Hold on - all bets are off and all of the old stereotypes are out the window. Podcasting is knocking down the barriers to unlimited creativity and here's the good news... you get to write your own ticket.
No one can hold you back and once again, just like in the early days of radio and television, the creative will rule.
These are exciting times. The best or the worst depending on your point of view. If you are an old traditional advertising person, well, life just doesn't seem fair then does it? The old “control distribution and control the message to consumers via expensive media delivery” philosophy has been changed.
Katie bar the door, podcasting has opened up avenues and in the process changed the game.
Podcasting provides the reach to an unlimited audience and the price is right. Expensive airtime is not the consideration any more. It's what you have to say and whom you're saying it to.
True, as consumers we have become so sophisticated that our “sales deflector shields” are activated the minute we sense hype coming our way via old school advertising. It's amazing isn't it? We receive such a constant barrage of marketing impressions that we have been forced to become experts at tuning out the unwanted.
Believe everything we hear... nope, don't think so. In fact we don't even hear it. We tune it out.
Podcasting has opened up our ears. We choose whom we listen to and the consumer is in control. When we are letting down our guard and opening ourselves to new information the reputation of the podcaster is paramount. Credibility is king when we are selecting the messages we seek out.
After all, with podcasting we are in control. We get to download and listen to podcasts that enhance our interests and we have instant power to delete any offending feed.
This is creating new opportunities. Honesty rules. New ways to support your product or service gain the interest of your audience. We earn customer loyalty not by playing to the lowest common denominator (like traditional marketing and advertising - just watch network TV) but by appealing to the highest level of intelligence we can offer to our customers.
Treat your customer as you would want to be treated. Podcasting helps us do just that.
Here's a few ways new opportunities are being created:
* Put your customer behind the microphone. Podcasting is opening the doors for bringing your customers onto your podcast and letting them speak about your product or service. Creates an interesting show with often unexpected twists as new ideas emerge you wouldn't have thought of.
* Risk big and fail often. Traditional advertising costs prohibited taking big chances. With the cost of radio and TV time, who dared open the creative window. But, as we all know, innovation stops when we become afraid to fail. Fail often; fail fast has become the new mantra. Podcasting is cost effective and after all, you are speaking to your listeners who want to hear what you have to say. If you are innovating, they'll back you up as you blaze new trails.
* Use toll free phone lines to collect comments and ideas. Let your listeners leave their comments and include them in the podcast. In the words of one woman who is pioneering the fashion industry by her innovative use of podcasting "I let the women tell me how they want my fall line to look. I design the clothes they tell me they'd like and I simply create what they asked for. They constantly tell me they love feeling a part of the process. And they are. I literally let them define and design their own product and guess what, it sells."
With podcasting, the focus is on the marketing opportunity, not the media buying costs.
Open your mind and let new ideas flow. You just might be more of a genius than you thought!
About The Author
Mark Orion is evangelizing the podcasting revolution with
http://www.epodogy.com, an Austin, TX company dedicated to helping companies get started in podcasting.
Visit
http://www.epodogy.com if you would like assistance in podcasting to your customers.
