Flowing from Tuesday’s topic, podcasts are something I’m starting to see recommended everywhere in the marketing world. One writing marketing newsletter I receive has gone fully that direction and now talks about nothing else.
A podcast, just so we’re all on the same page, is like a blog post, or a newsletter, except instead of being written, someone records it, and you listen to it. They can be a few minutes long to close to (or sometimes over) an hour.
The general selling point seems to be that we as a society are not willing to sit and read anything, and that by creating a podcast, you can reach more, busier people who you would never reach otherwise.
So, is this true?
Well, possibly.
We’ve talked in the past about things along these lines (whether people will read shorter things over longer things, watch movies over books, etc.) and the bottom line is that there will always be people who prefer to read over anything else.
Personally, I am not terribly fond of podcasts. They’re really only convenient to do when you’re doing something else (like mowing the lawn, or going on a long car trip) and I feel like it kind of divides your attention. I only listen to two on any sort of regular basis (Welcome to Night Vale and the Author Marketing Podcast) and they either distract me from what I’m doing at the same time, or I feel like I miss key information from the podcast itself.
But, on the other hand, I had an acquaintance the other day tell me they hadn’t read a book in eight years and it had been great (which is, honestly, about the saddest thing I’ve ever heard). So, is there a market of non-reading people out there that could potentially be reached through podcasts? Sure.
But podcasts replacing the written word? No. Supplementing? Why not?
(I mean, assuming you have a nice, quiet place to either record–if you’re a content producer–or listen to podcasts. Not in my household.)
What are your opinions on podcasts, Squiders? Wave of the future? A passing fad? Any podcasts you really like and would recommend?
Also, if a story were released serially in an audio format, would that be something worthwhile to you?
