Steven Lubetkin (@podcaststeve on Twitter) is a specialist in podcasting, combining his decades of experience in public relations and as a radio broadcaster. For the last couple of years Steve has been producing podcasts for companies, including clients like Wal-Mart. I met Steve when he was attending a conference in Reykjavik, Iceland and asked him a few questions about podcasting and how companies can use podcasts better for marketing.
What exactly is a podcast?
The easiest way to understand podcasts is to think of them as radio and TV shows distributed over the Internet. Any content that could be included in a traditional broadcast radio or TV program can be made into a podcast. It's no surprise that the most popular podcasts tend to be professionally produced programs from broadcast or cable television producers.
How are companies using podcasts as a part of their marketing?
The key way that our clients are using podcasts is to demonstrate that they are subject matter experts or have some leading-edge ideas or opinions about issues that are important in their particular markets. For example, one of my clients is a global business insurer with highly specialized insurance expertise in things like data network security risks, or kidnap and extortion risks. Their experts in these fields use podcasts to explain the risks and offer advice to business managers (who might become customers) about the kinds of things those businesses should be thinking about to reduce or eliminate their risk exposures. It's not about telling people how great your company is or how wonderful your product/service is. That kind of commercial pitch is generally not received well in a podcast. It has to be about letting your listeners/viewers get an authentic sense of who you are, who your company is, and demonstrating that you have the kind of expertise they need.
When should companies use video podcasts and when radio podcasts?
Most business conversations involve what we call "talking heads" in American slang, and we aren't referring to the rock band. But this kind of conversation doesn't require video, although increasingly people do expect to have a video option if you are doing social media. But unless you have a complicated piece of equipment, or a visually interesting factory or manufacturing process, or other business location to illustrate with video, you can probably do podcasts in audio only.
Do you find companies using podcasting as they should or are there untapped possibilities out there?
I think the market is still very much untapped. Any business that wants to reach a potentially global audience can benefit from podcasting. When I started my PR career nearly three decades ago, we worked very hard to get audio and video clips produced for clients and then used on broadcast radio and TV stations. It almost never got the widespread distribution we were seeking, because the air-time available was very limited. Using the Internet as your broadcast medium, you become the programmer of your own radio or TV station. You can put on whatever programs you want, and people can view them or listen to them when it's convenient for them to do so.
How can you connect podcasts with your other marketing actions?
Podcasts can be part of an overall marketing plan that includes multiple channels for reaching audiences. Podcasts can make available seminar panels, keynote speeches, interviews with executives or marketing experts, or with employees or satisfied customers. They can be used to educate clients in how to use your products/services more efficiently.
What is the most innovative use of podcasts you have seen?
The recent arrival of a new generation of compact HD video cameras has enabled many people to produce "person-in-the-street" interviews and spot news coverage faster than ever before, and I'm seeing an increase in spontaneous interviews being posted and "going viral" by getting passed from hand to hand. Just when you think you've seen an innovative use, someone comes up with something even better. I especially like the experience of seeing a conference panel getting recorded and uploaded within minutes of its conclusion, so it's available to the immediate world. We had an example of that in Reykjavik last week when Philippe Borremans and Luc Van Braekel were live-blogging the International Association of Online Communicators meeting at the Hotel Holt. Luc's video of one of the panels was available to a worldwide audience within minutes after the panel concluded. That's very cool, and at the same time, it's not all that difficult to accomplish with the tools we have today. This kind of capability used to cost millions of ISK, hundreds of thousands of US dollars.
What are the pitfalls companies should avoid when doing podcasts?
The content should be sincere and authentic. As I said earlier, if you make a commercial about how great your company is, how wonderful your products are, that's going to suffer a credibility gap with your audience. If you can make the podcast into a conversation, that also works better than one voice just reading or talking at the audience. And companies considering podcasts should make a commitment to a regular schedule of episodes. If you just do one program and that's all, you're not going to build any audience loyalty where they are anxious for new installments in the series.
Where do you see podcasts going in the future?
I think the production quality will increase as podcasters get more experience using the tools that broadcast producers have used. I'm already seeing some very high production values in some of the videos people are distributing. They are clearly getting help from experienced video production engineers, and the audience will benefit from podcasts that are using professional broadcast production techniques.
My thanks to Steve for sharing this with us. I think the possibilities podcasting has to offer are often undervalued, specially when more and more people can get them uploaded on their phones and listen to them while commuting, jogging or doing what ever else. What do you think?
Hjörtur
Steven Lubetkin runs the company Professional Podcasts LLC in New Jersey, USA, and specializes in podcasting. You can check out his website professionalpodcasts.com.
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