I’ve seen a number of self-proclaimed podcast marketing experts declare that “[t]he power of audio is far greater than the power of text.”
I must be completely out of the loop, because my consumption of industry-related content is still overwhelmingly of that apparently passe text variety (but then again, I’m also not yet “mashing up” content with Gwen Stefani and HP, so clearly I’m hopeless).
I’m on my second iPod, and I’ve listened to *maybe* ten podcasts over the last four years. When I listened to them I felt relatively trapped. I couldn’t skim over sections as easily. It felt like it took 10x the time to absorb the info (than it does with reading text).
The one time I produced a podcast for marketing purposes was for an online newsletter a few years ago. We had about 1,200 opt-in subscribers, and regularly tracked the click-throughs of the 5-6 new articles that we cycled through each month (a popular article would typically net a few hundred clicks, and the mediocre ones would typically net in the ballpark of 50 to 100). As an experiment one month, we replaced one of the articles with a podcast interview (an industry pundit weighing in on timely industry themes). Exactly two people downloaded it.
Obviously one failed podcast is an inadequate sample to draw any conclusions. But I think there’s something to be said for the idea that the greatest proponents of the power of podcast marketing seem to be those who are in the business of selling podcast marketing products and services. There are plenty of case studies out there about business who have supposedly leveraged the power of podcasting for marketing purposes. But almost every one that I’ve read has merely described the *potential* that they see for podcasting as a new way to interact with customers. I haven’t seen any very scientific ones that show tangible stats and figures.
I used to be a big fan of CNET Radio (and “Rob Black & Your Money“). It’s hard for me to believe that while CNET Radio’s very well-produced / popular programs failed to turn a profit (and closed down in 2003) … and the XM / Sirius stock price continues to whither … somehow today a large percentage of businesses are getting great ROI organically growing listener bases via do-it-yourself podcast marketing campaigns.
If you or any companies you know of have gotten excellent response rates / traction out of podcast marketing efforts, please take my cynical view to task. I know that there are many vendors out there that are hearing a lot of hype about podcasting, but can’t quite put their finger on whether it’s right for them.
