Podcasters have known for years that podcasting is a great way to share your story and get your message out to a wider audience. And now it looks like the power of podcasting’s appeal is starting to catch on with social media marketers.

A report from Social Media Marketing World, a conference held last month in San Diego, shows podcasting was identified as a “trend you want to jump on NOW!” The report covers a total of five hot topics that marketers are paying attention to. It says this about podcasting:

“If you don’t know what a podcast is, it is a ‘multimedia digital file made available on the Internet for downloading to a portable media player.’ Podcasts are important because they are a great way to capture your existing customer’s and prospect’s attention for an extended period of time by giving them something of value that is easy for them to digest. Only 5 percent of digital marketers are currently involved with podcasting but 24 percent say they plan to add this valuable tool in the next 12 months.”

The report also lists social marketing mainstays like blogging and Twitter. But the inclusion of podcasting is something new and it’s good to see that the medium is getting some recognition outside of the new media space. It’s also good to see that the report’s definition of a podcast is fairly accurate, as this is still an area of great confusion for many. And if the 24 percent claim is true, this probably means we can expect an onslaught of new marketing-centric podcasts in the next year.

This is also a potential goldmine for those in the podcast training/consulting business, as it’s likely this new group will be first-time podcasters and will need help getting their ‘casts off the ground.

Posted by Shawn Thorpe