Power Up Your Podcast Strategy in 2022

Think about this. What is a podcast?

Is it a show? Is it time-shifted audio? Is it original content? Is it an archive of previously aired content, is it all of these things?

Tom Webster of Edison Research states in his article from a few years back: “If podcasting is a medium (and I believe it is), then we have to do a better job explaining it to the general public. We haven’t done it yet.”

The issue here is: how can we explain something to the general public if we don't fully understand it ourselves? When I think of podcasting as a medium, my Broadcast Journalism professor always comes to mind as we discussed Marshall McLuhan’s now famous assertion, “the message is the medium,” and I will be honest- wrapping my head around that is about as mind-bending as the theology of John 1. Sure, there is some room for interpretation, but there is a core truth that cannot be shaken. So if the message is indeed the medium, and podcasting is a medium- then we really need to start paying attention to it. Not because of the inherent growth (and revenue potential), but its implications for those that consume content via this medium.

As we head into another glorious Christmas season, wind down the business side of 2021, and start looking towards what is next in 2022, I want to encourage you to consider adding podcasting to your digital strategy; and if you have podcasts, power them up- but most importantly, think about how podcasting can impact the world for good, as the printing press did 585 years ago.