Track This Google/Why Is the Medium Now Responsible For Accountability?
Podcasting; one of the coolest things to happen to media in past 100 years (well, at least from a content creation and consumption standpoint). Like all great media however, someone needs to pay the bills. I think most of us know who this someone is (generally) and the model by which payment is structured.
The conundrum lies in marrying advertising and podcasting in an effective way. Due to the fact that podcasts reside online, many advertisers are hoping for the same type of trackability inherent in the interactive nature of the web however, the podcast is not always as obviously interactive as some of its web counterparts (blogs etc).
So what do we do? Look to Google to save us!
This is one way to go about as; Google helped us define the way advertising/marketing is conducted on the web.
Will Google really help form an ad model for podcasting and how will it be done? This is a topic that my friend and industry cohort Jason Van Orden tackled in his post: Adsense for Podcasts…How Do You Measure It?
Jason, I loved your post and while I think it is dead on, I think the real question is; do we really need to rely on Google to figure this out or can we take it in house and get creative?
I say we get creative!
Without the ability to click how can we measure success of a podcast initiative? One great example is BKG’s Sponsorship of Joseph Jaffe’s Across The Sound/New Marketing ZuneCast or x+1 sponsorship of the same cast.
In both cases Jaffe integrated the messages of his sponsors into the content of the show, making them less obtrusive and more relevant. Jaffe broke new ground by making the marketing messages transparent and at times fun (the x+1 theme song).
He gave his sponsors to chance enter the conversation by doing interviews and including links and information in show notes.
In the case of BKG there was a direct objective (find a new employee) and the quantification will be easy.
I am not saying everyone can do what Jaffe did with ease but, if you get creative you can learn that at times there is life beyond the click.
Tags: Life Beyond the click, Joseph Jaffe, Across The Sound, Crayon, Google, Adsense, Jason Van Ordern, Promoting Your Podcast, Podcast, BKG, X+1
Nov 04, 2006
Great post….and yes, creativity is key…so is customization. The big problem is that there is still so much reluctance and resistence to get creative i.e. use that noggin’, get off your ass and work a little harder to engage an otherwise disinterested consumer.
In the case of [x 1] and B-K-G, I take my hat off to them for their leadership and vision.
Now comes the hard part…ROI.
I always say if you want to get the right answers, ask the right questions. In the case of B-K-G, the goal and objective was singular, succinct and very tangible.
To date (to my knowledge), they have not hired that one person via their ATS sponsorship. That said, a) I’m not giving up because I believe in them and the power of the originality of their sponsorship and b) I think they’ve definitely raised their awareness in the market, not to mention the goodwill (like in your post) from their actions.
Watch this space…
Nov 05, 2006
Hey are you going to AdTech this week? Chris is going (the drummer from Uncle Seth) for work. He’s with ReduxMedia. You guys should hang out or something. You have quite a few things in common.
Nov 09, 2006
[...] Adam Broitman of Morpheus Media responded to my post on Google AdSense for audio. He asks: …do we really need to rely on Google to figure this out or can we take it in house and get creative? [...]