The following article is a guest post from RSS.
There are over 2 billion active users on YouTube as of 2023. What does this have to do with podcasting? Simply put, your podcast should be on YouTube!
Your podcast should be on YouTube because:
- YouTube supports podcasts
- Opportunities for visual appeal
- The interactivity and engagement
- The potential for improved promotion and discovery
- Increased credibility and authority
Now that you know the five reasons why your podcast should be on YouTube, let’s break them down further.
1. YouTube Supports Podcasts
Having your podcast on YouTube instantly exposes you to the more than 2.5 billion global users. Talk about a great way to open your podcast to a new audience pool!
YouTube recognizes the growing popularity of podcasting. In March 2023, YouTube posted on their blog, “One area creators are increasingly interested in is podcasting. In fact, YouTube is now the second most popular destination for listening to podcasts according to Edison.”
The platform also created a “Podcasting on YouTube” page that literally walks users through everything they need to know about how to start a podcast channel on YouTube.
Users that already have their podcast on YouTube can designate their playlists as a podcast as well. Doing this gives podcasters a better chance of being discovered by users looking for new shows to listen to.
2. Visual Appeal
In November 2022, YouTube released their 67 page guide to Podcasting on YouTube. In it they shared that videos with the word podcast in the title, and where the hosts appeared on video got two times the views compared with podcast episodes that didn’t meet this criteria.
What if you don’t want to appear on video?
Fear not! While the guide did share that podcasts that take a video-first approach do get more views, they also said that there are plenty of options for podcasters including:
- Static image videos: Your audio plays to one image
- Simple movement videos: Your audio plays to a moving image (typically B-roll films like in this example)
- Waveforms and text overlay: The videos are created using audiogram software
These three options are considered “Lighter-Lift Visual Formats”
Advanced visual formats include animated, on-camera, and “Memoji” (animated characters that mirror your facial expressions).
When you combine the waveform and static image idea, you can create even more visual appeal.
For example, one of the easiest ways to create videos from your podcast episodes is to use a free audio-to-video conversion tool called PodViz from RSS.com that automatically transforms your podcast episodes into video files.
In just three steps, PodViz will transform your audio and podcast artwork into a video that combines simple movement, waveforms, and text overlay! From there, you can then go back into your YouTube channel and add elements like:
- An eye catching YouTube thumbnail
- Enhanced video descriptions for more discoverability
- Hashtags, and more
Taking advantage of these features can help elevate the look and feel of your podcast while also increasing its potential.
Once all that is done, you can start engaging with your audience!
3. Interactivity and Engagement
If the platform’s reach and visual appeal wasn’t enough reason that your podcast should be on YouTube, the interactivity and engagement is huge! With YouTube you can talk directly to your audience.
While you could do this with an email list and/or social media, there’s something extra special about the communities you can build on YouTube. Videos have been known to go viral because of what happens in the comment section.
When people start commenting, it’s a clear indicator to YouTube’s algorithm that people care about the video. Put another way, just by uploading your podcast to YouTube, you open up a world of interactive possibilities to your audience.
Your viewers can:
- Leave comments
- Ask questions
- Share their opinions, and
- Participate in live chats during the show
This not only creates a sense of community around your podcast but also provides you with valuable feedback on what’s working and what needs improvement.
Interacting and engaging with your community is also a great way to build stronger relationships with them. These relationships make it easier not only to ask for people to share your episodes, but it will go a long way if you ever plan to monetize your show too. After all, people are much more likely to support people they feel a real connection with.
4. Improved Promotion and Discovery
We’ve already mentioned the discovery and promotion opportunities on YouTube, but let’s dive a little deeper.
According to Sprout Social, “YouTube videos show up in 70% of the top 100 Google search results.”
They went on to say, “YouTube results sometimes even pop up before traditional blog posts or websites.”
What does this mean for you? It means that your descriptions and titles are key if you want to get more eyeballs on your videos and more listeners subscribed to your podcast!
If you aren’t already, start thinking about what people are searching for online. What question or problem does your podcast address? Include the question/problem in your description and/or title when relevant. It could be the missing link to more downloads you’ve been looking for.
Additionally, YouTube offers several promotional tools such as:
- Video trailers
- Annotations, and
- End screens
All of these tools help encourage viewers to engage with your brand.
Still not convinced? YouTube offers an excellent opportunity for cross-promotion!
Repurpose your videos and/or share them to social media, embed your videos into your blogs, and add your links to your podcast show notes too. This way, you can reach out to a broader audience and increase brand awareness while offering viewers plenty of options for consuming the same content they may already be listening to!
5. Increased Credibility and Authority
The last reason your podcast should be on YouTube is increased credibility and authority. YouTube is a trusted platform for consuming content. And, when your views and comments increase, you become more reputable by extension.
The more quality content you produce and load, the easier it becomes to build trust with your audience. The more platforms you become visible on, the faster it will be for you to establish yourself as an expert in your niche as well.
By increasing credibility and authority through YouTube, you may also attract potential sponsors or advertisers who are interested in reaching your audience. The audience on YouTube alone might be small, but when you combine it with all of the places you’re loading content to, you will have proof of an engaged following who trusts what you have to say. Who knows where that could lead?
Where to Go From Here
Hopefully, we’ve convinced you that your podcast should be on YouTube. Think about the last time you looked someone up. Did you just check one resource? Or did you look for them in multiple places? As consumers, we’ve become hardwired to look for “experts” in more locations than just their website. We want to see them on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, and well, YouTube! It’s not enough to post to one space and be an expert in 2023.
You don’t have to spend a lot of extra time producing more content, but you do need to repurpose your content as many places as you possibly can. Make your name known. Get yourself out there – everywhere.
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