I did an interview recently with Roger Parker about the process of writing the Subscription Marketing book. During the Q and A session, one of the callers asked whether I had an audiobook version available.
In the immortal words of Homer Simpson, “D’oh!”
As a content marketer, I understand the importance of offering content in different forms. To reach a broad audience, you need to give people what they need in the format they want. Yet I’d neglected that practice for the book on which I had worked so hard.
(If you’re interested, here’s the link to the interview with Roger.)
So I’m focusing my blog efforts today beyond the written word.
Video Is Everywhere
No marketer can ignore video anymore. Video has qualities that make it particularly compelling in many business situations:
- Video makes a human connection at scale. A video can seem personal even when you’re connecting with thousands of people.
- It embodies the practice of “show rather than tell.” When it comes to helping customers find success quickly, it’s hard to beat video. Online courseware like Khan Academy attest to the power of video in teaching complex subjects.
Let’s Hear It For Audio
Audio also has a place in many content marketing plans, for several reasons:
- It makes also a human connection: Unlike the printed word, audio has the intimacy of a human voice.
- It works well for longer subjects: People who don’t have a lot of time to read longer works can listen to audiobooks and podcasts in the car or at the gym.
- Audio podcasts ‘serialize’ well. Customers can easily subscribe to a podcast and automatically get the new content as it becomes available.
Practicing What I Preach
As the listener’s question highlights, I don’t always practice what I preach. As a writer first and foremost, I’m wedded to the printed word. But I vow to get better about using different media. And I’m going to start by repurposing content into different formats.
For example, I did a webinar for Totango back in May on Customer Retention Marketing. You can watch the video of it here:
And if you don’t have forty-one minutes to listen, I’ve turned it into a PDF ebook, which you can access by joining my subscription marketing group.
In addition, I turned the slides themselves into a presentation on Slideshare.
The bigger challenge for me, going forward, is taking content that originates in print and creating the other versions.
A Question for You, Blog Reader
Returning to the original question about audiobooks, what’s your personal take? If you’re have made it this far in this blog, clearly you’re a reader. Do you also like to have books on audio for car trips or the gym? Would you listen to a business book like Subscription Marketing on audio?
Let me know by leaving a comment or dropping me a line at ajanzer [at] marketingdocs.com.
Image Krzysztof Puszczyński stocksnap.io
Anne Janzer 