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3 Reasons Why Brand Marketers Are Afraid of Podcasting

podcasting

Podcasting hardly needs any introduction as it has gained quite a lot of popularity over time. However, it still seems like marketers are not really using podcast as much as they possibly could. Why? There is no definitive answer to that, but there is some explanation to why they would fear using it.

Why Podcasts?

If you really want to understand the online presence of this medium, you should know that it is a big movement. There is a conference called the Podcast Movement which is attended by hundreds of people from varying walks of life. This goes to show that this is something serious and that those who do it perhaps love it too. Nevertheless, there is fear seen in podcasters and aspiring podcasters alike which springs from various sources. Here are the 3 biggest reasons behind this fear:

The Fear of Being Irrelevant

Most people are afraid of being irrelevant and that, perhaps, people will not like them. They are also challenged by the idea that perhaps someone else is already doing something similar i.e. doing podcasts on the same topic. They are also afraid that they cannot really master the technology or the medium. Most of these concerns would seem to be a result of a lack of confidence or just plain fear of failure but it is not that simple.

The truth here is that there is no definitive way to measure the success of a podcast. It is unique to each podcaster and what they are trying to achieve with it. Obviously, most want to make money off it and be successful (in their brand marketing) but again not many brand marketers are utilizing this medium.

Lack of Understanding about this Medium

There is a lack of knowledge about podcasts in the marketing world. It is safe to say that they have not yet properly understood what it can or cannot do for them which is understandable because there are just so many other mediums on the table too, mediums that are rather more powerful and get maximum exposure as compared with podcasts. This is exactly what distinguishes podcasts from other mediums like videos, social media or blogging.

Podcast & Social Media

A lot of focus has now been on social media which is great but one thing to remember here is that it is not really your own channel. All we do here is share our content and it goes out to everyone. Podcasts provide a way to develop your own channel for marketing. This has been emphasized enough that marketers need to have their own channel as well.

Naturally when you do not know a lot about something, you hesitate about using it. So the only way to kill this fear is to study it and understand the concepts. Podcasts are for niche markets only where the numbers may be less but it is comprised of people who are genuinely interested in the subject. In such a market, your efforts are going to pay off rather quickly and generously. In order to really make an impact and sell, you need the best audience you can find, and that could be 20 people, which is better than a 1000 people who are not interested in hearing you.

Brand marketers are very focused on demand generation and easily forget that in this game quality is always more important than quantity, at least in the long run. If you really want to benefit from podcasts and eliminate this fear, you have to instill in your tactics the focus on quality. Find your niche audience and it will automatically counter the first concern described here.

Fear of Change

You have already heard that the only constant is change and the world of marketing is no different. Podcasting is seeing a lot of growth lately and the numbers clearly show that. According to Edison Research, Americans listen to 21 million hours of podcasts every day. This is a huge number and it is only going to increase but are you willing to accept that?

It is very easy when the goals are clearly defined but with something like podcasts, where the result is perhaps not set in numbers, it may get confusing. This is the thing about podcasts that they are not really goal oriented. However, since we are not used to such a medium, we find it a tad bit risky. We develop a sense of doubt that perhaps the smart thing to do would be to stick to what you know.

The smart thing any marketer can do is to adapt to changes as fast as they can. This is because we know that whoever arrives late to the party never gets the cake. So in order to really address these concerns, the first thing to do is to accept them and then make peace with the fact that change is necessary. Once you have done that, you will find the not so goal oriented approach of podcasting rather fun.

Here is a great piece by Brent Schlenker on how Podcasting can help us learn more!

Conclusion

Podcasting can prove instrumental for marketers if they utilize it and address their fear of using it. It is uncharted territory for many but it is not something impossible. You can easily publish podcasts and reach out to a selected audience relevant to your agenda. Solutions like DevriX provide great support for your WordPress website when publishing podcasts and making a difference. We handle everything for you and make your marketing ventures diverse and effective. It makes sense to try out new things especially for brand marketers because it is good to take risks sometimes. And besides podcasts are getting pretty popular, and eventually, you will have to come around to using them.