Transcript of Episode 3 - The Susanna Hutcheson Power Marketing Show

Podcast script for: Episode [ 3 ]

 

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Welcome to The Susanna Hutcheson Power Marketing Show, brought to you by Power Communications, the #1 online copywriting service. I am Susanna Hutcheson and I’ll bring you tips, pearls of wisdom and techniques to increase your income by using unique methods of advertising and marketing. Join me each week to discover tricks of the trade that will help you develop your business and your brand. It’s never been easier to get a real education in professional marketing. This is truly a learning experience you won’t find anywhere else!

 

Join me today as I discuss how you can increase your sales with alternative marketing. Since the usual channels of marketing aren’t working so well any more, you’ll want to start thinking in new directions. I plan to help you do that. So, stay here. 

 

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Program Script: You want to make more money. That’s why you’re listening. No doubt you’ve tried many things. You’ve used many types of advertising and marketing methods. I’m sure that many of them worked well. But, the question is, are they still working? If so, are they working as well?

 

If your answer is  a resounding “NO”, let’s try something new and different. In the weeks to come, I’ll discuss numerous new and exciting ways for you to market your product or service. Today I want to discuss one very effective way --- advertising on popular podcasts.

Podcasts are hot. Steve Jobs, the head and founder of Apple Computers says that "Podcasting is the next generation of radio."

 

According to Arbitron, a major research firm serving the radio industry, 11 percent of all Americans have listened to audio podcasts. This translates into about 27 million Americans that have tried podcasts. In 2006, about 1.4 million people downloaded podcasts on a regular basis. No doubt that number is larger now.

 

eMarketers forecast in early 2007 that spending on podcast advertising in the US market will grow nearly tenfold in the next five years. In 2006, spending on podcast advertising reached $80 million and will grow to $240 million and $400 million in 2008 and 2011, respectively. The figure includes advertising and sponsorship spending.

 

You as a marketer have a tremendous opportunity to take advantage of the niche marketing offered by good, well produced podcasts. A podcast is usually very targeted. The audience is limited to people keenly interested in the topic of the broadcast.

 

For example, I subscribe to several bodybuilding and fitness podcasts. Am I a typical listener of this type of material? You bet. I spend about $200 each month on supplements and fitness products. And guess who advertises most on the podcasts I listen to? Bodybuilding dot com. Many other fine fitness companies and supplement distributors are really missing a beat by not advertising with these podcasts.

 

I do, however, find something very wrong with the way bodybuilding dot com uses this precious air time. There is no prepared commercial script.

 

There is nothing professionally read. I buy from bodybuilding dot com. If I could write a script for them I would talk about their great service, extremely fast, same-day shipping and easy return policy. You can buy supplements all over the place. And bodybuilding dot com is not necessarily the cheapest --- although they’re reasonably priced. But it’s the other things that give it their USP --- unique selling proposition. So my point? Bodybuilding dot com doesn’t know how to use podcasting to the extent they could --- to make it produce sales for them. But, at least they’re using podcast to get their name out and build their brand.

 

When you sponsor a popular podcast, you have a niche that’s receptive. You’re highly targeting your market. For example, people who don’t care a thing about fitness are not going to listen to a podcast about fitness. People who listen to a podcast about politics care about politics. It’s easy for you, as a marketer, to locate just the right audience for your product or service.

 

Moreover, the cost to you is much less than traditional advertising. Radio air time, television time, print ad space --- they’re all expensive. So is direct mail. And email almost always ends out in the spam filter or the trash bin.

 

People simply don’t have the time to be bothered with your message. But if you promote their favorite podcasts, they’ll listen to what you have to say.

They’ll visit your site. Then, it’s up to you to sell them with the sales copy on your Web site.

 

There are a number of ways you can advertise on a podcast. Let me go over a few with you.

Usually podcast advertising refers to placing audio commercials, or ads, in podcast episodes. But there are a number of ways to use podcasting advertising. For example:

• Professional commercials in podcast episodes. These are a pre-determined length very much like radio commercials. Usually they will run from thirty seconds to around sixty. You probably won’t want them to be any longer. And you’ll want to run several different commercials and perhaps run one or two per episode.
• Podcast sponsorship. This format of ads is different from podcast advertising. In sponsorship, the sponsor pays the podcast producers to support the podcasts directly. As part of the sponsorship, the sponsor get a spot on the podcast, usually a mention of their brand or product. Here you don’t actually run an ad. But, like bodybuilding dot com that I mentioned earlier, your name and brand are exposed. And that’s a very good thing. It’s a very profitable thing.
• Then there’s Web site or blog advertising. Podcast shows also have their own sites or blogs or Web pages where they publish show notes and other information about the podcasts. Web site advertising through direct ad buys or ad networks are easy to integrate now.  You can put up a banner ad or text ad or some other form of self-promotion.

Again, the charges for this type of advertising are far less than traditional advertising. But this type of advertising is very effective. Since your audience is so loyal and so targeted, you’ll never have a better opportunity to get to just the right people at the right time --- when THEY want to listen and they’re ready to buy!

Here are some tips to help you plan your podcast advertising. Of course, the first thing you want to do is to find some really good podcasts that might be right for your advertising. To do that, you can download Itunes and check out the many podcasts available. Listen to them. If they sound good, contact the owner and see if he or she might be willing to sell you some time on their show --- either as an advertiser or a sponsor.

1.     Create short messages. Thirty of sixty seconds works best.

2.     Keep it engaging. A bored audience is a gone audience.

3.     Target your message. Remember who listens to the particular podcast you’re interested in marketing to. Picture the listener. His needs. Her wants. Then advertise just to that.

4.     Be responsible to the listeners. These folks trust this podcast. They look to it for information or entertainment or both. You, the advertiser, must be careful not to let them down.

5.     Finally, use only high quality content in your advertising. Don’t hard sell. Don’t lie. Don’t use hype. Just provide a nice, smooth, professional commercial to promote your product or service.

In summary, you should be advertising on podcasts because they give you a quick and easy way to advertise. They provide you with a niche audience and can easily be targeted. And, finally, they’re a low cost alternative to traditional advertising.

Give it a try. Develop your podcast advertising campaign and see if you don’t increase your sales and build your brand. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

Closing:

Thank you for listening to today’s podcast. Don’t forget to visit my main web site at powerwriting dot com. My blog is susanna hutcheson dot com. You can email me at powerwriter at powerwriting.com.

 

In the next show, I’ll cover another exciting way for you to increase your income. See you next time.

 

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