Podcasts are definitely the marketing tool of the moment as well as the future. Marketing gurus have noted the changing needs of marketing from the written word to audio and because of this are now using podcasting as their main marketing medium in this very competitive market.
Podcasting has grown exponentially over the last few years and is fast becoming the more popular medium for advertising. Because consumers no longer have the time to browse through newspapers, pamphlets, magazines etc. many businesses are using the very powerful marketing tool of podcasts to boost their sales as well as their brand.
The augmented usage of mobile phones is considered to be one of the main factors for the explosive growth of podcasting and podcasts have therefore become the new talk radio of the mobile devices.
The benefits
Eight major promoting benefits to podcasting:
- Drive traffic.
- Better search results
- Allows users to listen and carry on with their life
- Increase followers
- Diversifying your content
- Relationship building
- Increase brand awareness
- Builds trust in your brand
The best way to get your marketing message across to listeners is to use the content of the podcast to relate to the product or brand which you are trying to sell. Using 3rd party ads can annoy listeners and subsequently chase them away.
Audio is a welcoming break from the information overload of written content. Podcasts enable the speaker to get the message across to listeners in an interactive way that the written content might not be able to.
Smart integration
It is predicted that with podcasts becoming more popular that in the future there will be a lot more integration with our devices. An example is that your alarm clock could be set to wake you up with the most recent episode of your morning podcast. Your smart devices would also be able to alert you as to when a new episode of your favorite or most listened to podcasts become available.
A small disadvantage to podcasting is that if you are listening to your podcasts using the same network it is likely that you are hearing the same ads over and over again.
Hopefully future podcasting ads will be able to be targeted to user interests and demographics which will reduce the repetition of ads. Recent research has been shown consumers would be more likely purchase a product from a brand that appeals to their personal experience and needs.
The future
It is predicted that podcast networks of the future will be able to inform you of the podcasts they think you will like, almost the same way Netflix currently does with movies you have watched. For instance, if you generally listen to podcasts at 12:00 during your lunch hour, you could get notifications that there are new episodes ready for download at 11:30 which will help you to avoid searching for new episodes.
So, to answer the question, “Will Podcast Marketing Ever Rule the Web?” My prediction is yes, it is very possible that it will. Watch this space.
