The Many Fails of Facebook

It's been a really bad week for Facebook - including on the podcasting side.

Apologies for not getting a podcast episode out last week. With Facebook rolling out podcasts for business and fan pages, I was ready to do a how-to episode on that. After all, with podcasts hitting Facebook, we can get more ears on your show, and podcasting in general. Well, turns out the Facebook podcasts process is far from perfect, and there's no rhyme or reason as to whether your podcast will actually show up on your page.

Of course, add to that the drama around Facebook being down Monday, and their whistleblower appearing before Congress Tuesday. I don't think podcasts are Mr. Zuckerberg's top priority at the moment. But there IS a lesson here - and thanks to JAG Show listener Andrew for this point. Don't put your eggs in one basket. You should be promoting your podcast in as many places as possible. Sure, Facebook and Instagram are huge. But don't forget LinkedIn, Twitter, an email list, maybe even TikTok. I put all my episodes on all of those platforms. Should "The Facebook" go down - you're promoting your content in other places as well.

In his show "I Hear Things" last Friday, podcast data guru Tom Webster wondered if podcasting is a way to create genuine connections with people. Is there something more pure about that than a platform like Facebook, where everything is superficial and you may not trust what you are seeing? Here's his podcast and article: https://tomwebster.media/podcasting-for-connection/

As I've mentioned before, a great place to be with your podcast is YouTube - even if you don't shoot video. Audio podcasts can live on YouTube as well, and they are noticing. YouTube is looking to hire its first Podcast Executive, per Bloomberg. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-10-05/youtube-looks-to-hire-its-first-executive-focused-on-podcasts

Yes, audio without video CAN be very successful. A study from iHeartMedia and research firm WARC says that for the average consumer, 31% of their media consumption is audio. That means 1 out of every 3 minutes they spend consuming media is listening, not watching. The study goes on to say that advertisers are behind the curve on this. Less than 9% of ad spending is on audio. Again. 31% of media consumption - but only 9% of ad spending - is on audio. It's only a matter of time before advertisers start catching up. The study was reported in PodNews here: https://podnews.net/press-release/warc-iheart-investment

Finally, we are now into the final quarter of the year - the time when folks start thinking about their 2022 marketing plans and budgets. If podcasting is something you're considering for next year, I'd love to help you. I've got a list of services available at a price point that will work for you. Wanna know more? Email me. jag@jagindetroit.com. Until next week, stay healthy and stay safe. Lata!

Find jag on social media @JAGPodcastProductions or online at JAGPodcastProductions.com

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