Today, we live in a Web 2.0 world. While the promotional methods that once worked still work, for the most part, there are new promotional methods that Web 2.0 has brought to the Internet Marketing playing field. Two of those methods are podcasting and video blogging.
Podcasting and video blogging are essential elements in Web 2.0. If you aren’t clear about what Web 2.0 is, don’t worry, most people aren’t, as there are actually several different definitions, and three people have a hard time agreeing on what Web 2.0 covers. What you can be sure of is that it is not a certain type of software. It isn’t tangible at all. It is merely a concept that has certain elements to it.
Those elements allow people who are online to interact with other people more closely. Prime examples of a Web 2.0 environment are MySpace and YouTube. MySpace is a virtual social networking community, where members can set up profile pages and communicate with each other.
The profile pages can be very elaborate, or very simple, and other members of the site can interact with a member through their profile page. Profile pages can include podcasts and video blogs as well. Everybody who has access to an Internet connection can open an account and set up a profile page at a site like MySpace free of charge.
YouTube is a bit different, in that it is a place where anybody who has an Internet connection can go to upload and download videos. The videos are created by regular people – just like you and me. Anybody can be a star at a site like YouTube. Users can also rate videos and view profiles at YouTube as well. Opening a YouTube account and uploading and downloading videos is free.
Along with these valuable and successful Web 2.0 elements, podcasting and video blogging have emerged. There are numerous places where anybody can set up a video blog, and distribute podcasts.
So, essentially, Web 2.0 is anything that allows people to interact with other people, or even with a website, more closely than they have ever been able to before. Again, video blogging and podcasting have become a very big part of the Web 2.0 revolution, and as a marketer, it is essential that you start using these two Web 2.0 elements to their highest advantage.
You may think that other people wouldn’t be interested in your video blogs or podcasts, but you would be absolutely wrong. The key to success is choosing a niche, where there are a group of people that are highly interested in that specific topic. If you do that, and you promote your podcast and/or video blog correctly, you simply cannot lose.
Video blogging and podcasting allow you to reach your existing customers, as well as potential customers in ways that were once only achieved with radio and television. These two Web 2.0 elements are actually today’s version of television and radio. Video blogs are similar to television shows, and podcasts can be compared to radio shows.
You do not need an existing customer base to benefit from video blogging and podcasting. Again, you can actually build a potential customer base with these two valuable marketing tools.
Video blogging works well because you can use visual aids, and also because it turns you into a real live human being to those who are watching. Studies have shown that video is incredibly more effective than text. People don’t feel like they have to read what you’ve written, but somehow, when presented with a video, they feel compelled to listen and watch.
The only downside to video blogging is that it is ‘computer and Internet dependant,’ meaning that in order for a person to view your video, they must have a computer, an Internet connection, and a web browser, and they must have these long enough to watch your video, unless they can download it (most video blog videos are not available for download), and even then, they must have a computer to view the video.
Podcasting is different. It is portable, but users must still have a computer, Internet connection, and browser to download the podcast. It may be downloaded to the computer, or it may be downloaded to the users’ MP3 player.
An MP3 player is basically a portable listening device, similar to a portable CD player – but instead of listening to CD’s, the user listens to MP3′s of whatever they have downloaded. An ipod is an example of an MP3 player.
MP3 players are virtually replacing radio, because users are able to select what they want to listen to. They aren’t limited to just a certain style of music or talk shows, they can literally pick and choose their programming, choosing particular talk show style podcasts, certain music titles, and video games, if their MP3 player is equipped for games.
You may think that you want to skip over the video blogging and go straight for the podcasting, since it is such a valuable media. But you would actually do better to participate in both, since they do reach different audiences, in different ways.
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