Why Is Video Becoming Important In The Podcast Industry?
Video is the future of podcasting. It’s not a matter of if but when. And here are some reasons why: More people want to watch than listen. Your message can be more impactful with video, and you can build a community around your show by adding video clips to your blog posts, YouTube channel or any other social media. If you haven’t already considered it, here are some ideas for using video with your podcast.
Reach more people
One of the most obvious benefits is that it allows you to reach new listeners who may not have been listening. For example, let’s say you have a podcast about cooking, and you’ve only been posting audio episodes. By adding some video content, such as an article about how to make homemade bread or a cooking tutorial for beginners, you can give yourself more exposure and bring in new listeners through different channels like YouTube, Instagram Reels or TikTok. This will help grow your audience even if they aren’t necessarily looking for an audio-only experience from your show!
If you are already creating audio-only content—you can create a video version too! This way, listeners who prefer watching a video over listening will be able to enjoy all of the content they love from their favourite podcasts!
Improve your SEO
If you’re not familiar with SEO, here’s a quick primer: It stands for search engine optimisation, which is the process of improving your website’s ranking in Google and other search engines so that it appears higher up on the results page when someone searches for keywords related to your business or content.
Some examples of how video can help improve your podcast’s SEO include:
- Video helps you rank higher on social media—For example, if you upload a video to Facebook as opposed to just text or audio files, it gives you an edge over competitors who aren’t using visuals as part of their marketing strategy (and thus won’t show up as often). This means more people will likely see and interact with posts from brands they follow.
- Video helps you rank higher in podcasting directories—There are tons of free directories that list podcasts by category; these sites tend to favour audio-only podcasts because they don’t require additional work beyond uploading a file. Including high-quality visual content will make your podcast stand out from others on these lists!
Videos as promotional content
One of the best ways to promote your podcast is through video. Video is a great way to engage with your audience, get feedback on what they want from you, and build your audience. You can also use it for sponsorships, which can be a great way of getting more money for your podcast. If you have people who are willing to pay for ads in their videos, then this will be an excellent source of income for you!
Here is a list of the type of videos you can make. Remember, it is better to record the entire session so you can select any video type from the list below:
- Teaser: They will work better if you have a new season coming up. Think about it as a trailer of what people can expect from the new season or episode.
- Quotes: This type of content works well at any moment. It could be before, during or after the release of the episode/show. You just need to select the best/funniest/interesting clip from the episode and turn it into a video clip.
- Behind the scenes: Anything that happened during the recording, but has not made it into the podcast episode, could be great video content. It can be offered as exclusive content for your subscribers if it is good enough.
- Full episodes: Platforms such as YouTube and Spotify are now offering full video episodes for podcasts. It won’t be long before all other platforms start doing the same, so it’s always good to be ready when this happens.
Best practices for social media
Now that you have all the reasons why you should use video for your podcast and some ideas of the type of video you should be creating. We thought we should consider these best practices:
- Duration: If you are not doing a full episode, consider having clips of a max of 60 seconds. According to a new study from Microsoft Corp, the average human attention span is only 9 seconds. So, make sure you have the most engaging part at the beginning. Also, think of which social media you are using. For example, Instagram Reels and Facebook only accept 1:30 minutes, Tiktok accepts up to 10 minutes long videos, and YouTube accepts up to 12 hours long, but let’s be honest! No one will watch a 12 hours video, so let’s keep it short.
- Captions: Consider having captions in all your videos, no matter the platform you use. For example, 80% of people watch videos on Facebook without sound, so if you want to reach more than 20% of your potential audience, you should include the captions in the video.
- Latest trends: Look for the latest trends on different platforms. It could be hashtags, sounds, topics, filters, etc. Don’t miss the opportunity if any of those can be related to your podcast.
- It’s all about the CTA: What’s a CTA? That’s the call to action. Make sure you ask the audience to subscribe, click the link, share the video or anything else you need.
If you want to create a podcast that will stand out, then it’s worth considering the recommendations in this article. Remember that video can give you more opportunities for engagement than text alone, but it takes more time and effort to produce than audio only, but it will be worth it when you start seeing the results. And video can help you connect with listeners emotionally by showing them who you are in real life and what your personality is like when speaking aloud.
At The Podcast Studios we work with companies, organisations, and individuals to help them tell their stories in audio form. If there is any part of your podcast journey that needs a professional touch, from start to finish, get in touch today by contacting us at [email protected] or visit our website at www.thepodcaststudios.ie
