Podcasting Joins The Marketing Mix

I haven't been quick to jump on the Podcasting bandwagon, for several reasons. The first being that I can't see myself (or very many others) having the time to listen to too many of these things. Now the hype (and maybe even the trends) is proving me wrong. The second was a complete lack of interest in finding and configuring another batch of software and utilities for yet another specialized use. With the new iTunes, that problem is solved.

But it was a short rant on Buzzmachine against one specific podcast, and some lengthy thoughs on 'casting itself by Marc Cuban that helped me to realize that - for online marketers - podcasts are here to stay.

Jeff Jarvis basically makes fun of a new Disneyland podcast. His point seams to be, who would want to listen to crass commercial messages. Cuban isn't so much anti-podcast as he is trying to cool down the hype, reminding everyone that once-upon-a-time streaming was going to change the world too. He's not so much anti-podcasting as he is warning off investors and entrepreneurs.

These are to very smart guys, and I agree with a large majority of their posts. But I think commercial or advertorial-podcasts have a huge future. Because they're just another form of targeted and (hopefully) deep information that fits the 'consumers are in control' communications model. If I were planning to take the family to Disneyland, the right Disney podcast or two could be of interest.

Another example, I'm fairly interested in the new Thinkpad X41 tablet PC, and just this morning found a good personal blog post of one new users' impressions. If Lenovo had a podcast with info and details and user testimonials, I may subscribe for a few days or weeks.

So in this case podcasts aren't about the 'pod, they're about the 'casts. Audio is a good medium to transfer certain kinds of info -I can imagine many situations where it's easier to just say it that write it out - and that simplicity may lead to sharing lots of depth that never makes it onto the web.

Blogs as a format allow for lots of sharing of details that web pages, with their navigation and design and other issues just make too hard. Podcasts simplify creation and distribution for another kind of information (as the PodFather happened to point out just today).

Deep specific information just when the consumer wants it - to gain trust and confidence so they can make a buying decision is a winner in whatever form it takes. One of those forms just became the Podcast.

Posted by Craig Danuloff at July 17, 2005 1:05 PM