Why Podcasting Is a Trend Marketers Need to Follow

Have you considered podcasting for your business?

Are you wondering if now is the right time to start?

To learn about the amazing growth and the opportunities that exist for marketers, I interview Michael Wolf for this episode of the Social Media Marketing podcast.
More About This Show

The Social Media Marketing podcast is a show from Social Media Examiner.

It's designed to help busy marketers and business owners discover what works with social media marketing.

The show format is on-demand talk radio (also known as podcasting).

In this episode, I interview Michael Wolf, who is the host of the NextMarket Podcast. He's also the chief analyst at NextMarket Insights, where he tracks the growing world of podcasting. Michael's approach to analyzing podcasting is unique.

Michael shares the research he carried out to help him discover more about podcasting, and where the market is headed.

You'll discover why the business category is one of the biggest areas for growth, and the reason why advertisers are now taking notice.

Share your feedback, read the show notes and get the links mentioned in this episode below!
Listen Now
You can also subscribe via iTunes, RSS, or Stitcher.

Here are some of the things you'll discover in this show:
Podcasting for Marketers
Research carried out to discover more about podcasting for business

Mike is an analyst and loves to dig deep into topics that are normally around technology and media. However, because he's a big fan of podcasts, he noticed that more people had started to use them, although he didn't see a corresponding change in attitude from people in the media world.

Over the last five years, podcasting has been viewed as a less popular form of media. Even online and new media startups haven't embraced it. So Mike decided to dig in and find out why.

Mike talked to many people including big-name hosts like Adam Carolla, Ira Glass from This American Life and Steven Dubner from Freakonomics. He also had contact with people behind the scenes at organizations such as Libsyn and Microsoft.

During his research, Mike recorded all of the conversations he had with these people, which led to an article he wrote for Forbes in April 2013 called "Funnymen and iPhones: Why the Podcast Is Finally Coming Into its Own."

Listen to the audio clip below to find out what Adam Carolla had to say.
http://soundcloud.com/nextmarket/a-podcast-about-the-podcast

Apple has primarily owned the investment side of podcasts with iTunes. The podcast world hasn't seen great investment in technology, developers or venture capitalists.

You'll find out the kind of momentum Mike has seen when it comes to the investment side of this platform, and what podcasting categories have shown a lot of growth.

Listen to the show to find out what the 2013 Social Media Marketing Industry Report revealed about what marketers thought of podcasting.

Has podcasting seen any kind of uptick in 2013, and if so, why?

Mike explains how the teams at Libsyn and SoundCloud, which host the files, have seen phenomenal growth. Also some of the big-name podcasters have seen traffic reach new records in download numbers every month.

All of the signs are from a metrics perspective. When you talk to people about their numbers, there is definitely growth.

When you look at the iTunes charts, you'll notice there are new podcasts launched every day/week across a number of categories.

Mike says that part of the reason for the growth of this platform is that a lot of people see podcasting as a less crowded channel than blogging. It's also a form of deeper engagement.

You'll discover what has created the perfect storm for this new growth in listenership, and why new technology built into cars will produce a whole new opportunity.

Podcasts are a multitask platform that allows people to give you 20 minutes or so of their time every day or week to listen to you.