HotHouse - Noise

November 19, 2007

It's like radio...only better

The Pew Internet Project reports that more than 12% of Internet users have downloaded a podcast, nearly double the figure from a year earlier. Radio measurement firm Bridge Ratings reports that more than 10 million people in the US are listening to podcasts, a number predicts will climb to more than 60 million by 2010.

The iTunes Podcast Directory has been growing nearly as fast as its music collection and now has more than 20,000 podcasts listed, while another podcast directory, Podcast Alley, lists more than 1 million episodes, up from less than 1,000 in 2004.

Online media distribution network Feedburner has more than 150,000 podcast and video feeds listed on its site and tracks more than 1.6 million podcast subscribers, a figure that has doubled in six months.

Great for small business
Podcasting offers all the benefits of radio broadcasting, with a host of added features. Unlike broadcast radio, you can choose what you want to listen to, when you want to listen to it, and in the format you want.

People will listen to a show that they have a definite interest in even if it takes 30 minutes or an hour. This means companies can reach a worldwide audience that has a narrow focus of interest in their topic.

Podcasting is being used to convey the latest updates about products and services, and to explore business trends in an industry.

Some podcasters are interviewing clients and leaders in their niche area about a specific subject that is of interest, which creates credibility and awareness.

Podcasting has a lot of traction with small business. The top podcast directories list more than 700 podcasts whose focus is small business, including content from such mainstream media companies as The Wall Street Journal, BusinessWeek, and Time.

The vast majority of the podcasts available are provided by small businesses themselves — authors, consultants, technology companies and others who all want to serve the small business audience. Tools and production values (good sound quality, prepared hosts, entertaining format) is improving all the time.

As well, larger businesses such as IBM, Disney and many others are using podcasts as a marketing tool to reach a larger number of audiences that are not defined by geographical boundaries.

Does podcasting work?
It's hard to measure the direct impact of podcasting on company revenues, but the growth in podcast advertising is a good benchmark. Research firm eMarketer reports that companies spent $80 million on podcast advertising in 2006, and it predicts this to grow to $400 million a year by 2011.

Another figure to keep in mind is the growth in distribution of devices that can be used to listen to podcasts. Leaving PCs and laptops aside, it is estimated that there are more than 100 million iPods in circulation, and more than 300 million copies of iTunes have been downloaded. More than 120 million MP3 players and 300 million MP3-enabled phones will be sold this year - and not everyone wants to listen only to music on their MP3 player, phone or iPod.

That's not to say that if you simply build a podcast that they will come. Technology writer Charles Rubin says, "Don't just take what you're doing offline and move it online in the hope that being there will somehow make people stand up and cheer." This applies to podcasting, as well – people will only respond to a podcast if it is entertaining and relevant.

John Havens recently published a guide to podcasting on About.com, where he writes that clever podcasting is all about building trust. "A business has to communicate trust or it will lose relevance to customers," he writes. A podcast says to customers, "I've created material I thought would be valuable to you and am delivering it via a medium that allows you to check it out when it's most convenient for you."

Havens writes that "you've got to share that message in an entertaining fashion to distinguish yourself from competitors and prove to your audience that you care enough about them to help them maximise their precious time. So now you've also got to back up your message with actions that ring true for your audience."

Will it sell?
As is the case with viral marketing, a quirky podcasting idea, well-executed, can have a huge impact for a small investment.

One of my favourites has been the efforts of Blendtec, which has created a series of video podcasts that have proved to be an enduring hit on YouTube.

Blendtec decided to market its industrial-strength blender to the high-end consumer market. Marketing director George Wright visited the company development lab for inspiration and when he arrived there was sawdust all over the floor. When he was told that came from churning up blocks of wood in the blender to test the Blendtec's pulverising power, the light bulb went off.

He produced an in-house video showing the device blending a can of Coke (including the can) and a chicken, and put it up on YouTube. The response was overwhelming, and the video was soon followed by ones showing the Blendtec turning marbles, golf clubs, cubic zirconia and tiki torches into mush. The most popular video has been one of the Blendtec turning an iPhone into carbon dust, which has had nearly four million views.

Sales of the US$400 blender have increased five-fold since the videos first appeared on YouTube. Josh Bernoff from Forrester Research writes in his Groundswell blog that the Blendtec strategy works because it's funny, visually arresting, short and authentic (the videos' host, in goggles and white coat, is really a Blendtec engineer).

He advises other companies to "figure out what your unique value is, film it and put it up there…. Find something that connects to the value of your product. You see these videos and you can't help saying 'Can that blender really do that? Maybe I should get one.'"

Well-targetted podcasts can create new and loyal customers who form beliefs about your brand's ability to fulfil their expectations. They can prove to be timeless ambassadors for your business.

Simon van Wyk is founder of HotHouse Interactive.

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