Check out this great article by MarketProfs entitled Move Over Blogs: Here Come Podcasts.
Needs some ideas on how to to use a Podcast for marketing? Here's an excerpt:
1. Interview various authors and thought leaders in your industry, then publish these interviews regularly to your podcast on your site. You could even transcribe these podcasts to post on the site as well. It's good search engine fodder if the interview contains the right keywords.
2. Provide a thought-provoking idea or tip of the day. Just a short bit of practical advice published on a frequent regular basis coming from one of the thought leaders within your own company helps establish their credibility in the listener's mind over time, assuming the podcasts are really good.
3. Offer late-breaking podcast industry news compiled from sources across the Web that you monitor on a daily basis. This is really no different from many of the blogs out there that focus on news. The difference is that someone doesn't have to sit in front of the screen to get the latest happenings. People can subscribe to your podcast, download it and take it with them as they go out jogging or commute to the office.
4. Get your listener subscribers to participate in a kind of a talkback show where they can ask thought-provoking questions and make comments, which can then be addressed and elaborated on by your in-house experts or even a panel of experts.
5. Sponsor existing, high-quality podcasts. This allows you to associate your organization with a reputable podcast, and it gives you an instant audience. For example, sponsors of IT Conversations reach an audience of 14,000-15,000 listeners. Sponsoring others' podcasts can be a viable alternative to producing your own podcasts and building up the listener base from scratch, for potentially less expense and better ROI. Sponsor slots shouldn't sound like commercial interruptions; they should be relevant to the listener and add value.
Here are some reasons why you should start Podcasting according the same article:
1. You will be seen as an innovator on the cutting edge of things. You will most likely be the first mover in your market to use podcasting as a marketing tool.
2. Loyal listeners will come to rely on you for the latest thinking, news or trends in your field of expertise and interest. As their thought leader, you can influence the listeners' buying behaviors through a soft-sell approach.
3. People will regard you as a human being they can relate to. The personal voice of your podcast is more real than the "voice" of your company's Web site. It is more disarming and makes your company seem more approachable if done right.
4. Because podcasting is novel at this point in time, there is some PR value to be milked when dealing with the trade press.
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