I’d Rather Be Writing – Tom Johnson

This podcast from Podcast Academy talks about integrating podcasting into your company’s mix of marketing deliverables. Schwartzman talks about how, for an opera site, his company added podcasts that consisted of opera singer interviews. He says the main purpose of a podcast should be to drive listeners to your website—the website should be the center of your activity, not the podcast.

A little shocking was the cost. Schwartzman says his company, iPressroom, charges about 15K to create a podcast for a client (which consists of at least 12 shows I believe). Many people are often lured by the inexpensive nature of this electronic media such as a podcast, but they don’t consider the hours and resources required to create the podcasts.

Schwartzman also emphasized the quantitative metrics behind podcasting. You have to measure your site’s hits and company sales before and after launching the podcast to determine its effectiveness and to justify the financial bottom line.

But you also have to do more than one podcast. A lot of companies think they can experiment with one podcast to see if it’s an effective marketing tool, and they don’t realize that you have to deliver at least a dozen podcasts before you begin to see its impact.

My opinion on corporate podcasts is a little mixed. On the one hand, I think a corporate podcast can tremendously benefit a company. On the other, if the podcast consists mostly of promoting a product, marketing a service, or selling you the features of the company’s widget, I probably wouldn’t listen. Perhaps a better angle would be to talk about the industry or general topic without being heavy-handed in trying to sell something. Kind of like how Stonyfield’s yogurt blog doesn’t talk about yogurt but rather about the environment, farms, and cows.