ISSUE 7: August 2007

In This Issue:

• Podcasting Moves Into the Mainstream
• Ergonomics To Go: Meeting the Challenges of Mobile Techology
• A Message from Elisabeth

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PODCASTING MOVES INTO THE MAINSTREAM

By Jerry Franklin, Technical and Marketing-Communications Writer

The New Oxford American Dictionary’s 2005 word of the year is coming of age

For more and more businesses, starting a podcast is no longer an issue of “whether,” but “when” and “how.”  To answer those questions, let’s briefly review the basics.

A podcast is simply a radio show in the form of an .mp3 audio file you can download from the Internet and subscribe to (that is, set up an automatic download of each new podcast episode as it’s released).  Podcasts cost nothing to subscribe or listen to; in fact, you don’t even need an iPod or other portable media player to hear one.  All you need is your trusty desktop or laptop computer.  Subscribing is optional; you can stream any podcast to listen to in real-time, or download it manually to your hard drive or media player to listen to later, whenever you wish – a process called time-shifting.

Time-shifting is one of podcasting’s primary appeals.  If you do have a portable media player, you can also listen to a podcast wherever you wish; this portability is another major benefit. 

The intimate, one-on-one nature of podcasting is also a significant factor in the rapid proliferation of podcasting as a discrete communications medium for business.  Companies highly value podcast listeners because, by downloading or subscribing, the listeners are in effect announcing they’re interested in what the podcast has to offer. 

Podcasts are gaining traction as valid sources of product information.  In one recent survey, 60% of IT professionals said they preferred listening to podcasts over reading white papers, and 25% of them incorporated podcasts into their product evaluation process.  In the next five years, according to another study, almost 40 million Americans – nearly one in seven – will be a regular podcast listener.

If you’re thinking about whether to add podcasting to your communications mix, the first thing to keep in mind is that, like any good business or personal relationship, a podcast is a commitment.  Producing a podcast is neither a one-off nor an intermittent exercise.  You need to think long-term, and plan to maintain at minimum a monthly podcast, ideally for at least a year.  The only exceptions to this would be if you’re creating a discrete series of podcasts (for example, to record user conference presentations for later download) or if you’re podcasting to promote a specific event (as The Disney Company did with the 50th anniversary of Disneyland). 

You also need clear expectations regarding your podcast initiative.  You must have a clear goal for your podcast, or else you’re likely to be disappointed with the results; podcasts generally take a long time to build an audience, and metrics are not as well developed for podcasting as they are for other media.

Here are the most common business goals for podcasting:

• Establish thought leadership.  Some organizations use podcasts to increase awareness and drive leads by displaying subject matter expertise and building credibility.  
• Get customer feedback.  Many podcast proponents believe there’s no better medium to get closer to the people who use your products and services. 
• Support the sales force.  Podcasting is the perfect medium for providing essential information to your always-on-the-go sales reps.  This is especially appropriate today, as about three out of every four 2008 model cars will be mp3-ready.
• Bolster internal communications.  Your employees may not feel they have the time to read internal policies or attend the next company meeting.  But they’ll be much more likely to listen to that information at their desktops, as they can multitask while listening.
• Train end users.  Screencast applications such as Adobe Captivate or Camtasia Studio are popular tools for recorded demonstrations.  But they require your full attention, and often must be replayed to be effective.  By podcasting product instructions instead, you enable your listeners to follow along and “do” while they listen.
• Increase brand awareness.  Some companies create podcasts that offer content appropriate for their target audience.  This content may not even be directly related to company offerings.

Note that “additional revenue stream” is not on the above list.  Few podcasters – individual or commercial – are earning any income as a direct result of their media endeavors.  While that day may come, it doesn’t appear imminent.

When are you ready to start podcasting?  The answer to that is the same as the question – when you’re ready to start podcasting.  That is, when you’ve got a clear goal in mind, when you’ve got some plan in place for promoting your podcast and building your audience, and when you’ve cleared the resources to produce your podcast regularly and for an extended period of time.  Note that frequency is far less important that consistency.  If you can’t produce a weekly or bi-weekly 20-minute podcast (for instance) like clockwork, make your podcast monthly, or shorten it to ten minutes.  Your subscribers will come to anticipate new shows, and will be as unhappy with an AWOL episode as you would be if your favorite TV show skipped an episode unannounced. 

While there is much to learn about podcasting (production equipment and techniques, promotion, hosting, obtaining music, etc.), you can nevertheless get started quickly.  You also don’t have to spend much time finding or training people internally; many media agencies have added turnkey podcasting packages to their service offerings.  There are also boutique agencies, new media consultancies, and even individual producers who can quite affordably either produce your podcast for you or set you up to produce them in-house.  You can further reduce risk by producing a pilot series of, say, three to five podcasts for internal distribution.  This is a good way to get a handle on how podcasts work and obtain some preliminary feedback you can incorporate to improve your production if you decide to move forward and unveil an “official” podcast.  Equipment and software can be had at low or no cost.

So if you’d like to demonstrate thought leadership, better support your sales reps, or get closer to your customers, there’s no reason not to get started right away.  It’s a safe bet your competition is thinking the same thing.

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Jerry Franklin (audacityguy@gmail.com) is a Bay Area technical and marketing-communications writer whose career medley also includes broadcast journalism, corporate television, singing, and acting (but not dancing).  He also helps companies develop and implement a podcast strategy, and has spoken at numerous national conferences on podcast production and technical communication.