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October 29, 2024

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Setting Goals and Strategies

Creating an effective SMM plan involves setting goals and creating strategies. In other words, define what you want to achieve and how best to do it. Listening and observing are important antecedents of social media marketing goal-setting and strategy creation.

Develop your skills in listening and observing by analyzing the Saudi Tourism market.

Through listening and observing, analyze Saudi tourism social media platforms and detail your findings. Detail the best avenues to listen to and observe the market before launching a social media campaign.

Develop the goals of a social media campaign about Saudi Tourism, considering the Valid Metrics Framework, and explain how you would link the goals with a Call to Action.

Examine and explain how this relates to Saudi Vision 2030 and tourism development.

Chapter 7
Content Creation and Sharing:
Blogs, Podcasting, and Webinars

Debra Zahay | Janna Parker, Social Media Marketing, 3rd Edition. © 2023 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or
posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

Chapter Objectives
• Define content marketing

• Define a blog, podcast, and webinar
• Explain the marketing benefits of this type of content
• Identify tips for successfully using this type of content

• Describe the history of blogging, podcasting, webinars, and video
• Describe why everyone is a publisher on the social web
• Explain how to create and share blogs, podcasts, webinars, and
video formats

Creating a Content Strategy (1 of 6)
• The key to successfully publishing content online is to have a clear
and meaningful content strategy, based on the overall firm’s objectives
and brand positioning.
• Content marketing as a strategy has three major components:
1. The creation of the content based upon target audiences and personas
2. The dissemination of the content through appropriate channels to achieve
marketing objectives

3. The measurement of the success of the content through the analysis of
results

Creating a Content Strategy (2 of 6)
• The driving question is:
– “What subject areas will interest members of the audience?”

• More importantly, as shown in Figure 7.1, how does the content
reinforce a brand image or brand story?
• As the channels become more and more complex, it is important to
develop a powerful story that can be told across channels.

Content Should Be Linked to Company Strategy

Figure 7.1 Developing the Company
Strategy and Brand Story through Content
Marketing

To create content that will engage with
the audience, the driving question is
“what subject areas will interest
members of the audience?” More
importantly, as shown in Figure 7.1, how
does the content reinforce a brand
image or brand story?

Creating a Content Strategy (3 of 6)
• One additional key consideration in developing a content publishing strategy
is to overcome the fear of being too specific.
– However, with the proliferation of content, the best strategy to building an
audience is to be as niche and specific as possible.

– The future of publishing and content creation lies in serving niche markets on a
large scale.
– The lesson for bloggers specifically is to keep in mind what specialized interests
they might be able to market toward and to develop content that will appeal to
such interests.
– Just a few short years ago, the mechanics of content marketing were simple.
Upload a blog post or a white paper with an image and a content creator was
ahead of the game in content marketing. Nowadays, the strategy is
sophisticated and telling.
Debra Zahay | Janna Parker, Social Media Marketing, 3rd Edition. © 2023 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or
posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

Creating a Content Strategy (4 of 6)
1. Strategy—As stated in Chapter 2 and in this chapter, a strategy is
key to any social media or content marketing effort. Strategy must be
the key in developing strong content.
2. Format—A single piece of content can be deployed across many
types, or repurposed. Email works well for entrepreneurs and small
businesses, white papers for B2B, and so on (see Chapter 9).
3. Content Type—There are different types of content that work well for
different businesses. Quizzes work well for B2C and testimonials for
B2B.

Creating a Content Strategy (5 of 6)
4. Platform—Content distribution platforms can be overpaid, earned, or
owned media, that is, over the company’s website, over a social
network, or through an advertising platform.
5. Metrics—Metrics help the marketer understand who is reading the
content, when, the reach of the content, and a number of other useful
pieces of information.
6. Goals—Content should support the business and brand strategy. To
get more people to view content, that objective is brand awareness.
An engagement objective involves having people interact with
content on the web and create their own content around a brand.

Creating a Content Strategy (6 of 6)
6. Goals (cont.)—An engagement objective involves having people
interact with content on the web and create their own content around
a brand.
7. Triggers—These help marketers encourage sharing. Marketers use
emotional and other triggers to create responses in the audience
(although consumers do not like it if they believe they are obviously
being manipulated). Funny and disgusting both work as triggers for
sharing video content.
8. Checklist—Before deploying, there should be a checklist ensuring
that the content should be optimized for search, to support the
company goals, and for other factors.
Debra Zahay | Janna Parker, Social Media Marketing, 3rd Edition. © 2023 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or
posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

The Periodic Table of Content Marketing
Illustrates the Complexity of the Process
The periodic table of content
marketing as produced by
Econsultancy has eight basic
elements of content marketing.
This table is reproduced in Figure 7.2.

Figure 7.2 The Periodic Table of
Content Marketing

Blog History
•

The history of blogs has been a relatively short one.
– Justin Hall, student at Swarthmore College, was one of the first bloggers when
he started writing about video games and consoles around 1994.
– The term blog had not yet been coined; in December 1997, the word weblog
(combination of “web” and “log”) was created and was then eventually shortened
to blog.
•

In the old DOS operating system for the personal computer, the command .log would
bring up a “diary” format, date and time stamped, in which individuals could write
down their personal or work-related thoughts and keep them in a centralized place.

– Blogging really took off after 1999 when LiveJournal and Blogger were launched.
– At the middle of 2015, over 400 million people each month were reading blogs
on WordPress alone, and 54 million posts are written each month.
Debra Zahay | Janna Parker, Social Media Marketing, 3rd Edition. © 2023 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or
posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

What Is a Blog?
•

Blogs are generally considered to be a collection of the blogger’s personal thoughts and ideas around
a particular topic and, as stated previously, are a less formal method of publication.

•

In their oft-cited book, Naked Conversations, authors Robert Scoble and Shel Israel present
Blogging’s Six Pillars, which make blogs different from other communication methods.
–

Publishable. It is cheap and easy for anyone to set up a blog. Posting is free and can be seen worldwide.

–

Findable. People can find blogs with search engines. Typically, the more posts a blog has, the easier it will be
to find.

–

Social. Conversations about mutual interests can occur on blogs, either through direct comments or by linking
to others with related content. These practices allow people to form connections with others regardless of their
location.

–

Viral. Blogs can often spread information faster than a news service. The more interesting people find a topic,
the more rapidly they will spread it to others.

–

Syndicatable. Viewers can easily subscribe to a blog using RSS and be notified about its updates in real time.
This ability saves time in searching and makes content easily findable.

–

Linkable. As blogs can link to each other, each blogger has access to a potentially huge audience.
Debra Zahay | Janna Parker, Social Media Marketing, 3rd Edition. © 2023 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or
posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

Creating and Promoting a Blog (1 of 6)
•

Setting up a Blog
– A starter blog can be created on WordPress, Blogger, or other free sites.
▪

These sites are examples of hosted blogs, which are run on some other company’s
website and server. Such blogs will typically have a suffix at the end of the URL
address, indicating which service is hosting the blog.

– Businesses that want to invest more in blogging can self-host a blog on their
website, usually for relatively little cost.
– The difficult parts of blogging are creating a compelling and relevant subject
area for the blog, writing effectively, and improving the content over time based
on reader feedback.
▪

For students, there are many platform choices, with WordPress being the most widely
used. Marketers want to be able to easily monitor their blogs and check analytics, so
WordPress might be the best choice for a beginning blog.
Debra Zahay | Janna Parker, Social Media Marketing, 3rd Edition. © 2023 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or
posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

Creating and Promoting a Blog (2 of 6)
• Defining the Audience
– Successful bloggers do a lot of keyword research before setting up their blogs.
They want to understand what their audience is looking for and how to best
reach them.

– Successful blogs have a specific audience in mind, like Megan the Vegan Mom,
which relates the author’s experience as a mother with a vegan lifestyle, or
Smitten Kitchen, a food blog that revolves around the author’s kitchen.
– When deciding on whether to start a blog and what the goals of blogging should
be, it is important to consider the overall marketing goals and objectives.
– The difficulty of blogging successfully is why over 50% of blogs are abandoned
within the first 90 days.

Creating and Promoting a Blog (3 of 6)
• Promoting a Blog
– One way to increase readership to the blog is to request an email sign-up.
An email list is something the author owns and can use to develop a
regular following. Creating a list of readers who receive content on a
regular basis and share it is a solid tactic for increasing blog readership.
▪ A good example of a well-promoted blog is the Huffington Post. The blog
began life as just another liberal communication in an already crowded field; it
aggregated news from other sources, but eventually it grew into a full-fledged
news organization. To achieve Huffington Post’s second goal of retaining
readership, it was clear from the start that it had to provide quality content
from well-known political posters. Today, the Huffington Post is still the
number one blog in the blogosphere. It has over 110,000 bloggers with
approximately 126 million visitors every month.
Debra Zahay | Janna Parker, Social Media Marketing, 3rd Edition. © 2023 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or
posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

Creating and Promoting a Blog (4 of 6)
• Creating a Reputation through Blogging
– Robert Scoble famously became the first influential corporate blogger.
– He accomplished this feat by telling the truth (as he saw it) in his blog
posts, which often meant criticizing his employer, Microsoft Corporation,
and its products while heaping praise on the company’s fiercest
competitors (Apple Computer and Google) and their wares.
– Scoble’s brutal honesty and invitation to open communication with
consumers endowed his employer with a renewed credibility, which
Microsoft’s much-maligned business practices had previously eroded.

Creating and Promoting a Blog (5 of 6)
• Creating a Reputation through Blogging (cont.)
– Scoble used his blog to not only listen to the company’s many
constituencies but to build a network of resources so that he could help
Microsoft respond appropriately to user needs.

– Scoble confronted the appropriate product team leaders within Microsoft
with these suggestions and criticisms, demanding to know what they were
going to do about them.
– Scoble was also able to get some Microsoft executives to blog within the
company instead of sending out endless streams of email few had the
time to read. These blogs later became a great repository of knowledge
within the company for employees to search when necessary.
Debra Zahay | Janna Parker, Social Media Marketing, 3rd Edition. © 2023 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or
posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

Creating and Promoting a Blog (6 of 6)
• Creating a Reputation through Blogging (cont.)
– Other corporate blogs soon sprang up to provide a human face to the
corporation.
▪ The blog run by Marriott International’s CEO, J. W. Marriott, has been praised
for its accessibility and down-to-earth tone.
▪ It provides the CEO an avenue to share stories and information on the
business and to develop a likable public personality.
▪ Marriott employees make up about a fifth of the blog’s readership, and they
comment often. The blog gives a sense of camaraderie with the CEO that
workers enjoy.
▪ The blog has also generated some tangible monetary gains, generating more
than $5 million worth of revenue from bookings that originated from the blog.
Debra Zahay | Janna Parker, Social Media Marketing, 3rd Edition. © 2023 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or
posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

Everyone Is a Publisher (1 of 2)
• With the tools available on the web, anyone can become a publisher
at minimal cost. This radical change poses both challenges and
opportunities for the marketing professional.
– Today, a website can be created in under an hour with no expert coding
knowledge using Weebly, Wix, WordPress, or other web-development
tools. Editing websites has also become much easier.
– The online space has changed from a read web, where people would go
to the Internet primarily to consume content and information, to a readwrite web, where it is possible to create in addition to consuming content.
Rather than passively taking in information, users can create and interact
with the content they see.
Debra Zahay | Janna Parker, Social Media Marketing, 3rd Edition. © 2023 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or
posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

Everyone Is a Publisher (2 of 2)
• Content Clutter
– According to 2020 statistics by HubSpot, there were 600 million blogs, about 32 million
bloggers, and a steady stream of content. About 7 million blog posts are produced each
day and 77% of people report having read blogs.
– There is such a proliferation of content online that even the highest-quality material has
difficulty standing out and building an audience.
– Practically speaking, the large number of blogs means a few blogs have lots of readers
while many blogs have almost no readers, and that trend is likely to continue.
▪

Most companies consider their blogs as part of their business strategy and
consumers increasingly look to blogs to make business decisions. Blogs are a good
source of inbound links, which raise the search engine profile of a site, and
consumers trust information and content from blogs. Among other things, companies
that have active blogs typically produce more leads and report other success
measures. Blogging overall is good for business.
Debra Zahay | Janna Parker, Social Media Marketing, 3rd Edition. © 2023 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or
posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

Discussion Question (1 of 2)
Do you agree that everyone is a publisher today on the web? Why or
why not?

Marketing Benefits of Blogging
•

Blogging has several unique advantages:
–

–

Communicating with (Potential) Customers
▪

More so than the audience of most other social media platforms, that of blogs rewards
thoughtful posts and fully developed ideas.

▪

This attribute makes blogs valuable in a broad variety of industries. Every business entails
some form of expertise that can potentially be shared with and interest online viewers. In this
context, blogging can help to both position a company’s brand as well as bring in new leads.

Word-of-Mouth Marketing
▪

Some studies have found that word of mouth may be more than twice as effective as traditional
marketing; it results in more new customer acquisitions and has longer-lasting results.

▪

Blogging facilitates word-of-mouth marketing in several ways.
•

First, blogging makes messages portable and easy for others to link to or share.

•

Second, blogs create new topics, much like mini-press releases, that spur public discussion.

•

Third, a blog provides a center for conversation via comments or replies. And finally, blogging builds
credibility with other bloggers, making it more likely that others will pass the word along.
Debra Zahay | Janna Parker, Social Media Marketing, 3rd Edition. © 2023 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or
posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

Blogging Best Practices Monitoring the
Blogosphere (1 of 2)
• While staying current on important blogs in the industry and looking at
reader comments is a good start, a monitoring effort must go considerably
farther in order to see a broad segment of opinions, especially if a blog is still
in its infancy and has few active commentators.
• One crude metric for public sentiment is a look at how many views that posts
on different topics generate (number of blog views or visits is typically easily
available on hosted blogs).
• The difficulty of determining what people think about a brand has driven an
enormous growth in social media monitoring software, much of which is
directed toward blogs.

Blogging Best Practices Monitoring the
Blogosphere (2 of 2)
• There are free tools available to monitor a blog such as the metrics in
Blogger and the links to Google Analytics.
• How many resources to dedicate toward monitoring blog chatter will depend
on the industry, the marketing budget, and the size of the existing blog
following as well as how widely dispersed online opinion is on the relevant
topics, to name just a few factors.
• However, time and money spent in monitoring general opinion is almost
always well spent; it is impossible to finely tune a blogging strategy without
some feedback on what needs to be changed or which content people find
most attractive.

Figure 7.3 Habits of Successful Bloggers
Many blogging experts recommend the
use of video in blog posts (see Figure
7.3) and with good reason. Video has
shown to increase blog engagement.

Figure 7.3 Habits of Successful Bloggers
Debra Zahay | Janna Parker, Social Media Marketing, 3rd Edition. © 2023 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or
posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

Video in the Blogging Mix
• Video has shown to increase blog engagement.
• Statista reports in the results of an online video viewer survey in August 2020
across selected countries that 27.2% of online viewers watched more than 10
hours of online video on a weekly basis.

• It is estimated that by 2020, online videos will make up more than 82% of all
consumer Internet traffic, a statistic that means video consumption will be 15 times
higher than it was in 2017.
• In blogging, the use of videos is known as “vlogging” or “video blogging.” Because
of the popularity of YouTube as the second-most popular site on the Internet after
Google, many bloggers have moved to that channel to supplement or replace their
traditional blogs. Video is also becoming important in the content creation area of
podcasting.
Debra Zahay | Janna Parker, Social Media Marketing, 3rd Edition. © 2023 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or
posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

Linking a Blog to Marketing Objectives
• A small fraction of blogs on the Internet create tangible returns for the
blog’s creators.
– Many are personal and function like an online journal; their authors do not
expect a return.

– There are many professional or corporate blogs that do not accomplish
their objectives, or don’t know what those objectives should be.
– Over 50% of blogs are abandoned within 90 days.

– The single biggest risk in business blogging is setting the wrong strategy.

Monitoring the Blogosphere
• A primary benefit from blogging is to learn about the “tone” of the
online community with regard to certain topics.
• But relevant comments are likely to be dispersed through a huge
number of blogs.

• Stay current on important blogs in the industry and view reader
comments, but do more.
– One crude metric for public sentiment is how many views that posts on
different topics generate.

– Monitoring software can be costly, but there are free tools in Blogger and
Google Analytics.
– Monitoring will help you fine-tune your blog.
Debra Zahay | Janna Parker, Social Media Marketing, 3rd Edition. © 2023 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or
posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

Video Streaming in the Social Media Mix (1 of 2)
• Streaming video is a live video broadcast shared over the Internet.
• Marketers are incorporating streaming into their social media plans as
apps (Periscope, Meerkat) have allowed easy sharing of video
streams.
– Best suited to live, interactive content
– Viewers can comment on the video and what is happening in the moment.
– Streaming is best done when shared online and when other forms of
social media are also used to interact.
– Legal issues include possible video piracy, but the benefits for marketers
are clear.
Debra Zahay | Janna Parker, Social Media Marketing, 3rd Edition. © 2023 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or
posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

Video Streaming in the Social Media Mix (2 of 2)
•

Marketing through Podcasting
– Podcasts are media files distributed via subscription on the Internet.
▪

“A podcast is a digital audio or video file that is episodic, downloadable, and
program-driven, mainly with a host and/or theme; and convenient, usually via
an automated feed with computer software.” Journal of Information
Technology & Politics

– A podcast may contain only audio or audio and video (vodcasts); they can
be consumed:
1. Played directly off the website on a computer
2. Downloaded to a computer and listened to offline
3. Downloaded to portable MP3 players for listening offline

Marketing through Podcasting
•
•

•

Speaking generally, podcasts are media files distributed via subscription on the
Internet.
To distill the core aspects of podcasting, this definition from the Journal of
Information Technology & Politics is also helpful: “A podcast is a digital audio or
video file that is episodic, downloadable, and program-driven, mainly with a host
and/or theme; and convenient, usually via an automated feed with computer
software.”
Podcasts can be consumed one of three ways:
– played directly off the website on a computer (clicking the play button)
– downloaded to a computer and listened to offline
– downloaded to portable MP3 players for listening offline

A Brief History of Podcasting
•

From the mid-1990s to the early 2000s, key pieces of technology were being developed to
improve the encoding, delivery, and reception of audio and video files via the Internet. One
of the key breakthroughs came in the form of a technology called a Really Simple
Syndication (RSS), which enabled users to subscribe to content for automatic delivery.

•

By the mid-2000s, entrepreneur Adam Curry, whose nickname is “The Podfather” because
of his pioneering work in this area, became heavily involved in developing podcasting
technology. He is credited with coming up with the idea to automate the updating and
delivery of audioblogs.

•

In February 2004, Ben Hammersley, writing an article for The Guardian, coined the term
podcasting in reference to audioblogging. The word podcasting was a combination of “iPod”
and “broadcasting.”

•

Numerous companies struggled to establish a variety of different names for audio and video
downloads. It wasn’t until Apple put audio and video together in their iTunes’s podcast
directory that the term podcast became the standard for both formats.
Debra Zahay | Janna Parker, Social Media Marketing, 3rd Edition. © 2023 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or
posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

Creating and Sharing Podcasts (1 of 5)
• Video podcasts are also possible now with the low cost of video production.
• Due to the growth in the industry, sites have popped up to make creating audio
podcasts easier than ever.
• One of the first free tools for creating podcasts was Audacity, which provided audio
recording and editing tools that were accessible to all.
• Other free tools have sprung up in its place, with Anchor, Buzzsprout, Podbean,
and Spreaker being among the most popular.
• At minimum, a podcast tool should have analytics available and should work with
Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and Spotify.
• It might be necessary to pay a monthly fee if the goal is to monetize the podcast. A
flexible paid tool, Libsyn, allows access to hosting, distributing, and monetizing for
as low as $5 a month.
Debra Zahay | Janna Parker, Social Media Marketing, 3rd Edition. © 2023 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or
posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

Creating and Sharing Podcasts (2 of 5)
• Choose a Format
– Presentation. Record a live monologue or give a simple talk on a subject.
If a recording is made of a live presentation in hopes of turning it into a
podcast, keep in mind that audio editing will be necessary to avoid having
dead time or static in the final product.
– Q&A. A question-and-answer session can be set up with one or more
individuals in order to give the listener or viewer more information.
– Co-hosted. When a podcast is co-hosted, it essentially becomes an ondemand talk radio show. Conversation should be kept organic and as
unscripted as possible, but it is recommended that “the speakers
choreograph their format and approach so they don’t step on each other’s
words or create awkward pauses.”
Debra Zahay | Janna Parker, Social Media Marketing, 3rd Edition. © 2023 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or
posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

Creating and Sharing Podcasts (3 of 5)
• Podcast Content
– In deciding the content focus for a podcast, there are three different
possibilities: instructional, informative, or entertainment. While these three
can be combined to some extent, it is best to stay with a common theme
that connects the entire series of podcasts.
– Recall the advice on content about blogging: specificity is valuable. This
advice holds true for podcast content as well. Do not attempt to create a
one-size-fits-all content; focus instead on the interests of a specific target
audience.

Creating and Sharing Podcasts (4 of 5)
•

Producing Podcasts
–

Choose an articulate moderator. Recorded audio often amplifies people’s speaking quirks. When
creating audio podcasts, it is especially important to find a moderator who has minimal verbal
static (such as “um,” “ah,” or “like”) and who has a strong vocal presence.

–

Create talking points, not scripts. It is a difficult balance to strike but an important one. Having a full
script can make the audio recording sound wooden or overly rehearsed, while having no outline
can cause the speaker to lose focus. Ideally, the podcast should be presented in a relaxed and
conversational manner.

–

Be brief. When creating a podcast, determine the content first and the length second. Avoid the
temptation to stretch out content to make people keep listening. Listeners value their time, so do
not take up any more than necessary to cover the topic.

–

Avoid overediting. Verbal static like “um” can be removed. However, if significant editing would be
required to remove bad phrasing, consider rerecording instead. Too much editing can make the
podcast sound choppy and forced, and consequently, the less audio editing, the better.

–

Include music. Introducing the podcast with a brief clip of music lends a professional air to the
production and keeps the audience engaged. It also makes the podcast more memorable. To
avoid infringing on copyrights, look for music that has a Creative Commons-type license or is
podsafe licensed.
Debra Zahay | Janna Parker, Social Media Marketing, 3rd Edition. © 2023 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or
posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

Creating and Sharing Podcasts (5 of 5)
•

Delivering Podcasts to Consumers
–

With the ease of finding and downloading podcasts, they cost almost nothing for consumers to
access. Podcasts can be shared at no cost on the major platforms, although sharing may require
an account.

–

Delivering podcasts to listeners is the easiest part. The more difficult aspect of distributing podcast
content is ensuring that it is found by the target audience. There are a host of directories available
for listing podcasts; “[a]mong the best are Podcast Alley, and iPodder.org.”

–

In addition to directories, there are separate search engines for finding podcasts, because they are
more difficult to index. One of the first search engines for podcasts was Podscope. Digital Podcast
helps with news and reviews and also tips for podcasters, both audio and video. The most notable
directories of podcasts are from the major sources of podcasts: iTunes, Google, and Spotify.
Stitcher, TuneIn, and Spreaker can also be valuable resources.

–

To assist a search engine in finding podcasts, it is important to fill in the ID3 tag. ID3 is a file data
tagging format that is recognized by most media-playing software. It includes the title, author’s
name, description, and running time of the media file. Search engines read and index the
information provided in ID3 tags, making it more likely that an online viewer will see the podcast in
search results.
Debra Zahay | Janna Parker, Social Media Marketing, 3rd Edition. © 2023 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or
posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

Case Study: Marketing with Podcasting (1 of 3)
• While many possible goals can be accomplished by podcasting, choosing
which to focus on will depend on the larger marketing objectives being
pursued. Podcasts have the advantage of both sharing information and
putting a human voice or face on a brand. As such, podcasts can
complement a broad variety of other social media efforts as part of an SMM
campaign. Podcasts can bring in independent revenue
– In addition to indirect marketing, podcasts can bring in independent revenue.
There are two very different methods to monetize podcasts. The first option is to
recruit paid sponsors to advertise on the podcast, much like with any radio or
television station. The second method to monetize podcasts is to offer fee-based
content.

• For a successful podcast, see MuggleCast and its competitor PotterCast.
Debra Zahay | Janna Parker, Social Media Marketing, 3rd Edition. © 2023 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or
posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

Case Study: Marketing with Podcasting (2 of 3)
• Over the years, Harry Potter has become a fixture of the pop-culture
landscape. Not surprisingly, “a flurry of podcasts sprung up to report
Harry Potter news, debate Harry Potter theories and celebrate beloved
(or despised) Harry Potter characters.” MuggleCast emerged from the
pack to not only become one of the most popular podcasts with Potter
fans but one of the most popular podcasts, period.

Case Study: Marketing with Podcasting (3 of 3)
• Podcasting requires a strong commitment to creating content tailored
to marketing goals.
• Podcasts can bring in independent revenue
– Recruit paid sponsors to advertise the product
– Offer fee-based content (requires superior content)
– But don’t begin with monetizing; with so many free podcasts, may be
difficult to get subscribers

• For a successful podcast, see MuggleCast and its competitor
PotterCast.

Hosting Webinars (1 of 3)
• A webinar, or teleseminar, is a seminar that is conducted live over the web and
(unlike a podcast) is designed to be interactive. The term webinar was coined from
the phrase “web-based seminar.”
– Conducted live over the Web; interactive
– To attend a webinar, the listener can call a phone number (much like a conference call)
or listen live on a computer by accessing the webinar through the Internet.
– Webinars are typically B2B marketing activities, although anyone can set them up to
convey content on any topic.
– Webinars sometimes contain a visual aspect such as a slide show presentation or livestream video. There are even technologies that allow the presentation of all the material
as a streaming video.
– On average the duration of a webinar is one to two hours.

Hosting Webinars (2 of 3)
• How to Set Up a Webinar
– Webinars are relatively easy to set up and run. There are a number of free to low-cost
webinar sites available, and so the first step is selecting the right webinar service. When
selecting where to host the webinar, one should consider the following factors: the
number of attendees, the visual content, and the frequency with which the webinar is
held.
▪

If there will be visual content, it will be necessary to have a website host the webinar
rather than use a conference call system. Lastly, establishing the frequency with
which the webinar will be held will determine if it is better to pay a monthly
subscription fee or if a one-time webinar fee will be most economical.

▪

The next step is creating the webinar outline, which contains a list of the main points
to be covered during the webinar. These points should be kept brief to avoid any
temptation of reading directly off the outline. After an outline has been created for the
webinar, the event must be scheduled.
Debra Zahay | Janna Parker, Social Media Marketing, 3rd Edition. © 2023 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or
posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

Hosting Webinars (3 of 3)
• Preparing for and Executing the Webinar
– While webinars can be a valuable component in an SMM campaign, they also carry
some risks and dangers. One downside is that when hosting a webinar, there is no way
to gauge the audience’s reaction. Without faces or expressions to read, feedback may
be hard to immediately assess. Another potential problem is that webinars are live with
no chance to rerecord if the speaker is stumped or misspeaks.
– Because of these risks, time spent preparing for the webinar will be very well spent
indeed.
▪

Webinars need to remain focused on the core content while still providing openings
for listener participation and questions. Decide in advance if questions will be
answered as they arise or held until the very end. Either approach can work, but it
should be determined beforehand in order to avoid wasted time. Also, take steps to
prevent interruptions. Finally, keep any relevant materials to be used during the
webinar within easy reach so that there will be no unnecessary distractions.
Debra Zahay | Janna Parker, Social Media Marketing, 3rd Edition. © 2023 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or
posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

Marketing with Webinars and/or Podcasts (1 of 2)
• One of the biggest advantages of using webinars is the ability to gather an
enormous audience (in some cases over 500 people with 148 being
average) in a seminar-type format without anyone needing to travel.
– The asynchronous, anytime, anywhere characteristics of the webinar make it an
ideal format for training sessions or information sharing. In real-time webinars,
the audience can ask questions and get immediate answers.
– Clever social media marketers have also used webinars to gather information
about potential clients. Webinars typically require participants to provide an
email address in order to participate. This email list can later be used to send
targeted messages based on the person’s interest in the webinar. To gather
further insight on the audience, a number of lead qualification questions can be
asked prior to webinar registration.

Marketing with Webinars and/or Podcasts (2 of 2)
• How does one decide between podcasts and webinars as components in an SMM
strategy?
– While clearly not mutually exclusive, many campaigns choose to focus their efforts on one
medium more than the other. This choice may reflect available technology and resources
(podcasts are typically less expensive to produce than webinars) or, more likely, a difference
in the content or product being marketed.
– With their interactive focus, webinars are highly valuable as a tool for learning or
collaboration. The primary disadvantage of webinars is that they require planning and
coordination beforehand because the event is usually recorded live even if it is available for
download after the session.
– Podcasts, on the other hand, are less interactive because the viewer downloads and then
listens to the file at leisure. While this may restrict the use of podcasts as a teaching tool, the
advantage is broader access by viewers and less effort on coordination because a podcast
can still be accessed many months after it has been recorded. This continuing accessibility
makes podcasts a natural fit for opinion, information, or entertainment products and services.
Debra Zahay | Janna Parker, Social Media Marketing, 3rd Edition. © 2023 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or
posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

Best Practices for Blogs, Podcasting, and
Webinars: Lessons from Video Sharing (1 of 2)
1. Use Catchy Titles
2. Update Frequently
3. Keep Content Focused

4. Invite Comments
5. Promote the Blog, Podcast, or Webinar
6. Engage with Others

7. Avoid Negativity
8. Stand by the Content

Best Practices for Blogging, Podcasting, Video
Sharing and Webinars (2 of 2)
9. Cross Promote
10. Archive the Content
11. Use Metrics

Blogging to Build Your Personal Brand:
Optimizing Your Online Brand by Blogging—for
Students
• Lesson #1. Find your niche.
• Lesson #2. Reserve your niche.
• Lesson #3. Create meaningful blog content for your audience.
• Lesson #4. Observe good formatting rules.
• Lesson #6. Blog regularly.
• Lesson #7. Promote the blog.
• Lesson #8. Respond to the audience.
• Lesson # 9. Use metrics to refine the approach.
• Lesson #10. Use video content.
Debra Zahay | Janna Parker, Social Media Marketing, 3rd Edition. © 2023 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or
posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

Discussion Question (2 of 2)
Brainstorm with your fellow students to come up with a few topics on
which you might blog to help reinforce your personal brand. Think about
the personal branding exercises from earlier chapters. What makes you
unique and how can you create meaningful content for an audience?

Chapter Summary
•
•
•
•
•
•

Content marketing should be part of the company’s overall strategy
and tell the brand story.
Everyone is a publisher today so content creation skills are critical.
Blogging is one of the oldest forms of content creation and is still a
key part of an active SMM plan.
Video blogging, webinars and podcasting can also play a key role in a
content strategy.
Best practices include keeping content updated frequently and inviting
interaction; promotion is key.
Blogging can be used to build a personal brand.
Debra Zahay | Janna Parker, Social Media Marketing, 3rd Edition. © 2023 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or
posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

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