My attention has really been grabbed this week by the potential of video podcasting. It all started when a friend recommended I watched Carpool with Robert Llewellyn – a simple concept of a TV show where Robert (Kryten from Red Dwarf/that bloke off Scrapheap Challenge as he’s perhaps better known) gives a well known public figure a lift in his car and chats to them along the way. Despite its low-def production Carpool has been a phenomenal success with over a million downloads on itunes, countless views on youtube and thousands of hits on Robert’s own site llewtube. But apart from engaging in the show itself the thing that really caught my attention was that he’s starting to make some money out of it – and not just small change either.
That got me researching a little more into podcasting and the results make for pretty startling reading. The revenue from podcasting is doubling every year while the costs are staying the same. 100 million people are downloading podacasts from itunes every year. Perhaps most interestingly advertisers are staring to fall over themselves to sponsor podcasts. Although they realise podcasts’ audiences are small, they also realise they are niche and very loyal. If someone has bothered to go to itunes, download the podcast, transferred it to their iphone and then watch it, they are pretty bloody likely to be interested in whatever the podcast is about and therefore also interested in related products. In one very successful podcaster’s words why spend a fortune on advertising on a TV show with an audience of 5million when you really only want to reach the 100,000 people interested in your product? With podcasting you are spending a fraction of the money on a show that reaches your targeted 100,000 people in a much more measurable way.
This has huge implications for businesses. For me the way forward is to create a regular show around your brand that isn’t the traditional business podcast (i.e. what has our company been doing this year). Businesses have to start creating a piece of entertainment – like Carpool – around their brand that will get a wider audience riveted.
Do you run a pub? Why not create a series on the beers of the world? Do you run an accountancy firm? Why not create a series that gives out some great ways to save and earn money that everyone can implement? Resist the temptation to use your stiff CEO but instead go for proven on-camera talent (which is cheaper than you’d think). You can then sign up to a podcasting service that will split any resulting advertising revenue with you meaning you’ll probably make the money back you invested in the show (if not make a profit) and you’ll get your message/branding in front of thousands of potential clients. Plus there’s nothing stopping you putting this stuff on youtube and on your own website which is fantastic for search engine optimisation and will only serve to promote the show and your business further.
As I’ve said before, in the age of digital marketing great content is key. If you’re not out there creating killer content you can be pretty sure one of your rivals is. Regular video podcasting is a fantastic way to market yourself, make your marketing fees back and grow your business. I hate using business jargon but I can’t resist it in this case – podcasting is a no-brainer.