A podcast is a collection of digital audio or video files distributed over the Internet. Marketers use podcasts to distribute custom content, thought leadership pieces, and other long-form communications.

A podcast is unique from other digital media formats because it can be syndicated. To do this, podcast users must tap appropriate software. The best-known software for podcasting is housed in Apple’s iTunes, but there are many others, including Microsoft’s Zune Marketplace and Juice, which is designed to function on a Mac or PC platform. Podcasts can be played on an MP3 player or a computer. Podcasts are a great way to continue a conversation with a customer. Since emails are often glossed over, podcasts have become the next-generation customer newsletter — a way to present engaging content without making a direct sales pitch. Experts say podcasting is particularly useful for businesses with a long sales cycle, as a way to maintain contact between sales. Also, purveyors of an intellectual product, such as advice, can use podcasts as a demonstration vehicle.

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Case in Point
Mahdlo & Associates sells podcasts to the clients it advises on public relations strategies. So it made sense for the company to put its own advertising where its mouth is, says founder Michelle Oldham. Mahdlo now produces podcasts to promote its clients and its own business. “We are always proposing to our clients to do something nontraditional,” she says. “This is a way to showcase what we’re proposing and how it works.”

The company creates and delivers monthly podcasts, primarily to existing clients or to prospects with whom the company has made some sort of initial connection. Topics range from an interview with Mahdlo’s CEO to a piece on how to target minority-owned businesses. Oldham estimates an “open” rate of about 35 percent. Now that the podcast system is established, she says clients will often provide feedback via email on the content or suggest future topics. “I feel like it opens a door to communication,” she says.

While podcasts are delivered primarily to existing customers, like anything else in the virtual world, the message can travel far beyond its intended audience. Oldham says her podcast on working with minority-owned businesses, done for the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Chicago office, snagged her another big corporate client. “A week after the podcast, I got an email that said, ‘Great podcast. Would you be interested in working with us on a national level?’” The sender: Apple. The tech company is now one of Mahdlo’s clients.

Quick Tip
Since Mahdlo already had the necessary computers and software in-house, it was not difficult or expensive to start podcasting. Oldham estimates she spends about five hours per month creating, editing, and distributed the podcast. Her advice to users: “Be creative. Like anything else, the podcast is becoming more familiar. Do what you can to stand out from the crowd.”

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