Podcasts to go
Besides serving more than 30 blends of coffees, Starbucks takes pride in having a positive impact on the community and providing a diverse and nurturing workplace. With gourmet coffee drinks, beverages, pastries and gifts served in a "hipster living room" setting, Starbucks functions as the out-of-the-office office for many with their laptops, PDAs and iPhones. This captive and loyal Starbucks audience feeds a brisk holiday business, which the company has supported online since 1998 when it launched Starbucks.com.

Observations
Starbucks wanted to convey its "good corporate citizens" philosophy online while emphasizing the heart of its business: coffee. So, Starbucks created a podcast series, Coffee Conversations, that allowed the company to address coffee and its way of doing business. For example, Episode 3: "Speaking of Coffee," includes a discussion with a sommelier comparing coffee tasting to wine tasting, responses to questions on the popular Kona and flavored coffees and a discussion of practicing ecologically sound principles in coffee production. This is interesting information that helps to create loyal customers.

Starbucks also included a unique section in its "about us" page. The "rumor response" page includes comments on to rumors about Starbucks that the company considers serious enough to merit a public response. This page builds credibility and loyalty in the corporate-consumer relationship.

Actionable ideas
Here are two ideas that can be used to build on the successful Starbucks model. First, try incorporating video content into your podcasts and site. Videos are frequently shared and offer an excellent opportunity to increase backlinks and social tagging, which can help improve search positions. Second, add a blog and/or visitor forum. Learn from the input you get and, where possible, adjust your site and product offerings accordingly. Doing so can help you build a more loyal client base.

Another idea: Create a podcast series geared toward holiday promotions or products. This is a simple and effective way of using and benefiting from social media. Podcasts are available for consumption online or offline and have an increasingly popular portability. With relative speed, a professional podcast marketing firm can help you produce, launch and track your podcast series to ensure you are reaching your target audience with a timely and effective message.