Podcasts, vidcasts and webcasts are three exciting and effective tools available to public relations professionals whose job it is to get the company news to targeted audiences.
Just in case someone has not heard about these technologies, podcasting involves recording to a digital file that can be distributed over the net using syndication feeds for playback on a computer, MP3 player or iPod. Vidcasting is a video-on-demand video clip delivered to computers and can be downloaded and watched at the viewers’ convenience. Webcasts differ from podcasts and vidcasts in that they can either be live or recorded. Webcasting can be thought of as broadcasting via the Internet.
So what do all of these technologies have to do with expanding the reach of public relations efforts? PC Magazine, August 2008 issue, reported that current marketing research shows 13 percent of Internet users listened to a podcast in 2007. According to the article’s author, David Foster, “You can tap into this ready-made market for less money than you spend on a tank of gas.” The cost and amount of time needed to create podcasts is minimal. Vidcasts and webcasts are more expensive and slightly more complicated to produce. To get an idea of how popular these technologies are becoming to public relations, thenewpr.com wiki site has long lists of podcasts and videos. For example, BMW, Cisco Systems, General Motors and a host of other major corporations have podcasts listed. Messages delivered through this medium includes messages from the CEO, new product launches, marketing campaigns, service use information, financial news and technology briefs.
The best of the best in the public relations profession get to be the best because they keep up-to-date on ways and resources to reach audiences. Communication is at the heart of public relations and podcasts, vidcasts and webcasts are the latest communication tools being used by all generations and most target groups.
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