Should your marketing have a podcast?

Warning: this content is older than 365 days. It may be out of date and no longer relevant.

Podcasting’s golden age wasn’t 2004 – 2007.

Podcasting’s golden age isn’t even now.

Podcasting’s golden age is yet to come.

Above is the latest data from Edison Research’s study, The Infinite Dial.

One third of Americans 12+ have listened to a podcast.
One out of six listen monthly.
One out of ten listen weekly.

Getting one third of Americans to do anything is significant, but getting them to tune into a relatively new form of media? That’s exciting. It’s taken a long time to get here; podcasting’s renewed success owes much to mobile devices and the fragmentation of media. As mainstream media has reduced quality in order to stay profitable, new media has filled the gap. Netflix and Amazon are producing independent TV shows and movies. Podcasts are occupying listeners with shows like Serial and repurposed terrestrial radio content.

Does this mean a podcast belongs in your marketing plans?

The answer is a definite maybe. Why? In comparison to blogs and photos, audio podcasts are second only to video in resource demands. For every minute of audio you hear, there’s between 15 and 60 minutes of production behind the scenes. This is time spent interviewing, gathering material, recording, editing, and publishing. Podcasting is resource intensive, so success or failure comes at a higher cost.

Here’s the litmus test for whether you should podcast: If your existing content marketing is succeeding wildly at its goals, such as your blog, your email newsletter, etc. then a podcast is probably worth trying. If your existing content marketing is mediocre or failing, a podcast isn’t going to make anything better. Succeed at simpler forms of content marketing first. Once you’ve mastered the art of creating great content in text and images, then branch out into audio and video.

Posts in the How to Market Your Podcast series:

Interested in a real-life example? Check out my marketing podcast, Marketing Over Coffee!