Leesa Barnes, author of the book Jumpstart Your Podcast, is a veteran, if there can be one in the podcast world, of using the medium as a marketing vehicle.
Leesa’s stance on the matter was well within the theme of the overall conference: this medium is different, still pure, still young, and its culture demands something different. Utilizing the podcast for marketing purposes can be powerful, but the “Reverend Leesa,” as she called herself, says that utilization has a whole different set of rules.
Deadly Sin 1: Pride
Referring to why have a podcast, she said “a lot of salespeople say what’s in it for me?” Barnes brought up two models of sales on the screen: the tradition sales funnel, and then her interpretation of how the funnel should look.
In Figure 1, the top of the funnel is overloaded with information, with articles and swag, and then the lead is smacked with the most expensive products. At the bottom of the funnel are the cheaper products.
Deadly Sin 2: Lust
A survey of Canadians revealed their preferred podcast content. They included arts, technology, comedy, music, and business.
“Where does sex fit in there?” she asked. A member of the audience shouted “comedy!”
She mentioned that marketers traditionally believe that sex sells, but that may not be the case in podcasting, and that those you may be selling units to may not fully understand the culture of podcasting.
Deadly Sin 3: Envy
It’s important to be unique, to find a niche, your own personal spin on life, the universe and everything. Trying nail down a format based on the success of another show may work to your disadvantage.
She uses Rocketboom as a case study, as a lot of people model themselves on that show. At conferences, Barnes said that for some fans, it was the biggest moment of their lives when they were hugged by [Amanda Congdon or Joanne Colan]. ”
“As you continue your podcasting journey, you can develop your own popularity.”
Deadly Sin 4: Gluttony
Not only do some starting out have unrealistic expectations of their podcast, but get discouraged when the world isn’t handed to them immediately upon launch. They expect thousands of subscribers just two hours after release, millions dollars after just one broadcast.
In addition, some try to put all of their eggs in one basket, foretelling events like the death of the e-zine. “Podcasting is just one tool in your communications strategy,” said Barnes. “Who am I going to tell [about my podcast] if don’t use my e-zine?”
Continuing the gluttony theme, Barnes warned not to be too broad in content, trying to capture every market. Podcasters should look for a niche, and understand to whom they are marketing. Don’t target men for women’s products (people that never buy), but instead focus on those that may buy and will buy.
“When you podcast, you’ll get legions of fans. If you don’t have that experience, then your niche is too large.” Barnes has one podcast that has a couple of thousand listeners, 200 of whom buy everything she’s selling.
“That’s how I got these pink shoes,” she said, modeling them.
Deadly Sin 5: Sloth
Another central theme of the Expo is the simplicity of the podcast. It doesn’t take a lot of time or money. It’s not difficult to do. Yet many companies, even companies that talk a lot about podcasting, don’t have one.
She gave a simple set of steps: Buy a $60 headset; download Audacity; record your podcast; update weekly.
Deadly Sin 6: Wrath
Barnes spoke of the importance of being likeable, and that nobody really likes a podcast host who doesn’t respect his audience, one that is mean, “rants and bitches and complains” all the time.
She referred to a book by Tim Sanders called the Likeability Factor, which focuses on what it means to be likeable.
“How many of you have ever worked for a bad boss?” she asked. “What happens to productivity when you have a bad boss? Are you willing to go the extra mile for that person?
“So what do you think happens to a podcast host who doesn’t respect his audience?”
She brought up statistics on the screen showing the effect of likeability on sales. A likeable host produces an audience that is 54% likely to buy and 6% very likely to buy.
Deadly Sin 7: Greed
The first thing on many clients’ minds is “what’s my ROI?” Barnes redirects that question with a new acronym: ROLI, or Return on Listener Involvement.
Thinking in terms of numbers and CPM, in her estimation is missing the point. “Nobody has numbers on advertising.” She wondered if those that place Super Bowl ads know their ROI, in neat little boxes of direct sales resulting from it. “They don’t know that,” she said. “Why put pressure on podcasters?”
The podcast, again, is a communication tool, and just one subset of a communication strategy. Listeners can be directed to specific websites for a web presentation. One subset of the audience gets an email about a whitepaper, another gets directed to the whitepaper through a podcast.
“Which one is better?” she asked.
The silence in the room would indicate that neither is better, both are just tools of an overall strategy.
>>> Any other podcasting sins? We started a thread on this at WebProWorld.
