Podcast Pros and Cons You Need to Know

Podcasts are becoming a widely used and a very popular format for businesses to interact with a target audience.   There are many reasons why podcasts are on the rise and the benefits you can get from utilizing one. There are also downsides to this medium.  Here are a few pros and cons for the beginner podcaster to know:

Pros:

• You have exclusive attention to your listener and an array of opportunities for a listener to tune in. In our multitasking society, podcasts fit perfectly into anyone’s schedule so they can listen during their workout, while cooking, while driving or any time they have down time. How is that possible?
• Because podcast can be download to your computer, MP3 or burned to a CD. Your audience can download podcasts for free most of the time and if they sign up as a subscriber, podcasts can download automatically so it’s easy to engage. Why is this engagement important?
• Listeners who subscribe to podcasts and listen regularly, listen to this format more than any other audio format including radio and music they own. You can build a brand loyal audience with a well done, well-crafted podcast.

With the good there must come the not so good.  Podcasts can be a detriment when:

Cons:

• If you don’t have time to be consistent, don’t bother doing it. Like any other form of content media, you need to produce podcasts on a regular basis or risk losing your core listeners.  It’s time intensive so map out a schedule of recording and editing and be on top of delivery a quality podcast often.
• Not only is a podcast a time investment, it is also a technology and equipment investment. Unlike most awareness campaigns you would be accustomed to undertaking like social media or email marketing, podcasts require equipment like a microphone, editing software, hosting services and script writing. There could be a learning curve on using editing software so be aware of this.
• Another time investment to be aware of is the marketing of a podcast. Unlike social media content that can gain traction quickly and widely, podcasts are not extremely searchable so you should create a marketing strategy for building awareness of the podcast.

The good news is that podcast content is fueled by your imagination and passions. It leverages your personality and sensibility to draw in the listener.  They are fairly easy to execute as long as you have basic computer knowledge. Go for it and make your lasting mark with a podcast.

Kristen White is a Content Catalyst and Powerful Interviewer. She can quickly add the crisp clarity, magic dust and unique brand elements to any message, book, product or campaign.

Through her award-winning interview skills, Kristen will excavate and synthesize a personal story and legacy into a magnetic brand and content strategy. Her strong intuitive insight, journalistic training and versatile wordsmithing, offer clients a wellspring of fingerprint language options to apply to all levels of their written, spoken and video communication. Kristen is a bestselling author, award-winning documentary film director and cast member, television series creator/writer, and television on-camera journalist. As the CEO of Rock the Stage, Page, and Screen™, a digital media and marketing company, Kristen supports clients with unique personal brand development, speech writing and performance, book concepts, titles, outlines and marketing, and online business consulting.

Rock the Stage, INC, offers professional video production for authors, speakers and coaches with a variety of speaking topics.  The company also offers speechwriting, broadcast-quality lifestyle video interviews and fast-track book publishing via an on-camera interview.