Podcasting Adds Punch to Web Marketing Services

September 25, 2007; 06:50 AM
Palm Harbor, FL - Find and Convert, a web marketing and search engine optimization company, announced today a new podcast web marketing service. The new offering includes advisory services for its B2B clients to develop an effective podcast web marketing strategy as well as recording, editing, publishing and search engine marketing of podcasts.

A podcast is an audio (or video) file which can be downloaded for playback. The main characteristic of a podcast is the ability for people to subscribe to it using RSS technology. Such RSS feeds are made available on a website or blog site.

Podcast consumption among business professionals is growing due in part to the increasing usage of RSS and the growing popularity of MP3 players and the Apple iPod. Consumption of business content among podcast users is also growing rapidly. According to a KnoweldgeStorm study, 55% of business podcast listeners indicated an interest in listening to white papers, case studies and analyst reports in the form of podcast content.

…The study also revealed that B2B technology buyers want research content, such as white papers and analyst reports, delivered as podcasts. Nearly 60% of respondents said that information on business or technology topics, currently delivered as white papers or analyst reports, would be more interesting as podcasts. Fifty-five percent of respondents would be more likely to consume white papers and analyst reports if they were delivered as podcasts.

Source: The KnowledgeStorm and Universal McCann survey, July 2006.

The growing popularity of podcast-delivered content presents an opportunity for marketers to provide informational content in a podcast format to customers and prospective customers. When information is delivered as a podcast the content serves as the marketing message. The sponsor of the podcast has the ability to reach interested persons in a targeted, one-on-one format. Loyalty to a podcast series can be achieved when the sponsor delivers a series of podcasts known as "episodes" similar to the concept of television episodes. A listener remains loyal to a podcast series when the content is of interest resulting in repeat listeners and word of mouth referrals to other podcast listeners with similar interests.

The new podcast web marketing service is offered in partnership with IPN – the Internet Podcasting Network. "We’re very excited to partner with Find and Convert," said Jordan Salamone, Business Development Manager, IPN. "They get it. They really understand the potential impact of podcast web marketing. Their client base will greatly benefit from the podcast web marketing service offering."

"Thanks to Find and Convert, the Tampa Bay Technology Forum recently produced its first podcast promoting our 2007 membership drive," said Amy Norman, CEO and President, The Tampa Bay Technology Forum. "TBTF plans to use podcasts in the future as a form of member communication."

"We're embracing podcast web marketing as an effective way for our clients to use Web 2.0 in their web marketing strategies," said Bernie Borges, Chief Find Officer at Find and Convert. "We’re seeing rapid adoption of podcasts among businesses, media outlets such as CNN, Wall Street Journal and among universities such as the University of South Florida. Our podcast web marketing service allows our clients to deliver meaningful content such as white papers and case studies. Our podcast service will include the production and web marketing so that search engines and podcast directories will list them. The objective of our podcast web marketing service is to help our clients increase mindshare and loyalty which can help drive new sales opportunities. We’re very excited about the potential benefits of podcast web marketing for our clients."

About Find and Convert

Find and Convert is a marketing firm dedicated to producing sales opportunities through web marketing strategies that can be measured for ROI. Services include: search engine optimization (SEO), pay-per-click advertising (PPC), visitor conversion analytics, podcast web marketing, direct mail campaigns using personalized URLs and video commercials on the Web. Our Web marketing strategies help businesses find leads and convert them to qualified sales opportunities.