Podcasts can be categorized as an emerging media, but are in fact, 20 years old.
What is new is the way they have been accepted as 'Brand Ambassadors' and 'Sponsored Content' much the same way advertorials have been accepted by newspaper and magazine readers.
In Canada, radio still commands a healthy portion of ad budget spends. With podcasts being billed as 'Radio on Demand', they are the perfect vehicle for 'Business to Business' and 'Business to Customer' story telling and informational campaigns.
Testimonials are the most powerful form of advertising, bar none. Used in spoken word format, as part of a sponsored content campaign, they could be a powerful marketing tool.
Imagine happy newlyweds gushing about their experience with a wedding resort, travellers relating their experience on an adventure cruise to a far-off land or someone professing their love of the new fangled safety features on their vehicle that saved them from a near mishap.
Non-profits can also benefit from this type of story telling, the returning volunteer who has been drilling wells for villages in Africa, or the member of the local Search and Rescue team who saves lives. People on the ground telling their story.
Podcasts can even help with the internal communications plans for bigger companies, to make sure the message is received the way it was intended to be - and 'on demand'.
Generally, audio podcasts are listened to more during the day, when people are on the move and can listen in the background. Video podcasts are listened to more at home, away from work, when listeners are able to consume the content alone.
What story would you tell as part of your marketing strategy ?
Here's a link to a podcast example of a volunteer who raises money, for among other things stretchers, in the Ukraine. He has travelled there on five occasions.
