A Podcast is a prerecorded audio or video program you can upload to your website or post on hosting sites and is made available for people to download, listen and view. They can do it either on their computers, or on other mobile devices such as iPods, smart phones and iPads.
To put it simply, podcast is blogging with sound or video instead of text.
For those recordings to be considered a podcast there has to be a series of postings, creating a cross between a lecture and an advertisement for example.
A podcast is a series of digital media files that are released periodically and often, that can be downloaded through web syndication. Academics at the Community, Journalism & Communication Research group at the University of Texas propose a four-part definition of a podcast: A podcast is a digital audio or video file that is episodic; downloadable; program-driven and has a host and/or theme.
Podcasts are meant to entertain, inform and sell your products.
They are considered to be the most innovative way to market your business online, because they are cheap and relatively uncomplicated to produce. They can be done by anyone with a microphone and a video camera, and there are many venues to distribute them.
Podcasts are unique because the user is actively seeking them. Unlike advertisement that is forced on the listener or watcher, your podcast is something the user opts to listen to and give it his undivided attention. They establish a way for you to connect to your customers and create a brand in the global marketplace. In a way they are similar to the old radio shows when people tuned in to hear what will happen next.
Podcasts, unlike any other form of advertising solicits a subscription from the listeners. When a new podcast is released it is automatically fed to all those who are connected to the business.
Experts believe that listening to podcasts is more effective than reading a text. You cannot skim over a few lines, and jump all over the place. When someone is talking to you or showing you something you are actively seeking, there are better chances for undivided attention.
It is a regular line of communication between the business owner and the client helping build brand loyalty.
Making a podcast is smart business because:
- More people are looking for them these days. Customers get to know you, the business owner, through them. It creates familiarity with the business.
- Podcast can be played anywhere, anytime. If yours is an audio podcast it can be heard while driving or exercising. If it’s a video podcast, it can be watched on smartphones wherever they are; in line at the post office, during lunch etc.
- There is less competition today in the podcast world than in the article world.
- It is quick and less time consuming than blogging or having an article published in one of the article sites.
How to make your podcast effective?
-Make them search engine friendly. Just as with everything else on the internet targeting specific keywords is important and can make a difference between ranking next to nothing and getting high ranking. Make a keyword conscience decisions about the description of you podcast.
-Post them on Social network sites.
-Good Organization. A good organization of your podcasts is important in making it easy on your followers to choose what they want to hear or see. It will also make is convenient for people that come into you podcast in the middle of a series, to find the beginning of the thread.
-Offer RSS feed. If you don’t want to use e mail to alert your followers to a new podcast, offer subscriptions.
-Do some research. Subscribe and listen to other podcasts in you niche. Knowing what others are talking about it important. Learn from their mistakes. What struck you as good and what you need to stay away from. Make comments on other people’s podcasts to make yourself heard and known.
-Get feedback. Use it as a learning opportunity. Allowing interaction compels people to listen on.
-Write your copy carefully and choose your words wisely. If you do not have a pleasant voice, ask someone else to record it for you; an employee, a friend or hire a radio announcer.
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