| Podcasts help businesses expand reach |
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By: By ERIN EDGEMON Business Editor
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Justin Holder
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We are living in a digital world.
And companies and business people across the world are latching onto new technologies such as podcasts, first used by amateurs for entertainment, to expand their reach in the market.
Bob Parks Realtor Justin Holder is one of the first in Murfreesboro to utilize podcasts as a marketing tool. He posts weekly podcasts providing universal tips on real estate topics on his Web site at www.justinholder.com and other podhosting sites, the most popular being iTunes.
Holder said he posts podcasts as a way of providing a high-level of customer service and as a way to distinguish himself in the market. More than 300 people have subscribed to Holder's podcast in his first month.
Some industry experts predict 60 million Americans will be listening to podcasts by 2010 making this growing market attractive to business.
The Duffusion Group, a consumer technology research company, has reported that the podcast listening audience will grow from 15 percent of digital music player owners in 2004 to 75 percent of all digital music player owners in 2010.
Podcasts are audio or video files that can be downloaded off the Internet and played on a computer or on a digital music player. It is still a relatively new technology widely used by churches, talk radio personalities, major television networks to disperse information.
Local experts say podcasting can be a "value-added resource" for businesses and a cost effective way to communicate. The use of podcasting will only grow as businesses and consumers alike become savvier to the technology.
"An advantage or a reason to consider using podcasting is because it allows a business to extend its relationship with customers the way they can't with a radio or newspaper advertisement," said Don Roy, associate professor of marketing at MTSU.
Christian Hidalgo, owner of Navigation Advertising, said his company recommends clients who are interested in podcasting use it as a part of a complete multimedia marketing campaign, in addition to Web sites and e-mail blasts.
Most importantly for podcasts to be effective for business they have to be informative and entertaining.
"For us the overriding thing is that it has to be something that people want to listen to," Hidalgo said.
Podcasts will likely only reach a narrow audience, but if done right that audience could be the one that businesses want to reach, Roy said.
For example, a golf company could create a podcast that gives golfing tips, he said. Those tips would only appeal to golfers, which is that company's target audience.
"It allows that business to keep its brand name in front of the customer and perhaps add value in adding product information or adding knowledge to help the customer make more informed buying decisions," Roy said.
Podcasting is simply an additional channel to delivering information and for companies to have an extra presence in the marketplace, he added.
According to Entrepreneur Magazine, there are numerous ways podcasts can be used as a marketing tool, including sponsoring a podcast just as a company might sponsor a radio broadcast, using contests and giveaways in broadcasts or inserting short advertisements within podcasts.
Holder said podcasting has had a positive impact on his niche business. He is helping sellers make their home more attractive to buyers and get them a better selling price.
Holder also is answering questions he frequently receiving in his podcasts.
Justin Waters, who listens to Holder's podcast from Washington D.C., said podcasts are very popular where he lives. He listens to a variety of them on his iPod; the convenience of being able to listen to them on the subway or walking his dog fits his hectic lifestyle.
"Some businesses even post a podcast instead of a conference call, meeting or newsletter," he said.
Waters listen to Holder's podcasts because they are "informative, quick and to the point. They cover issues that my (real estate) agent never explained.
"Even though I have bought a house, I like to know what's going on in the market," he added.
Rick Johnson, of Murfreesboro, listens to several podcasts on his iPod most dealing with financial issues.
"I find podcasts a very valuable way of trying to actually learn something during my down time," he said.
Johnson recently purchased a home but is still interested in learning more about real estate, and Holder's practical tips have been helpful.
"As a real estate novice, I was very aware that any information I had could save a significant amount of money," he said. "Perhaps more importantly, a lack of information can cost even more."
Erin Edgemon can be reached at 869-0812 and at eedgemon@murfreesboropost.com.
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