Podcast Marketing White Papers

Who podcasts? And who are they targeting? Ask the self-initiated and they'll tell you that it's basically a youth market consuming social audio blogs and entertainment in the form of podcasts. Is it? We can begin by looking at the most popular podcast sites by hits. Eleven of the Podcasting News Directory Top 5 Podcasts (by hits) in June of 006, were science and technology themed. Another six were news shows. So much for the teen angst demographic on Podcast News. Of course, the results will vary by the directory. iTunes, for example, started as Apple's iPod-friendly music download site and its subscribers skewed younger for a long time. But in the summer of 005 they introduced iTunes version 4.9 which made podcast downloads as simple as downloading music. The result: nearly 40 million iTunes subscribers got immediate access to the growing number of available podcasts. As those early subscribers have matured, so have their listening habits. Marketers will do well to differentiate between the early adopters of new technology and teens. The first is a smart, upwardly mobile market and the latter ... well, they're teenagers, bless their hearts.

Another way to look at the marketing value of podcasting is to look at some leading brands to see who's producing or sponsoring podcasts. Some very big corporate names have launched their own podcast series. These include: American Express, American Airlines, Avon, Best Buy, Blockbuster, BMW, Charter Communications, Circuit City, Coca-Cola, John Deere, Nike, Pepsico and Southwest Airlines to name but a few. The Mayor of Boston has his own regular podcast to reach his growing online constituency, and the NY Transit Authority is now podcasting regularly to their riders. Recently, 80-year-old Michigan Congressman John D. Dingell began issuing his weekly "Dinglecast" proving, after 50-years in the House, he can still recognize a good podium when he sees one.

There will be 10 million, podcast listeners by the end of 2006 ... podcast consumers will increase nearly 18-fold by 2010.

Other corporate giants are sponsoring established, demographically strategic podcasts. Let's look at just one market segment, the buyers of household products. Whirlpool underwrites (commercial-free) American Family and Dixie, Georgia-Pacific Corp.'s brand of disposable tableware, sponsors Podshow Podcast Network's popular Mommycast. Pick a category and you'll soon find a familiar sponsor. Whether as producer or sponsor, a lot of smart people are betting on the effectiveness of this new medium. Many have already cashed in on its rewards.

So, who's listening? Who's got the world's top marketers so interested? There will be 10 million, primarily adult, podcast listeners by the end of 2006 according to eMarketer. Forrester Research estimates that the number of American household podcast consumers will increase nearly 18-fold by 2010. And much of this market consists of the early adopters who not only listen, but through changing technology, integrate podcasts into their daily information-gathering routine. Now that's a bandwagon worth jumping on.