eMarketer reported that the most heavily downloaded podcasts have an audience of under 50,000 people.
Before dismissing that number, consider a business of any size that learns it can reach 50,000 people, directly, who have a specific interest in its niche. The conversion rates for a targeted message to that audience should have a chance at being greater than average.
For the past five years, blogging has been all the rage. While there are still a lot of people who have never heard of blogging, there are plenty of people who are doing it. Most bloggers, however, aren’t making any money. The ones who are using blogging to some effect, though, are business people who know how to market their products and brand their companies. In essence, it is people who understand the medium.
The next big hype will likely be podcasting – audio and video. It will catch on much like blogging did. Slowly at first then, before you know, everyone will be doing it. But few people will be successful at it. The people who will be able to make it work for them are the people who understand its limitations. Podcasting, like blogging, isn’t for everyone. But if you understand your market, know how to reach your target and take the time to understand the medium and its limitations, you can use it to great effect. One of the primary questions you should ask yourself when you start to get involved in podcasting is, Does your typical target have the means or the interest in listening or watching one?
Podcasting, unlike television advertising, is a much more targeted medium. But if your target isn’t interested in the medium, then it doesn’t matter how well you use it. It will be a dead end and no business can afford to spend a single dollar on a dead end.
