Podcasting Call: Seldom-used technology is tool business should be evaluating

(Pod)casting call
Seldom-used technology is tool businesses should be evaluating
The Business Journal of the Greater Triad Area - by Michelle Cater Rash Staff writer

In the summer of 2006, the government relations practice group at Winston-Salem-based law firm Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice decided to try something new.

Instead of just sending out written updates on the General Assembly or blogging about it, the handful of attorneys and lobbyists decided to give a new technology a try — they were going to record weekly podcasts, or audio programs that could be downloaded off the computer for people to listen to at their convenience.

Throughout the summer, practice members met once a week to record 10-minute updates.

“We got positive feedback from our clients about it, that it was an effective tool to getting the message out,” says Kevin Leonard, the firm’s senior government relations manager.

Still, the podcasts took longer than anticipated, and Leonard says it quickly became a challenge to get everyone together each week to do them. So, the regularly scheduled broadcasts ended with the close of that legislative session.

But, the government relations team still does podcasts occasionally and still feels they are a great resource.

“It’s still a tool in our toolbox that I think we would like to find a way to use better,” he says.

Many businesses may be like Womble Carlyle — interested in podcasts but unsure of the best way to use the technology. But, according to research, it is definitely a tool that businesses should be evaluating.

A study conducted this spring by Arbitron and Edison Media Research found that 50 percent of podcast listeners make more than $50,000 a year, compared with 33 percent of nonpodcast listeners. Likewise, 55 percent of podcast listeners have at least a four-year college degree, compared with 33 percent of the nonlisteners surveyed.

And while current listeners make up a relatively small part of the population — about 18 percent of all people over the age of 12, according to the Arbitron survey — the number is expected to rise drastically in the next few years.

Research company eMarketer forecasts a 251 percent increase in podcast listeners between 2007 and 2012, with more than 65 million people downloading them four years from now.

Not for everyone
Experts in the field say podcasts are great marketing tools, but also stress that they don’t fit every company.

There are a few things that set podcasts apart from other forms of marketing. One of its big advantages, marketing experts say, is the ability to convey personality through a voice and a conversation more so than through the written word.

And, because they are downloadable to an MP3 player or computer and even some phones, podcasts are highly portable, which means listeners — and clients or potential customers — can hear them anytime, anywhere.

That can also be a downside to podcasts, however, in that if it is listened to while in the car or at the gym, you may not have your client’s full attention.

Podcasts serve certain types of businesses better than others.

Mark Tosczak, a senior account executive who specializes in new media with RLF Communications in Greensboro, says podcasts are a great way to talk about complex products and services — information that can’t easily be conveyed in a logo or tagline.

He says the broadcasts are especially helpful when the company isn’t just trying to sell its product, but trying to establish itself as an expert in an industry since they can be used to share knowledge and information with a wide audience.

One company using podcasts in this way is Stealing Share, a Greensboro-based branding firm. CEO Tom Dougherty says his firm aims to be a resource for people that aren’t its customers, posting related articles and case studies on its Web site regularly.

“Podcasts are a very natural way of making an extension of what we do,” he says. “For some people it’s easier to download something to their iPod and listen to it rather than spend the time reading.”

Dougherty says he and his employees rarely plot out their podcasts in advance. Rather, they generally will be talking about a national brand or marketing campaign in the office and decide the conversation would make a good podcast, then flip the recorder on. In the past, Stealing Share has done podcasts on topics ranging from Apple computers to the airline industry.

When weighing podcasting as a tool, a business needs to know who its customers are, Tosczak says. Are they the kind of people who would listen to a podcast? Even a well-executed podcast is wasted time and money if the target audience doesn’t tune in.

To cast or not to cast?
If your company is considering adding podcasts as part of your marketing plan, there are several things you should consider and weigh, marketing experts say.

The biggest challenge many businesses face is the commitment involved, says Tony Cooler, an account supervisor with Winston-Salem-based Wildfire who specializes in new media.

Podcasts can either be done with regular updates, such as the weekly posts done by Womble Carlyle, or as a story line with a specific beginning and end, that might be done before a product launch.

Either way, Cooler says, you have to make the commitment to stick with it long term and not do it for a few weeks and then stop because it takes too much time and effort.

“You don’t want to begin the conversation and then have it drop,” she says. “That’s almost worse than not having the conversation at all.”

And, if you begin a podcast, you also have to be prepared for very public listener feedback, both positive and negative. You can’t control responses that come via blogs, rival podcasts or other Websites, she says, so be prepared to respond appropriately and just as publicly to both.

“You are starting a conversation and you want the person to talk back to you. It’s an ebb and flow,” Cooler says. “You’re not just pushing content out there anymore.”

Reach Michelle Cater Rash at (336) 370-2918 or mrash@bizjournals.com

Tom Dougherty, CEO and senior brand strategist with Stealing Share, records a podcast from his Greensboro office. “For some people, it’s easier to download something to their iPod and listen to it rather than spend the time reading,” says Dougherty.

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