The rise of podcasting has created a smart new way of finding and growing new audiences. James Coutts explains how this can work for arts organisations.
Over the past couple of years, the practice of reaching new audiences by using the latest technology has become increasingly popular. Chief amongst these developments has been podcasting. This is a method of distributing audio or video files over the Internet, for playback on mobile devices and personal computers, and, like the word radio, podcast, refers to both the content and the method of delivery. Podcasters websites sometimes offer download of their files, but a podcast can be downloaded automatically and features one show, with new episodes released daily or weekly. Podcasting originated from creating content for an audience that wants to listen or watch when they want, where they want, and how they want. It can reach both very targeted audiences or masses of people, without costing them a penny to listen, or the sender a penny to send (although beware of bandwidth charges if you launch a popular one).
Simple!
Podcasting is underpinned by a technology called RSS (which stands for Really Simple Syndication), which is fast emerging as the standard for informing consumers when web-based content is updated. RSS is used for many purposes, including marketing, bug-reports, or any other activity involving periodic updates or publications, allowing website owners to provide their users with instant updates on, say, the latest news or blog postings.
RSS content updates from a publisher are called feeds: look out on websites for the increasingly common orange RSS logo. Web feeds are widely used by the online and blogging community to share the latest headlines or full text, and even to attach multimedia files. Recent developments in RSS include podcasting using RSS to distribute audio or video recordings. Consumers use a software application called an RSS reader to read their favourite feeds in one place using an online service such as Google Reader or a software application such as FeedDemon.
Podcasting is proving increasingly popular amongst audiences, as the popular podcast The Ricky Gervais Show demonstrates. The first series of the show was the worlds most successful podcast to date, with 295,000 downloads per episode. However, the very success of the show led the producers to announce they would charge listeners to receive the second series not, they said, to make money, but to cover the costs of what had been an unexpectedly huge hit. Launched in 2006, the second series of the podcast was the first major podcast to charge consumers to download. It was distributed through the website http://www.audible.co.uk, and again, proved hugely popular.
Developments in other sectors
Its perhaps worth looking at how sectors other than the arts use podcast technology to reach new audiences, and consider how this might be adapted to use within the arts sector. Take the example of 41, a luxury London hotel, which hired a business travel guru to host a series of audio podcasts. From explaining exactly how female executives manage to pack so many outfits in such small cases, to interviewing hotel staff and going on walking tours near the hotel, these podcasts reveal more about the experience and quality of a stay at the hotel.
(w: http://www.41hotel.com/podcasts)
Plodcast by the West Midlands Police, wants more budding bobbies to join the force. In this surprisingly fun, radio-style podcast, presenters respond to and encourage listener feedback and interview those working in the force. For instance, you can find out exactly what a Scene of Crime Officer does from those actually doing the job. Bringing a potential career choice to life in ways the traditional job description cant, this podcast gives applicants more confidence in what to expect from the actual job and attracts around 15,000 listeners. (w: http://www.west-midlands.police.uk/plodcast)
The non-profit Green Thing makes it easy to be a bit greener. Every month, subscribers (and only subscribers) get emailed or fed two videos from world-class filmmakers showing a different Green Thing to do. Octobers Green Thing was to Walk Once. The community aspect of the website allows visitors to see how many users did the thing, and how much CO2 was saved in total by all the viewers. Their videos inform, help their site obtain regular visitors and encourage participation.
(w: http://www.dothegreenthing.com)
The FDA in America uses podcasts for public health announcements to inform healthcare providers and the public about drug safety. These understandably rather dry health warnings inform, and also encourage feedback, asking listeners to contact the FDA if they experience similar, or worse, side effects by phone or via their website. (w: http://www.fda.gov/cder/drug/podcast)
Lessons for the arts
So, what, if anything, can the arts learn from these examples? The first lesson is to work to incorporate relevant, timely and significant guests in your podcasts. A respected expert from a field related to your arts offering for example, a critic, curator or director reduces monotony, increases the credibility of your show and will inspire interesting content ideas. By explaining and demystifying your offering, you can both inform and increase loyalty over the long-term.
Another approach would be, like Ricky Gervais or Plodcast above, to adopt a radio show format. Invite listeners to call (or email) in questions to your podcast presenter. Hosted by the right personality, this show format can help you reach new audiences and redress potentially incorrect perceptions about your brand.
Is one of your artists showing work abroad before it comes to you? Solicit questions from listeners and answer them during an interview with the artist while they are overseas. Build excitement pre-event and encourage those who attend once or twice a year to come once more this year. Bait your hook with high-quality productions and centre each podcast around a single action that you would like your audience to take this month.
Its also a good plan to augment your real-life activity with online content. Explain in detail how natural materials were used in the craft workshop, for instance, or depict and explain how the set built was built for a particular play.
At the time of writing this article, more than 9 million web users had downloaded podcasts in the previous 30 days (figures: Nielsen/NetRatings), which gives some idea of how popular this medium is becoming. Add to this the fact that podcast listeners are younger than the online population at large, with web users between the ages of 18 and 24 being 72% more likely than the average web user to listen to audio podcasts, and 47% more likely to view video podcasts.
The technology may be best utilised to build brand loyalty over the long term. As Geoff Beattie, UK chief executive of PR agency Pleon, has said, Its all about the content. Try and tie what youre doing in to your product in an entertaining way thats the only way people will listen.
James Coutts is Marketing Manager, National Museums Scotland.
e: j.coutts@nms.ac.uk;
w: http://www.nms.ac.uk
How to podcast
To create a podcast you need to:
- Record your content as an MP3 with a microphone and audio software such as Audacity or GarageBand.
- Host your audio files on the web using something like Ourmedia.org
- Publish it usually linking to the audio file from your blog (using, for example, FeedBurner SmartCast to convert the file into a podcast). FeedBurner also turns your podcast into something iTunes recognises.