Podcasting : Advantages and Disadvantages

Podcasting has come a long way in terms of its popularity. In last few years it has become one of the most popular ways to consume audio content online. There are many advantages and disadvantages of podcasting depending upon why you want to pursue it.

Individual podcasters , bloggers , you-tubers , small & large businesses , all have turned to podcasting as a main stream or additional connect with their audience.

If you are new to podcasting then here is a brief explanation of podcasting. If you wish to start a podcast of your own then do read our How to make Podcast Post

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What is a podcast and how do they work ? ..

A podcast is simply a series of spoken articles , audio episodes, all focused on a particular thing ( a topic or a theme ) . You can subscribe to the podcast with a podcast listening app on your phone and listen to episodes whenever you like on your headphones, in your car or on smart speakers. You have the complete freedom. You chose the topic and the speaker !

Podcasting gives you freedom to take your favorite show with you and listen to it whenever you want. It makes shows personal and available on demand. That’s what makes it different from broadcasting.

Let’s see some benefits and issues with podcasting as an audio medium.

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Here is a good article on benefits of podcasting.

Advantages of Podcasting

Here are 6 advantages or benefits of podcasting.

• Convenience
• No restriction on time
• Personalized content
• Podcasts are portable
• Podcasts have Direct connect with audience
• Podcasts cut cost

Lets take a look at all these advantages in detail.

1. Convenience of Podcasting :

Podcasting is a very convenient medium of communication , especially for the audience. You can listen to what you want and whenever you want. All you need is a smartphone and a podcast listening app. Podcast is an on demand technology

The most convenient part of podcasting experience is you can decide to the time and place of when you want to consume the content.

2. No restriction on time for podcast listening :

Podcasting is very good for listeners as they do not have to log in or tune in at a particular time similar to a radio or TV show.

You can chose the time when you want to listen to a podcast. You can listen to it whenever you are free ! . People listen to podcasts while jogging , walking as a pert of their exercise or they listen to it during their daily commute to office.

You can select your podcasting time as per your convenience.

3. Personalized content in Podcasting :

For people wanting to use Podcasting as a medium to promote or advertise their products , they can go really niche and serve a personalized content to the required audience.

People deciding to listen to a particular podcast do so because they want a very specific content and this is where advertisers gain the advantage as they can serve the right content to their target audience.

4. Podcasts are portable

Podcast listeners do not require any special medium to listen to their favorite podcasts. Almost everyone has a smartphone these days and that’s all it is required to listen to a podcast. Since the smartphone is mobile in nature people can listen to podcasts practically anywhere.

5. Direct connect with audience in podcasting

If you want to have a direct connect with your audience , then podcasting gets as good as a video medium such as YouTube or Vimeo.

There is nothing in between the listener and the podcaster and hence there is a direct connect between them. A podcaster can create a relationship with the listeners which helps in long term success of the podcast.

6. Podcasts cut cost

Podcasting is not a very expensive medium for advertisers or podcasters. The setup and making costs are fairly less . The ability of podcasts to reach a large audience at low costs makes it and effective medium of communicaiton.

Disadvantages of Podcasting

Following are some of the disadvantages of podcasting

1. Accessibility for some audience can be an issue

Internet is required for people to access the podcasts and it becomes difficult to reach to a wider audience if internet is not available.

Larger podcasts with high file sizes and video podcasts become a major issue. There is still a large population in developing and underdeveloped countries which d not have access to the internet. This can become a barrier for reaching your desired audience.

2. Finding and reaching to your audience

With millions of podcasts on thousands of topics out there , it is very difficult to rank on Google podcasts or Itunes for a particular topic.

It can be really disheartening and test of patience to produce episodes after episodes without any audience out there listening to you.

It takes a lot of time and efforts to find the right niche and audience for the content you are producing. With large scale production studios and movie / TV starts entering this space it has become really competative.

3. IP and content protection is difficult

It is very difficult to protect your IP or content from being copied by someone else. Anyone can easily copy your content and change / modify it slightly and put it out there . It is difficult to identify and control such cases.

This is more of an issue for popular podcasters and large studios.

Summary

In summery podcasting has both advantages and disadvantages , however the advantages certainly outweigh the disadvantages.

There are far reaching benefits of podcasting and it certainty to stay.

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