Podcasting for PR?

Feb 22, 2005

If you’re a slightly hyper-technological PR practitioner, you’ve probably immersed yourself in the worlds of blogging and RSS (see August 9, 2004 From the Frontlines). You’re reading more news content more quickly, and you’re skipping the junk. You’re keeping up with chatter about your industry and organization. Maybe you’re even getting your own news to journalists via RSS. You’re probably pretty darn proud of yourself. I certainly was.

Then I was told that plain-old RSS is “so 2004.”

Apparently, the buzzword in 2005 is “podcasting.” It’s such a hot item, in fact, that last year at this time, the term hadn’t even been coined yet. To simplify, podcasting is an audio program broadcast through RSS to iPods, or any other MP3 players. A listener subscribes to free “podcasts” made available via RSS feeds, and intermediary software downloads and stores the audio on the MP3 player for use at the listener’s convenience. Podcasting’s role for audio content has been compared to TiVo’s role for television content.

Already there are dozens of daily radio shows that “podcast” instead of broadcast. Some are just mad bloggers gone audio, but many represent print journalists’ first forays off the keyboard. And some conventionally broadcasted radio programs are beginning to make entire shows available online, including National Public Radio (WNYC) and the BBC.

The technology behind podcasting actually isn’t limited to audio – nearly any data file can be attached to an associated RSS feed for sharing, such as photos or even video. Audio has been the initial use primarily because MP3 players are currently the mobile devices with the most storage capacity. Once PDAs approach the same storage and handheld video players become the norm, we can expect to see video and other diverse uses of the technology.

Podcasting adoption is in its infancy, though, with a limited amount of content available, and a mere cult-following actually downloading programming each day. Some question whether people really care about recording radio shows. They call the iPod a fad and podcasting a hobbyist’s technology.

Others say that consumers’ thirst for mobile, on-demand content will fuel podcasting’s success. Some journalists have called podcasting a preview of how on-demand content will work on the Internet. The evangelists go as far as saying it will bring about the democratization of broadcasting.

What is undeniable is that more people are using RSS each day, strengthening its power, and podcasting adds another layer of valuable functionality. RSS’s role as an open, free syndication network could well develop into an entirely different information delivery paradigm – one where personalized media surpasses mass media in influence.

While podcasting is very under-ripe right now, there may be ways to apply the technology immediately. Four examples, called out in the style Apple would appreciate:

Uno! Reach 18-35 year old spenders

For now, if your target audience bops up and down to U2 against purple backgrounds, well, “Hello, hello.” You’re practically guaranteed to reach a group that is young, spends to keep up with the latest trend, and has an insider mentality perfectly suited for viral marketing. Turning a corporate blog into an audio podcast for the launch of your consumer technology project could win you major points with an entire audience of early adopters. And you’re hitting them in the warm, fuzzy place they call their iPods.

Dos! Make attractions more interactive

If you work on behalf of a museum, an art gallery or even a tourist board, podcasting may hold immediate value as a tool for providing complementary audio programming to your attractions. Supplying audio devices to every visitor isn’t realistic – but many of your visitors may actually already have their own. You can take your organization’s existing audio and make it available via podcast – several neighborhoods in New York City already have released self-guided walking tours available, for example.

Tres! Enrich internal communications

If your coworkers don’t visit the company intranet every day or read all the internal emails that fly by, they may be willing to listen to a quick “radio show” on company events and announcements – especially if it’s interesting. Using special guests, employee interviews and some creativity, you may be able to turn your daily show into a real driver of company culture. And all an organization needs to create the daily program is a computer and a microphone.

Catorce! Draw a bigger audience for audio content not best suited for the desktop

Many companies already post audio content online, such as web seminars, investor calls and keynote speeches. But who really has time during their workdays to listen? The same business audience that might have only listened to the first few minutes of your audio programming at their desks may be willing to hear it in its entirety during the commute home. And you might even be able to save some money off the cost of hundreds of conference bridges for those investor calls.

For more in-depth information on the how-to’s and where to go online for podcasting, check out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Podcasting

Ian Lipner is associate director of the Washington, D.C., office of Lewis PR. He can be reached at 202.349.3866, ianl@lewispr.com.