Welcome to PodQuesting, where I'm on a quest to conquer the podcasting realm.
Bringing you along the journey, this episode is part of the ongoing series, PodQuesting
Lab, where I conduct experiments and research to help us on our quests.
Welcome back to PodQuesting.
In today's episode, we are exploring YouTube as a potential home for your podcasts.
Did YouTube actually be the best directory for your podcast?
Video podcasting has been on the rise for some time now, with a major boost from shows
like the Joe Rogan Experience.
Rogan's massive following on YouTube grabbed Spotify's attention, leading them to make
him an offer he couldn't refuse.
Now I'm picturing Spotify executives as the godfather of something, but anyways.
Recognizing the power of video, Spotify added a video option to their platform, showing
that video podcasting is more than a trend, it's a shift in the way people engage with
podcasts.
And at first it may seem strange that a video-centric platform like YouTube would be ideal for podcasting,
but new research suggests that YouTube's popularity among podcast listeners might make it worth
adding to your show.
If it's not already there, as you might know, I'm a big fan of Edison's research, and they
just released some eye-opening podcast data.
According to their findings, 31% of weekly podcast listeners ages 13 and up choose YouTube
as their primary platform for podcasts.
That's a bigger slice than Spotify at 27%, and Apple Podcasts at 15%.
So this data aligns with my own experience as a regular YouTube podcast listener, as
this is kind of the main platform I use for podcasts.
I also use Spotify, but I do have a lot of time spent on YouTube for podcasts and other
YouTube content.
Now personally, I enjoy that I can both watch and listen.
If there's a visual element, like an expression, a chart, or just seeing the host setup, I
can look at the screen and feel more connected to what's happening.
And I'm not alone, Edison's research shows that 72% of podcast listeners actively engage
with video podcasts, meaning they're not just listening passively, they're watching it too.
So should we all just start putting our podcasts on YouTube?
And if so, what's the best approach?
A simple static image with audio, or a fully produced video experience?
Now in my experience, static videos don't perform as well on YouTube.
Yes, they give views, but to fully leverage YouTube, incorporating video is key.
A lot of hosting platforms do allow you to automatically upload to YouTube with a static
image.
But again, it just doesn't provide the views and the reason that people are watching and
listening on YouTube, as does a full fledged video.
Now for someone like me, who's been more traditional with audio only podcasts, this is a bit of
a struggle.
A video version means more effort.
You know, I have to consider my studio setup, background lighting, and of course, put on
pants.
Now, I'm kidding, but seriously, video demands more planning and investment.
High quality video equipment can also be pretty pricey.
And I'm currently in the market for a camera that can upgrade my setup.
But if you check out the podcasting YouTube channel, you'll see my early attempts with
a webcam, and it's functional, but I'm aiming for higher quality.
Now this initial expense can be a hurdle, but the growing appeal of video podcasting
is hard to ignore, especially when trying to build a diverse and engaged audience across
multiple shows like I'm trying to do.
Now speaking of video podcasts, I recently watched an interview with Tim Ferriss, a legend
in the podcast world, where he shares his hesitations about video podcasting.
He says he enjoys the freedom of audio only.
He doesn't have to think about, you know, how he looks on camera, and he can record
from anywhere, allowing his guests to be more comfortable as well.
I totally get Tim's perspective.
There's a simplicity and flexibility in audio that video doesn't quite offer.
But what are the pros and cons of using YouTube as a main platform for your podcast?
The biggest pro is you can take full advantage of YouTube's huge audience and the extra immersion
that video provides.
You can add images or props and backgrounds which help you enhance your podcast.
Video adds another layer of intimacy, helping your viewers relate to you and your content.
YouTube's platform enables you to create a community around your audience with features
like polls, comments and live streaming.
Speaking of live streaming, you can live stream your podcast and get super chats and live
chats.
This not only helps you build a community around your podcast, but can also be a source
of income.
A great example of this is in the movie niche, a YouTuber slash podcaster named John Campia
does a live show every week and takes super chats.
The biggest con I can think of if you're not live streaming is the extra editing that's
required.
So you have to edit a video and not just audio.
But if you use a editor that has a good audio editing function, then you can just export
the edited audio file and upload that to your hosting service.
But there still is some extra editing that is required.
Another con is that podcasting is an audio first medium.
If a radio show starts doing TV, does it become a TV show or stay a radio show?
If you are a traditional podcaster, this could be a big con for you.
In the end, how can we use this data to guide us in reaching our podcasting goals and help
us on our quest to have a successful podcast?
And what might the future hold for YouTube podcasting?
I think YouTube could be a huge source of listeners and viewers for a podcast.
The main advantage in marketing makes it even more appealing, with shorts and shorter videos
acting as marketing for your podcast.
I believe with the abundance of video podcasts and audio first platforms like Spotify, including
video we will see this continue to grow.
I personally would like YouTube to be part of my strategy.
I think YouTube could be a huge source of listeners and viewers for a podcast.
One of the main advantages is marketing.
It makes it even more appealing, with shorts and shorter videos acting as marketing for
your longer content and for your podcast.
I believe the abundance of video podcasts and audio first platforms like Spotify, which
is now including video, will see this continue to grow and I personally would like to use
YouTube as part of my overall strategy.
I thought this was really interesting as far as video podcasting and YouTube specifically
being one of the main platforms for podcasting now.
And it's quite interesting to see that it's even more popular than say Spotify.
I don't know if they took into account other podcast apps and directories, but I'm assuming
that YouTube still would be higher than those.
Now of course they are also counting more of the bigger shows that we are not all included
in unless you're listening Joe Rogan or a lot of the comedy podcasts like Bad Friends
and Tiger Belly and things like that.
Those podcasts are probably what they are looking at more so that are getting a lot
of views.
They're getting up to 500,000 or even a million views in their podcasts.
And one of the strategies they are using is this marketing strategy that I'm talking about
with shorts and short content that allows them to market their podcast on YouTube in
a great way and then the person can just click on the short and that takes them to the live
long form content, the long form podcast, which is great marketing and that's all included
in YouTube.
So if you get on the YouTube platform, you're able to use YouTube not only as the platform
for your podcast, but for marketing as well, right?
Because if somebody is going through the shorts and they see your podcast, that can be great
marketing material for you.
And so that's something that I'm taking into account for myself.
And so I'm hopefully I'm going to try to incorporate YouTube more into my podcasting reluctantly.
I don't know how I'm going to go about it, but I will keep you updated on my journey
into YouTube for podcasting and video podcasting.
It's going to be a hurdle for me because I don't really want to spend the money on a
good high quality camera.
They are not cheap by any means.
And right now I have a great setup for audio and a limited set up for video with a webcam
and OBS.
If you don't know what OBS is, it's a great broadcasting software, which I'd recommend
if you are going to be doing live streaming or YouTube and video, you can just record
on OBS as well.
It also has some great features for audio where you can use a filter to reduce background
noise and you can add a limiter and EQ and all that on OBS while you're recording or
while you're live streaming, which is a great feature.
And there's also studio mode where you can add images and capture windows in your desktop
and a whole lot of cool features.
So OBS is something I'd look at as well.
But that's going to do it for today's episode.
If you guys enjoyed this episode, leave us a comment, leave us a review.
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Good luck on your quest.
Until next time.