Trafcom News

Podcasts work nicely with other marketing collateral

Over the last few years, I’ve become convinced that audio content, including podcasts, can help businesses to build value, cultivate relationships and gain new clients. In the B2B world, a podcast can allow you to trim the sales cycle, because your prospect already has a feel for who you are and what your company or product or service can do.

I can’t tell you how many times someone has met me at a conference or phoned me and said, “Because I’ve heard your voice on your podcast, I feel that we already know each other!” The conversation usually continues from there and we find a way to work together.

A podcast rarely succeeds alone. In fact, this medium plays along nicely with your blog, case studies, white papers and other marketing collateral, adding the warmth of the human voice to the mix.

Case studies + podcasts

Over the past few years, I’ve worked on several projects where we produced written case studies based on interviews with my clients’ subject-matter experts and their customers. In addition to the traditional written case studies, we published podcasts of the interviews, which went deeper than the print material. Listening to the customers engage verbally with the experts gave the clients’ prospective customers a higher level of confidence in the solution being offered.

When I do my webinar on Podcasting 101 for Communicators and Marketers, I point to these benefits of podcasting for listeners:

• Great learning opportunities from podcasts all over the world
• Portability
• Time shifting; listen when it fits your schedule
• Can listen on desktop, portable player, smart phone
• Can do something else while listening
• Content is free

Then there are the benefits of podcasts to content producers:

• Relatively low cost to create a podcast
• Appeals to auditory learners
• Adds value to existing corporate and marketing comms
• Builds relationships with listeners
• Boosts search-engine rankings (when combined with show notes)
• People can subscribe to your podcast, which means they're saying: "Send me more content!"

Have you used podcasts in your marketing efforts? Please share your experiences.

How to write a podcast script

Yes, it is possible to write a tightly crafted script for a podcast. I’d like to encourage you NOT to do this, but I know that in some situations, circumstances require a script. For example, in a few organizations, every word uttered must be approved, so it’s deemed easier to get permission before recording rather than after.

Why do I discourage scripting and reading a podcast? First, most people are pretty lousy script readers. (I wrote a post about how to read a script aloud here. You might find some useful pointers in it. Check out the comments, too.)

Secondly, I think that the best podcasts sound conversational rather than scripted. If you can “fake” a conversational tone, you might do OK with a script. This entails inserting the occasional pause, um, ah and even a flub or two. You should also vary the speed of your read. Do you think I’m disingenuous recommending this tactic? Welcome to the real world. ;-)

Please don’t take a written document (which is crafted for the eye) and just read it. I can almost guarantee that this won’t work. You need something written for the ear.

I recommend LIGHTLY scripting when a script is called for. Start with writing down the goal of this particular podcast episode. What are you trying to accomplish? Explaining the new dental benefit to employees? Rallying the troops for next quarter’s sales campaign? Getting customers excited about your company’s latest gadget?

After acknowledging your goal, you can jot down a brief outline, much as you would for a presentation.

Keep in mind that your listeners don’t have visual cues in front of them, so try to use devices such as numbered lists: “Let’s talk about the three ways to…”

Use the active voice when never possible and keep sentences short.

Be sure to add transitions between your points, and a recap at the end, using your numbered list as a structure.

What tips would you add?

Let’s not discount plain-old audio

Many of us in the social media space wince when people use the word “podcast” to refer to any old audio file. In my presentations, I like to point out that what distinguishes a podcast from other audio is the ability to subscribe to an RSS feed. Also, podcasts are usually serial in nature.

Certainly some companies are trumpeting “podcasts” that are not really podcasts at all. However, I would never criticize any organization for employing plain-old audio – if it meets their needs. For the past few years, beginning before podcasts were invented, I have been helping clients record and publish audio testimonials, senior-leadership messages and online marketing materials that are not podcasts.

From time to time, organizations will contact me about producing a podcast, but what they really want is three or four audio productions per year, which will be published on their Web site without a feed. To me, that ain’t a podcast, but it’s perfectly fine for the intended use.

My point is that it’s important for communications professionals to understand the distinction between podcasts and other forms of audio. But a podcast isn’t necessarily the answer every time you want to communicate with the warmth of the human voice.

Shameless plug: I’m offering a free Webinar, Podcasting 101 for Communicators and Marketers, on August 25, 2010. It’s designed for those who want to learn more about the medium and how organizations are using podcasts for internal and external communications. More info here.

Five ways to kill your podcast

Focus just on technology
Hey, you have a condenser microphone and a copy of Adobe Audition. That’s wonderful. But what is your podcast about, why are you doing it and who is your intended audience? Have you planned your first six to 10 episodes? Don’t start recording until you understand what your podcast is all about (unless you just want to play around as a learning experience).

Email the MP3 file to everyone you know
Ok, this business about RSS and iTunes is admittedly a little confusing. But please figure it out before you start podcasting. YES, you can certainly email a LINK to your podcast to clients, associates, friends and so on, but make sure that your podcast actually lives somewhere where there is at least an RSS feed! Why? Because the beauty of podcasting is both its portability and its serial nature, which are enhanced by your file being received by people who want it – without them having to remember to go somewhere to get it.

Don’t bother learning how to use a microphone
Some people say, “I paid 200 bucks for this mic, so of course my podcast will sound great!” Yes, with an expensive microphone you certainly have the potential to produce a podcast with lovely sound. But do you know how to USE the mic? Have you practiced? Have you found the sweet spot? Unless you want to assault your listeners' ears, take the time to learn how to use your equipment.  I’ve seen people sit six feet away from the mic and I’ve seen others get so close they look like they’re eating a popsicle. Find what works for you.

Don’t consider your listeners’ needs
"Our content will be so compelling that our listeners won’t care if we don’t make it easy to listen to us. After all, it's not like there are lots of other podcasts out there, right?"  Some successful podcasters sit down and record in one take with no edits.  They have a rare talent that most of us don’t possess. At the very least, if you’re to going to edit your audio at all, please even out the sound so that people can hear you. If there are two or more people talking, make sure they’re all at the same volume. The Levelator is a terrific tool for this job. And it’s free.

Forget about shownotes
Yes, they can be a pain. But there are two very valid reasons for producing shownotes:

1. They make it easy for your audience to know what your show is about before they listen, and to find content after they've listened, especially if they've been at the gym or on a bus, away from their computer.
2. They make your podcast visible to Google and other search engines.

When I look at my pod stats, it’s apparent that most of the people who listen during the first couple of weeks after a podcast episode is published are regular subscribers. But then for months later – forever really – people are discovering the podcast by searching for certain terms. Without the shownotes, how would they find the podcast? They wouldn’t.

(Based on episode 71 of the Trafcom News Podcast, published in February 2008.)

12 reasons to podcast

As someone who has been producing audio since 2003, I consider podcasts part of my natural way to communicate. When people ask me about the value of adding audio to the communications mix, I start with these 12 benefits of podcasting:

1. Establish your organization’s leaders as experts in their niche.
2. Help to deliver the CEO’s message to employees using the warmth of the human voice in addition to traditional text channels.
3. Create a “radio show” to educate customers and prospects.
4. Add life to case studies by producing audio interviews with your staff and customers.
5. Showcase the work of your nonprofit organization and its people by interviewing those who benefit from the work you do.
6. Build buzz before a trade show by highlighting key speakers and influencers.
7. Capture the excitement of your company’s conference or sales meeting for the benefit of those not in attendance.
8. Give your employees an audio version of the company news as an adjunct to the newsletter; they can listen while commuting or at the gym.
9. Bolster your training efforts by adding an audio component; some people learn best while listening.
10. Remember that customers and prospects can easily subscribe to your podcast; this means that they are asking you for more content!
11. Podcasting is relatively inexpensive; you can start with free tools.
12. Podcasting can be fun and rewarding when done right.

What would you add to this list?

Back by popular demand: Podcasting 101 for Communicators and Marketers

UPDATE: You can watch a recorded version of this Webinar here.

Ask and you shall receive. Several blog readers have asked for this Webinar, so here we go…

 

In this free Web-based seminar you’ll learn what podcasting is all about, including: how organizations are using podcasts for internal and external communications; how to create a podcast using free and low-cost equipment and software; and how to sell the concept of podcasting to management.

You need just a computer and an Internet connection to attend this 45-minute session at 2 p.m. Eastern on Wednesday, August 25, 2010. Just send an email to receive the login instructions.

Please note: Seats are limited, so don’t delay.

Wildly successful book series started as a podcast

My friend Terry Fallis, a PR pro and novelist, originally made his first novel, The Best Laid Plans, available as a podcast a few years ago. Each week, as he’d read a fresh chapter, his fan base grew. That self-published book later won the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour and was subsequently published by McClelland & Stewart.



Terry is at it again. His second novel, The High Road, is now online as a podcast. As far as I know, this is the first time that McClelland & Stewart is serializing a book as a podcast before publishing it in print.

I loved The Best Laid Plans. I laughed my head off as I read this wonderfully written tale of Canadian politics. So I’m looking forward to seeing The High Road in print. But first I’ll listen. Check it out on Terry’s website.

If you’re a novelist, have you thought about reaching your audience’s ears as well as their eyes?

Do you think you know LinkedIn?

Even if you’re a regular LinkedIn user, I’ll bet you’ll learn something new from LinkedIn maven Chuck Hester. In this 17-minute episode of the Trafcom News Podcast, Chuck shares advice for making the most of LinkedIn as a business network.

Click over to the Trafcom News Podcast blog to listen to episode 96 and to read the show notes.

How to use Delicious

I promised my friend Les Potter that I would show him how to use Delicious, the social bookmarking service. Then I decided to show everyone. If you’re not already using Delicious, I hope you will be after watching this short demo.