iTunes Genius’s Possible Impact on New Media

With the release of iTunes Genius in iTunes 8 (which I’ve been playing with for a day or so now), I realized that there is a metric that they’re not capturing that they could capture that would revolutionize podcast reporting (for good or bad, I’m not sure).

The number one question corporate types ask me about podcasting is if they can track how many plays their podcast has on devices, because with DRM’d (Digital Rights Management, or protected files) files you can do such things (which is one of the big reasons so many people like DRM - p.s., I loathe it) if the device plays along.  I’ve always bristled against such things, especially the level of tracking that’s available on email newsletters (tracking exactly who read what and clicked on what, and tying it to personal information).  I’ve always bristled against such non-anonymous targeting and don’t allow my company to participate in it (and I’ve lost accounts because I won’t do it).

However, I was thinking about it, and realizing that iTunes Genius could be the bridge that those customers want who want specific tracking - and Apple could make a pretty penny licensing the information in aggregate if they tied it to podcasts.  Sure, it’d be an aggregate number, but good enough for our purposes and more information that we had before.  And no nasty DRM software.  Everyone wins, except again, it’s only a snapshot because you still need the opt-in of iTunes Genius.  But better than what we have.

After all, once the podcast is on the iPod, except for little bursts found on sites like Last.FM you don’t know a layer of statistics (time played, number of plays, if it was just marked “played” but never played).

Your thoughts?  Or is this more data you don’t want captured, even if it’s “anonymous?”  Are downloads and methods enough for advertisers to make decisions?

Love Your User #1: Keep Friction Low

I twittered on this earlier today, and thought it good enough for a blog post to share with the rest of you.

I saw a cool campaign for some pretty valuable B2B information - sounds snore-o-riffic, but it was some pretty cool stuff for business nerds.

However, when I got the link from a friend, I got a note that “the form was too long and they want too much information, but it sounds interesting.”  Well, I went over there - and lo and behold, 20 fields of information that they need.  Obviously, they are qualifying people for follow-up; however, don’t you just basically need a name, an email and (maybe) a phone number?  After all, there is nothing stopping someone from entering 20 fake fields of information instead of just say 4 or 5.  The term in the industry is to aim to have “low friction.”

The lead-generation CRM nerds might dislike me for this - but we’ve seen consistently that more fields = less participation = less reach.

One of the reasons I like to “put things out there” and make sure podcasts are in big directories like iTunes and the blog that’s attached to the podcast is in Technorati and other high-profile places is that you want content to be sharable for this whole “viral” thing to work.  Yes, metrics suffers a little, I know - but the goal is to sell stuff, or influence minds, isn’t it?

Why (Some, Mostly Big) Businesses Don’t Get New Media

Saw a report today from the USC School of Business around social media and online initiatives - and the information was great.

All in all, the biggest reason why there isn’t an embrace of new media yet is that they don’t understand it… not to mention new media is still levels the playing field because the level of adoption of companies under 100 employees is higher than any other segment.

Following those reasons, we also see cost/staff issues (funny, as it’s usually cheaper and there are some great vendors out there to make it happen) as well as network security (seems like not a well-asked question; is it a concern of leaks or a technical concern?).

Big business in general didn’t always correlate new media to a competitive advantage; this tells me that this is the greatest opportunity for the small (Tier 5, Tier 4, etc) companies to use new media to establish beachheads and superiority in the online space before the big guys catch on.

That said, the three things that they saw most useful across the board was online video, RSS, and podcasting. (Editor’s note: glad we picked those areas to focus on) and blogs were near the bottom of perceived usefulness (Editor’s note: can’t pick’em all).

I’m sure, since it’s lack of understanding as the lead cause, since these decision makers don’t always use these tools themselves they fail to see how their employees and customers can benefit.  This USC information basically backs up what a pseudo-competitor (and overall good guy) said:

“They either get it or they don’t.”

My take is that those who don’t see it need to get on the clue train at the next station as it’s already left this one, if they want to be relevant and make money in the future.

The reality is that this is the way a whole generation of people connect; the playing field has changed.  From here on out, there is a line in the sand; a top-down approach as the past has been is less and less effective.  Of course, it still blows my mind that in 2008 over 15% of businesses we talk to over 10 people don’t have a website yet and close to 70% haven’t updated theirs in the last year.  It’s just not seen as a vehicle; it’s many times seen as a static brochure… and then they wonder why they don’t get any results.

I remember vividly a meeting a couple years ago where the potential client (this is more of a Web 1.0 story, but applicable) who was convinced nothing was wrong with their e-commerce store, even though they were only getting a couple hundred dollars a month on their $100,000 investment (obviously denial is not just a river in Egypt).

Their premise was that since no one told them their store was bad (it was atrocious - no product descriptions, no pictures, no search) that it’s not the problem.  Of course, online customers don’t always tell you it’s bad - most times they just leave and tell their friends.

They had no statistics or tracking package, no way to see where people abandoned their carts, what people did.. but it was still fine.  They did it their way with no input from their vendor; they did the graphics, the text, everything themselves because they knew what customers wanted.

Suffice it to say, they’re still failing in ignorant bliss.  Sad to see, but it’s their choice.  Go take their business from them, as the great equalization is still in effect.

Me on Global Business Podcast Talking Tech

Technology has really changed global and international business… did an interview over at Global Business Perspectives about technology (specifically things like Skype) that have transformed how we do business.

I tried to be as non-techy as possible, especially for their audience… it’s tough for me

Podcasting helps NPR ad revenue go up 2.5x and Rises as Growing Business

A quicky but goodie, sent to me from my good friend Shawn (get a blog, a Twitter, or something already!!!)

It highlights a few things - first, that NPR has leveraged podcasting to increase their ad revenue from $18m in 2002 to $46m in 2007.

Not to mention, there is room for independents, too. Wizzard says their network of 30+ podcasts is work $100m - and $300m if you include the streaming content.

In short, no one can say this is a record-in-your basement game anymore. It’s serious business. Multi-million dollar business, with access open to smaller publishers.

This AdAge piece brings up great points - that there is a large market for podcast advertising, and that in fact, podcasting your content can increase it’s audience.

As the TV networks have seen with video on demand and streaming video, they risk decreasing the size of a live audience that can be sold to an advertiser at a higher premium for the sake of making content available to consumers whenever they want it.

But the experience of ESPN’s “Mike and Mike” may change some minds. Traug Keller, senior VP, ESPN Radio, said the popular talk duo’s ratings on the 350 ESPN Radio stations actually increased after their show was made available on iTunes, XM and Sirius satellite radio.

Technorati Tags:
Advertising, Monetization Strategy, Wizzard, NPR, AdAge, Podcasting

Content Is The King

Well, unless you’re reading in Tennessee. As I remember from my trip to Memphis, Elvis is “The King” there.

But everywhere else, content is the number one thing that will make your online presence great, yet it’s the very last thing anyone seems to want to create.

It’s the number one project killer. Someone will want a website, podcast, or other piece of media - but have no idea what they want to say, even an idea of the message.

All too often, business, organizations, and entrepreneurs think that a list of bullet points suffice as what’s needed.

When it comes to product or service sites, commonly, it’s the lack of a clear value statement and making it about the visitor.

Other times, it’s doing meta overload and relying too much on others, creating too little unique, interesting content. After all, more and more web users are employing Google Reader, Bloglines, and other services to pull that content in for themselves, and the use of yet another meta-site is declining by the day.

It goes down to a theory you will see repeated over, and over, and over, and over again - it isn’t one thing.  It’s the combination of things that make interactive successful, and for the most part, there needs to be a significant majority if not all the part there for it to work.

Content is one of those parts.

PRWeb Podcasting (A.K.A. Sales Puke-Cast)

PRWeb is putting out a service that is basically a softball, PR interview with submitted-press-release inspired questions for people who do a certain level of press release distribution with them.

Podcasting is supposed to be a conversation - unique, compelling content that happens on an ongoing basis. These are one-off 5-7 minute advertisements, and I can’t imagine would create a relationship with customers since they don’t provide value. This example is not about giving value, it’s about a one-shot ad with PRWeb.

Let me give you an example of the intro of one doozy, which is the first bit of voice at the beginning.

“The MSX classic is manufactured by one of the worlds leading faucet manufacturing companies, and features chrome and brass surfaces, ceramic valves, and state-of-the-art protective finishes. Nothing but the best.”

Gag. It’s a 5-7 minute radio infomercial ad.

It goes on to talk about “easy cleaning” and “motorcycle inspired.” The whole thing is an ad that give me no value whatsoever. Also, there is no emotional connection (which is a major benefit to podcasting) between the company and the listener.

PRWeb doesn’t get it. Of course, it’s a business opportunity. It makes them look cool to the majority of marketers who do not have a clue what Web 2.0, podcasting, or blogging actually is.

And it doesn’t make them any money to put the thought into creating a campaign, the man hours, for each individual client, it’s a factory model - it’s making a podcast a “check mark” on the list and just getting it done instead of getting it done right.

I am a fan of Jeffrey Gitomer and his philosophy of giving value to get value - and NO ONE wants to sold, but they love to buy.

This is sales puke to me. It’s one thing if it’s a sponsor and all I had was an ad, but why would I subject myself to 5-7 minutes of some PR person spewing on me why they’re the greatest?

Other issues include the cover art being PRWeb-branded, not subject branded, as well a the media player on the site requiring the entire podcast episode to be loaded and so it does not play immediately, and you cannot easily “drag and scan” through the podcast.
It’s the infomercial radio approach dropped on a “podcasting” framework - and another large company wanting to be on the “bandwagon” with a top-down approach to the medium.

Not to mention, the entire podcast, both host and subject, being on the phone is just grating.

p.s. - I do give them credit for using Ogg Vorbis. Few use the format right now, but it’s open source and that’s a good thing.

It’s Podcast. Not Pod-cast or Pod cast.

Mini-rants and tip for all the folks trying to be hip and in with Web 2.0…