Integrate Podcasting Into Your Marketing

Kara asked about how to integrate podcasting into marketing, pr and corporate communication campaigns. 

Eric stated, "I think the overlying message is that podcasting shouldn’t be thought of as a snap-on afterthought.  It should be integrated into all aspects of communications."

"You know people are getting information in so many different ways now that unless you can make that information available through various channels – be it RSS, XML, email, the Web, social networking, social bookmarking, news wires, conventional media – you’re going to miss a category of the audience. It’s probably going to be a pretty important category because we’ve left the days when you could just buy an ad on ABC, CBS and NBC and get in front of everybody.  You’ve got all these niche audiences congregating in all these different areas so you’ve got to figure out a way to be relevant in all those areas."

Kara posed a question about the best way "to get your name out there" which Eric took issue with.

"Well, you know, I’m always a little worried when someone asks me that question.  How do I get my name out there?  That’s sort of how we used to think about things.  Let’s get our name “out there”.  But with no real thought or consideration given to what getting your name out there will do for you."

Eric continued…

"So I would come back to you and say, well, why do you want to get your name out there?  What are you looking to achieve?  What specific objectives – that you can measure – are you trying to achieve?  And then based on that let’s figure out whether it should be a podcast, whether it should be mainstream media advertising, whether it should be speaking or exhibiting at trade shows or whether it should be direct sales. 

Rather than just thinking about getting your name out, new media gives us the opportunity to use media to create a transaction."

The iPressroom Founder also elaborated on how an organization should utilize podcasting.

"The way I like to break it down so that there’s some organization over how to prepare a new media initiative that could be offered and blessed, hopefully, by an executive board is to start with the objectives.  What are you trying to achieve? To say, let’s podcast because it’s a cool thing is a mistake.  To say, let’s blog because everyone’s doing it is a mistake."

Eric Schwartzman’s Specific Steps…

1. "What’s the benefit?  What are you really trying to achieve? … The first thing to identify is what do you want to do and, you know, if you tell me raise awareness, I’m going to come back at you and say, that’s not really good enough.  Why do you want to raise awareness?  What would be the result of that awareness if you were effective.  Cause if everybody knew about you, and nobody bought your product or service, was the awareness really worthwhile?

2. What unique ability do you have or is available in your organization that’s not getting out by other means? 

3. What other outreach and external communications are you currently doing?  And how can you use that to point back at the podcast?  … There is interruption marketing and there is relationship marketing.  So, if your going to interrupt them try to build a relationship with them so that you can stay top-of-mind, become more relevant over time. 

4.  This is the one everyone forgets, you’ve gotta benchmark where you were.  … If you don’t measure and benchmark where you were you’ll never know where you went.  And so many people fail to do that.  It’s like how do you know if you increased your search rank if you don’t know what your search rank was?  So benchmark.  And then, last but not least, figure out a way to measure the impact of what it is you’re doing on an ongoing basis. 

5. Measure the impact of what it is you’re doing on an ongoing basis.  … How are you going to measure on an ongoing basis so you know whether or not you got where you wanted to go?

Kara asked about where metrics come into play.  Eric stated, "Well, in four and five.  In four you need to measure where you were and that’s a quantitative measure.  I think everyone’s had enough with the qualitative benefits of social media and media marketing.  They want numbers."

Eric elaborates…

"So, if you’re going to go to someone with P & L responsibility and say, hey, give me x per cent of the marketing spend for new media, what are you going to give them back to hang their hat on?  What numbers are you going to hit for them? 

I think all to often we’re not willing to say, here’s what we’re going to do for you.  You give us this budget, we’ll give you this many listeners.  We’ll sell this much product and you’ll be able to track clicks from the podcast center over to the website where you’re selling product or where you’re collecting leads.  We’ll be able to measure your search rank and if you have a Google AdSense program in place, we can look at what you’re spending on that and if we can hit on the organic side of those measures, then we’re adding real value. 

So, the numbers come in, one in benchmarking where you were, getting a quantitative number that tells you where you were at before you started the program and then, two, having some sort of way to measure on an ongoing basis."

Mr. Schwartzman also referenced something he heard earlier in the morning at the meeting for the Association for Downloadable Media. An analyst from Edison Research stated …

"You know, what people want to know, the decision-makers on the marketing side from a quantitative standpoint, they don’t necessarily want to know the number of downloads, that’s not enough.  They want to know the depth of engagement.  They want to know are you engaging people at a deeper level with podcasting or with online media than you are through print media.  And, if so, can that be reflected in the CPM that we charge for that impression?"

… Visit iPressroom here

>>> Watch the full video interview here…

WebProNews has been covering the Podcast and New Media Expo taking place in Ontario, California.  You can catch our conference interviews at the WebProNews Video Blog right now.

The first part of getting started, according to Schwartzman, is imagining your objectives and setting your benchmarks.  A hazy goal of “let’s get more attention” won’t work – you’ll need concrete targets and measurable metrics that can be shown to advertisers, accountants, or whoever else is interested.  “It’s not just about getting the word out,” said the iPressroom exec.  “It’s about making a transaction on your website.”

As part of this process, Schwartzman believes you’ll need to identify an area of expertise in which you can offer a unique podcast.  There are lots of shows that imitate each other, and they can’t all be successful.  Whatever you wind up with, be sure to integrate it into your brand; Schwartzman recommends emailing out part of your podcast and then drawing viewers into your site with the rest.

He also suggests adding transcripts for SEO purposes, and it’s hard to go wrong with RSS and social networking.

As a final tip, don’t let all of this overwhelm you.  Schwartzman advocates creating a large number of shows in a short period of time, and then offering the podcasts over an extended period.

WebProNews anchor Kara Ratliff contributed to this story.

It’s amazing how much difference a few months makes.

This past Friday in Los Angeles, I participated in a panel discussing the “Brave New World of Social Media,” along with Jen McClure of the Society of New Communications Research and Eric Schwartzman of iPressroom.

This is the second time in the past six months that I discussed Social Media at a Bulldog Reporter event, each with a radically different outcome. You can read about my last experience here.

The last time I spoke in San Francisco, I found that most of the audience was completely unaware of tagging, flickr, Technorati, basic HTML, and the term social media in general.

Whereas in Los Angeles, the crowd – as a whole – was much more familiar with these tools simply because over time, they have been subjected to them as consumers, not so much as producers.

Some blog. More read them and also listen to podcasts. Several participate in social networks. Most have posted comments. Over half of the audience use Wikis. Many have used HTML limited to the confines of beautifying their Craigslist ads. While still basic, it served as a much more balanced foundation of where to start the discussion.

In fact, I had recommended to Bulldog that they create a breakout conference in the near future, which basically is a Social Media bootcamp to help communications professionals learn without publicly humiliating themselves or the companies they represent.

While the Los Angeles group was ready to engage, there was still much ground to cover – much more than we could possibly squeeze into an hour. However, their questions were many, and all related to how to participate, ethics of participation, and how to convince their bosses and clients to let them engage on behalf of their brands.

Interesting discussion indeed, and it could have continued if it wasn’t cut by the lunch bell. (Just a side note here, if anyone participated in this conference and you still have questions, please email me here.

My charter was to help explain Social Media as it pertains to the democratization of information and the tools that help people engage in conversations.

NOTE: I was not there to help people jump in and make a mockery out of, or exploit, the dynamic of Social Media.

I am one of the very few ambassadors who represent social media as a marketing professional, but also wish to protect it from the wide-eyed, motivated gold diggers looking to cash in.

In my presentation, I let PR people know that they are not invited to the party, because the industry thinks that they’re too stupid to participate. And, with very good reason. Yes, PR, as a whole, is too stupid to engage at this level, and more importantly, at any level that requires believable engagement.

Afterall we are spin doctors. We don’t get it. We can’t write. We like adjectives. We are simply spammers of information and not at all able to speak to influencers (or the people formerly known as the audience) because we’re too dumb to understand what we’re talking about and why it’s important. And, we try to always control the message.

All this because as an industry, we have not done a good job of PR for PR.

I was there to encourage the select few to participate without an agenda to help change this dreadful perception. I asked them to either engage as a person with passions, hobbies, and ideas and when ready, participate at a professional level because they are experts with valid ideas, questions, and perspective to contribute to their field.

Both activities will provide participants with the experience necessary to understand the infrastructure of social media and the respect required to remain in the dialogue. And more importantly, if you don’t have the expertise to contribute from a professional standpoint then don’t bother. And I’m not talking about PR, I’m speaking with reference to your understanding of the product and market related to the company you represent.

Either change professions or go back and learn so that you can not only participate in the social world of media, but also provide a more valuable and effective set of services and strategies to your company.

This is all about making professionals more successful in traditional public relations and in the brave new world of Social Media. They are both necessary and distinct in the strategies and tactics that drive each towards success.

At the end of the day, this is all about shifting from monologue to dialogue, and this powerful shift will take no prisoners but will yield many casualties.

This is about people, on both sides of the conversation – not audiences.

• Do not market to audiences or targets, engage in conversations
• Read
• Know what the hell you’re talking about
• Participate
• Contribute
• Be a resource, not a sales person
• Become part of the community
• Listen
• Learn
• Respect the communities you engage in and they will respect you

Afterall, transparent participation is one form of marketing – if it’s truly genuine. Direct PR and marketing will only continue to be shut out from the conversation Take the time to listen and learn in order to participate because only you can determine whether you rise or fall in this new age of communications.

Resources: Social Media Club, Social Media Collective, Society of New Communications Research

Comments

In fact, it feels like a borderline addiction at times. Over the course of an average week I mostly pull in a mix of tech-related podcasts like IT Conversations and Daily Source Code among others, but I’m also really digging The Chris Pirillo Show and CNET’s Buzz Out Loud.

And for the flack in me, Shel and Neville’s For Immediate Release podcast can’t be beat, it’s a must-listen for PR folks, but I also have to give props to Eric Schwartzman and the folks at iPressroom. Their “On the Record” series of podcasts interviews have been very insightful, likewise their work this week with Ecast in coverage of the Ad Tech Conference is impressive.

It’s interesting to experience how podcasting and blogs can work hand-in-hand to both inform and entertain, but ultimately enrich your experience and perspective on trends, news, people, and everything in betweenit’s the perfect fix for an info junkie.

Mike Manuel is the founder of the award winning Media Guerrilla blog. Media Guerrilla is an insiders take on the practice of technology public relations with a focus on the issues, tactics and trends that are specific to the tech industry.

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