Today I heard one of the most engaging, lively, and poignant discussions on the state of the podcasting industry. I’m a regular listener of Adam Christianson’s The MacCast, where he dispenses a healthy dose of Mac news and tips twice weekly. However, a recent episode featured the audio from the Mac Podcaster Meet-up 2008 held at this year’s MacWorld Expo. The panel featured top tech podcasters such as Scott Bourne (Apple Phone Show), Leo Laporte (MacBreak Weekly), Dave Hamilton (Mac Geek Gab), Ken Ray (Mac OS Ken), Cali Lewis (Geek Brief TV), and Victor Cajiao (Typical Mac User).

The discussion touched upon the perceived leveling off of podcast growth (perhaps just in tech), growth areas for other podcast categories, and the need for an association like the ADM to bring some order to podcasting when it comes to metrics and reporting.

It’s a long episode but worth every minute, so I encourage you to take a listen. And kudos to Adam and Victor to bringing this to us. It’s important that we all take notice of the impending business need for podcasting to play in the sandbox with other media and not get sand kicked in our faces.

This week, the Strategy Institute held their Digital Media & Pricing Summit at the lovely Bridgewaters near the South Street Seaport in New York City. It was a gathering of digital agencies, ad networks, and anyone else involved with online advertising. At the last session of the last day (tell me about it :), I had the pleasure of speaking on a panel with fellow ADM members Bryan Moffett, David Herscott, and Chris MacDonald. We spoke on the podcasting landscape, advertising and sponsorship models, and where we saw this all going. Key learnings from our and other sessions:

•  Agencies are still taking a “wait and see” attitude with podcasting. About 11% are adding it into their advertising mix, but it’s still way near the bottom of their priority list.
• Many are buying into it as a “velue-add.” That means that they’ll take the podcasting advertising for free with a larger online banner buy. This isn’t desirable, but I remember that this is where banner buying was 12 years ago when I was selling for Entertainment Tonight’s Web site.
• Yes, podcasting is new and exciting, but there are half a dozen other technologies that are new and exciting that likewise want ad dollars. We have to show that podcasting stands above with them with its connection to the listeners/viewers. It’s the ADM’s job to prove that.
• A study my company, Porter Novelli, conducted on behalf of Dixie and the MommyCast proves the above point amazingly. I’m working on unlocking more of the proprietary findings, but the average MommyCast listener told 29.1 other people about Dixie products. That’s huge!
• Purveyors of virtual worlds are still holding onto the notion that Second Death, er uh, Second Life is alive and well. To their credit, the space isn’t dead, but Second Life and There are dying. Don’t count virtual worlds out. Some — done right — are thriving, like Club Penguin, Webkinz. If you want to learn more, check out Virtual Worlds 2008.
• Online CPMs are averaging around where they always have ~$25 - $30. Podcasting will be higher than that, but not without proof of effectiveness (aka join ADM).
• Long-form streaming video (primetime shows on abc.com, hulu, etc.) CPMs are on the rise. Agencies agree that the extreme increases are unwarranted, but the writers’ strike is keeping the available inventory desperately low.

Short story, downloadable media is maturing, but research, metrics, and proof of effectiveness will need to mature in kind. I urge you to join us in the revolution and make a difference. Get your slice of the pie!

Matthew Snodgrass, ADM Secretary, VP Porter Novelli 

Now I’m not going to say I cracked the code of viral video by any means. There are far more accomplished online video people here than I. That said, this video I made hours after I got my iPhone has received +12,000 views with no promotion on my part.

Here’s what I learned:

1) Make it timely.
Because of the fact that I got my iPhone the day it was release (in the suburbs … so no lines) and did a video of it that night propelled it to a #35 raking on YouTube that weekend in their technology section. Yes, I was surprised, too :)

Read more »

Over the past couple of years, I’ve had a fair amount of experience with trying to get Porter Novelli’s clients to advertise with, sponsor, partner with, or do media relations with a number of podcasts. And I’ve learned a lot from this process. I come from the traditional world of television syndication and advertising, and that has provided an interesting perspective through all this. Here’s a list of some of the things I’ve discovered along the way:

• Look professional. When I use Podcast Alley or contacts I’ve made at P&NME/PodCamp to check out a show’s site, I often make a snap decision as to the level of professionalism of the show, based on the quality of the Web site. Here and here are two great examples of very professional-looking sites.
• Respond quickly. After researching a show and (hopefully) finding an e-mail contact on the site, I’ll put the word out to the producer to contact me. Be sure to respond to those inquiries quickly. Business happens fast, and sometimes a decision whether to go with one show over another can come down to who got back to me quickly.
• Media kit. One of the must-have tools you should have on your site, if you intend to monetize, is a media kit. This is in most cases a link to a nice one- or two-page PDF detailing your show, its content, its audience, contact information, and advertising details. I like to have this to e-mail to my colleagues or clients as a quick “slick sheet” on a show.
• Rate Card. Another item you should have on-hand and up-to-date is a rate card. That’s the “suggested retail price” for advertising on or sponsoring your podcast. Again, this should be in PDF form to easily share with others. Don’t put it right on your site, unless you’re comfortable with that. It should also include a few different package deals (10 shows, 6 months, etc.).
• Know your numbers. When contacted, be sure to know your audience numbers. The ADM will be formulating guidelines for metrics in the coming months, but some good top-line numbers would be: downloads per episode, subscribers per episode, episodes produced per month. From those basics, I can extrapolate more detail. Another good metric is growth over time. If your show gets small numbers, it will grow. Keep with it. I can estimate a show’s future growth for a campaign starting 6 months from now based on historical data.
• Act like it’s the 6th advertising call you’ve gotten that day. This is a tricky one. While you don’t want to seem cocky when dealing with potential sponsors, you do want to seem buttoned-up. I once had a podcaster say to me, “I’m not sure … what do you think I should charge for this sponsorship?” Someone will rake you over the coals in that case (I didn’t.). Your content has value, so act like it does.
• Audience Research. Here’s the golden egg, and it’s something the ADM will be concentrating on. Ultimately, I’d love to know the demographic, geographic, and psychographic make-up of your audience. Without regimented research data, that will be a tall order. But it is something ad agencies get from their other media outlets. Even if you have any anecdotal information about your audience (based on e-mails, listener feedback, etc.), that would help.
• And finally, this is a tough pill to swallow, but one I must relay. Advertisers don’t value you or your show. They value your audience. They want ears, eyeballs, and clicking fingers. That’s the simple truth. That said, when speaking with potential sponsors, talk up the value of your audience over your show. It’s your audience that they care to reach.

Thanks for reading this far. If you have any comments or questions, feel free to post, and I’ll do my very best to respond.