Comparatively speaking, podcasting has been one of the
Evo Terra:slower-growing mediums for mass adoption.
Evo Terra:What we need is a big, bold PR push to spread the message
Evo Terra:of podcasting even wider.
Evo Terra:But would that work?
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Evo Terra:Hello, and welcome to another Podcast Pontifications with me, Evo Terra.
Evo Terra:Where are the “Got Milk?” but for podcasting, billboards?
Evo Terra:Where are the “Beef.
Evo Terra:It's what's for dinner.” you know, newspaper layouts,
Evo Terra:but again for podcasting?
Evo Terra:Where's the podcasting equivalent of animated dancing California grapes?
Evo Terra:I haven't seen any; I bet you haven't seen any because I'm
Evo Terra:pretty sure they don't exist.
Evo Terra:So why not?
Evo Terra:Well, I think there's a couple of reasons why that's not the case.
Evo Terra:First, I think it's a real question of what's the call to action going to be on
Evo Terra:a giant, You Should Listen to Podcasts ad?
Evo Terra:You know, on the ads for those various agricultural products it's 100% branding.
Evo Terra:There's not really a call to action to go to a website or do anything
Evo Terra:like that for the most part.
Evo Terra:And that's because 100% of the people who are going to see that ad know where to
Evo Terra:find incredible, edible eggs - to show my age - in a grocery store somewhere.
Evo Terra:But according to what Edison Research has told us podcasters, only about half
Evo Terra:of the US population has listened, and only 30% listen on a weekly
Evo Terra:basis, regularly have the habit.
Evo Terra:So if someone saw a giant ad that said, "Go listen to podcasts!"
Evo Terra:would the majority of people who were exposed to that ad
Evo Terra:know where and how to find them?
Evo Terra:And even if they did, would they have a decent experience when they got there?
Evo Terra:Sections of meat, you can go buy, you can figure that kind of stuff out.
Evo Terra:We don't have eight cuts of steak.
Evo Terra:And then there's the creative.
Evo Terra:What do you put in the ad?
Evo Terra:Pictures of people doing, what, listening?
Evo Terra:Do you play snippets from podcasts?
Evo Terra:And if that's the case, how in the heck do you select from the rich, huge range
Evo Terra:of podcasts that we have out there and portray that in a thirty-second
Evo Terra:TV spot so that it appeals, whatever was said, appeals to the masses?
Evo Terra:I guess there's a bigger question and that is, who's going to pay for this?
Evo Terra:You know, the associations that pay for those agricultural commercials, they're
Evo Terra:all made up of people who have two things in common, a shared product - we
Evo Terra:have a shared product in podcasting, but they have a shared economy.
Evo Terra:We don't have that in podcasting.
Evo Terra:And before you think that we do because of advertising, allow me to continue.
Evo Terra:You see, more people buying avocados, for example, isn't just good for the
Evo Terra:avocado industry, it's required for the industry and for the people involved
Evo Terra:in the production of avocados to live.
Evo Terra:And if it's not, then they go bankrupt.
Evo Terra:Seriously.
Evo Terra:No one, and I genuinely mean this, no one is in the avocado industry as a hobbyist.
Evo Terra:You might have an avocado tree in your backyard as I did when I lived in Los
Evo Terra:Angeles, but I wasn't selling them.
Evo Terra:I wasn't in that industry.
Evo Terra:No one who is on the National Dairy Council or a member of the National
Evo Terra:Dairy Council keeps a milk cow as a pet or dabbles in single utter butter,
Evo Terra:which unfortunately is a real thing.
Evo Terra:No, everybody involved in these industries that are supported by these commercials
Evo Terra:that you and I have all seen, the people in these industries are fully committed,
Evo Terra:if not over-leveraged in those industries.
Evo Terra:There's no such thing as farm fading.
Evo Terra:That's bankruptcy.
Evo Terra:People can't suddenly switch from apples to walnut production.
Evo Terra:Trees take time and land and massive amounts of capital to grow.
Evo Terra:And with very few exceptions, none of the people who are members of
Evo Terra:these councils or associations have day jobs really to fall back on.
Evo Terra:They're not dabbling in the space, it's it for them.
Evo Terra:That thing they do is what they do and their life-blood requires it, so
Evo Terra:therefore, they have to do these big programs from time to time to get people
Evo Terra:buying more of that particular product.
Evo Terra:That's just very different from our world of podcasting.
Evo Terra:Do we need more public education about podcasting so that we can break past that
Evo Terra:30% number and get most people consuming content on par with other forms of media?
Evo Terra:Absolutely!
Evo Terra:Absolutely.
Evo Terra:I think we need to do that.
Evo Terra:I think it will be great for all of us.
Evo Terra:But it's going to be a very tough nut for us to crack - pun sort of intended.
Evo Terra:Cause we're not all in the same economic boat.
Evo Terra:We're not following the same economic path.
Evo Terra:And we're not in it at the requirement that it must continue.
Evo Terra:If podcasting died tomorrow, sure, there would certainly be some livelihoods
Evo Terra:that were screwed - I'd be screwed.
Evo Terra:What, would I have to get a job once again?
Evo Terra:But for most people in podcasting, they'd just go back to something else.
Evo Terra:We're wild.
Evo Terra:We're a disparate group and very hard to build a movement around.
Evo Terra:But I don't think it's impossible.
Evo Terra:It's just hard.
Evo Terra:And the course laid out for us by other industries, like
Evo Terra:agriculture for some strange reason, doesn't actually work for us.
Evo Terra:But I'd love to hear what you think.
Evo Terra:So please jump into the Advancing Podcasting community
Evo Terra:at advancingpodcasting.xyz.
Evo Terra:I know, dumb URL, but what are you going to do?
Evo Terra:And let's keep the conversation going.
Evo Terra:If this idea I brought to you sparked an idea, please go
Evo Terra:to buymeacoffee.com/EvoTerra and show me your support.
Evo Terra:That's it.
Evo Terra:I shall be back tomorrow with yet another Podcast Pontifications.
Evo Terra:Cheers!
Evo Terra:Podcast Pontifications is written and narrated by Evo Terra.
Evo Terra:He's on a mission to make podcasting better.
Evo Terra:Links to everything mentioned in today's episode are in the notes
Evo Terra:section of your podcast listening app.
Evo Terra:A written-to-be-read article based on today's episode is available at
Evo Terra:podcastpontifications.com where you'll also find a video version and a corrected
Evo Terra:transcript, both created by Allie Press.
Evo Terra:Podcast Pontifications is a production of Simpler Media.