as a very low cost way for you to augment your installed base customer communications and lead nurturing campaigns with another mode of delivering thought leadership pieces. Keep the pieces to five to ten minutes max and use formats such as interviews with experts, short speeches by company executives, and practical tips for the week. Forget video. The key is to deliver bite-sized content consistently, at least monthly if not more often, to your subscriber base. Again, we would not advise prioritizing podcasting above high ROI spend like pay-per-click campaigns or other online marketing campaigns if your primary goal is customer acquisition.

Resources:

• eMarketer “Who’s Listening to Podcasts?”
• Paul Gillin, author of The New Influencers
• PodTech
• Brian Carroll’s blog entry “Lessons Learned from Podcasting”
• VoloMedia on podcast metrics

Sridhar’s Podcast Roll

• BBC: Best of Today (BBC Radio 4)
• BusinessWeek Market Report
• CNET News.com daily tech news podcast
• Bill Moyers Journal, PBS
• The History Channel: Just Another Day
• KCRW’s Left, Right & Center
• KQED’s The California Report
• KQED’s THIS WEEK in Northern California
• New Yorker: Out Loud
• NOW, PBS
• NPR: World Story of the Day
• NPR: Story of the Day
• NPR: Books
• Real Time with Bill Maher
• Slate Magazine Daily Podcast
• This American Life
• HBR IdeaCast
• Knowledge@Wharton
• Hidden Universe: NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope
• AstronomyCast

Sridhar,
I appreciate your well produced post on podcasting. Your focus was primarily on the "corporate podcast."
To me, that's a lot of work for most companies who can barely keep their corporate blog going.
I believe the sweet spot for marketers is in podcast advertising in a wide variety of individual podcasts.
In addition to running a podcast network targeted to people on the leading edge of culture with 20+ weekly shows covering everything from personal growth the beauty to spirituality to creativity, I am also the Vice Chair of the Association for Downloadable Media.
I sell ad programs across my site - most of them involve 5-10 of my shows aggregated together for my advertisers.
At the ADM, we are focused on creating standards that allow marketers to buy not just into one show or across one network like Personal Life Media, but across many shows and networks to scale advertising programs efficiently.
The connection that consumers have with their podcast hosts is deep and engaged. The sponsors who support those shows are very highly considered.
This is a greenfield opportunity for savvy marketers who like to have "first mover" advantage when new tactics hit their opportunity net.
I wouldn't discount podcasting - it's an amazing medium. I'd be happy to talk to you more about the campaigns we're running and the results we're getting.
Have a great day.
Susan Bratton
CEO Personal Life Media
http://personallifemedia.com
Vice Chair Association for Downloadable Media
http://downloadablemedia.org

Posted by: Susan Bratton | January 2, 2008 8:25 AM

Thank you very much, Susan, for taking time to comment. Advertising via existing successful podcasts does sound like a smarter way to go.

Posted by: Sridhar Ramanathan | January 2, 2008 11:15 AM

I have reached a similar conclusion, both from personal experience and from discussions with clients. I think you hit the nail on the head when you used the term "consumer" in your analysis. I believe podcasts are more effective for B2C marketing, in the same sectors where social media is strong for marketers. But in my world of B2B, I find that C-level clients and prospects simply don't want to spend the time that podcasts require -- and as you point out, business content is often less captivating.

So my recommendation is: "It depends." For B2C marketing, experiment and find where it works. For B2B marketing, you can make better use of your marketing energy and dollars.

Posted by: Mary Sullivan | January 3, 2008 9:48 PM

Sridhar,

Very nice and crisp article on the pros and cons of podcasts. I think your assessment is right on the money. Thanks for a great article on a timely topic.

Posted by: Mike Gospe | January 15, 2008 10:19 AM

Sridhar,

You make some excellent points as usual.

As an audio and video podcast producer for large B2B organizations, I agree that while the medium is very effective on many levels the full marketing potential has yet to be discovered.

What's undisputed - audiences are more fragmented than ever, consumers are in control of what they consume, rich and interactive media will continue to be pervasive (so as to rise above the noise), fewer people are going to corporate websites for their information.

As a result, podcasts can work as the perfect medium in this environment if produced effectively. They can be conversational like a blog, used as a lead-gen tool (using audio and text link techniques) and even as the ad in distribution channels. Metrics will continue to be a challenge but I think we're moving closer to it being a strategic marketing medium.

Posted by: Gil Roberts | January 15, 2008 11:50 AM

I have been wondering how or whether my company should use podcasting. Thanks for the great info!

Posted by: Lisa | February 20, 2008 9:43 AM

Hi Sridhar,

Thanks for this great post on the do's and don'ts with podcasting.

I'm curious though..

Do you think podcasting shouldn't get a high priority because the critical base of listeners isn't there yet?

Or was the critical base of listeners there before and now on the decline?

Also, what specific industry trends and infrastructure do you think might lead to more widespread adoption?

And finally, has video growth eclipsed podcasting? And is it more likely that a large video Web site would simply start incorporating download options for both videos and podcasts?

As you can see, you really got me thinking, but at the same time very curious for more information.

Posted by: Joshua Feinberg | February 24, 2008 12:26 PM

Thanks, Joshua, for taking the time to comment. You raise good points which merit discussion. Regarding listener base, I do not have hard figures on that but am confident that listener/viewership is only increasing. My issue is more that, at least today, podcasting is really better suited to advertising and awareness building than generating loads of quality leads. Again, I invite the community to join in on this discussion.

Sridhar

Posted by: Sridhar Ramanathan | February 25, 2008 8:30 AM