Time 21:22

Here is some simple math

It is estimated that nearly 22 million Internet users will listen to podcasts this year according to eMarketer.

Another survey by PriceGrabber.com made the correlation of more than 50% of consumers that purchase from their site listened to podcasts. OK, that one to me might be a stretch, but hey it’s a statistic, a snapshot right.

This next set of numbers is considerably more solid.

Gartner released a report that showed Smartphone sales 27% higher in the second quarter of 2009 than the comparable quarter last year. Notably, regular mobile phone sales were off 6% and one can say with credibility the typical mobile phone sales trend line will likely never point to the top of your computer screen ever again.

iTunes alone offers more than 100,000 different podcasts. However podcast listening has yet to reach the potential many early adopters believed the medium holds. Yes including me.

The main gripe of podcasts by a significant portion of potential users was the downloading process. To me, that was no different than downloading music, but this one instance perhaps where I’m not average.

It’s Radio Not Downloading

Enter Stitcher Radio – a smartphone application that eliminates the task of downloading and moving podcasts to your mobile device. It is essentially just as easy as listening to radio. You download the app to your phone, pick a category of shows, then select the shows you want to listen and they play on your phone. There is also a Stitcher Radio web site to listen from your computer.

All types of programming are available on Stitcher Radio from mainstream CNN to social media’s staple TechCrunch to our very own Marketing Edge podcast. The medium of audio is uniquely suited for this time in history. Society is increasingly mobile, multitasking, and multiformat. The on-demand information is also about on-demand format. Companies, especially content providers look at the marginal costs to produce podcasts given that the content has already been produced. For example, CNN’s Paging Dr. Gupta is produced for TV, it’s nothing to use that audio on Stitcher Radio.

In this episode, the Marketing Edge podcast features Colin Billings, Director of User Experience at Stitcher Radio. We talk about the future of mobile audio programming and what this means for all kinds of potential business and consumer programming.

Live by the Format, Die by the Format

Content that is produced as audio in its original form is cost effective and can be posted in plenty of places on the social web. I’ve been a fan of the medium of audio for a long time. The Marketing Edge first posted in February 2005. – I’ve recommended that audio be used in a variety of ways, from general shows that enhance brand building on the web to targeted, niche information that is part of a focused lead generation cycle.

Reading what you wrote 4 years ago can be a bit odd, but this article in Brandweek in the spring of 2005 had me on the record for advocating podcasting for business.

The article caught the attention and criticism of Steve Rubel, author of the Micropersuasion blog. He took exception to my suggestion that marketer’s use 5% of their marketing budget for podcasting. I saw podcasting as an easy entry point into social media with a tie back to specific business objectives like lead generation, increased web traffic, and as a thought leadership venue.

Ok, I’ll concede to Rubel, my respected colleague from New York, that he was right, 5% was a lot of money to pursue, as he called it, “podvertising”. For me it wasn’t about advertising on a podcast or producing marketing pabulum in audio form, but instead podcasting is contributing to a conversation with an actual discussion about issues. More on the extension of this concept as it evolved into what I call the embedded corporate journalist, a new public relations strategy.

Nonetheless, Rubel, I suspect, and I both enjoy a good podcast and see merit in the medium, especially when smart people are talking.

Do you think more people will listen to podcasts if it is as simple as Stitcher Radio has made it?

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