Field Notes from Using Video to Grow a Podcast Audience

The more content a host creates, the bigger an audience grows. With that in mind, a host should create videos to grow their audience. Videos are an opportunity for hosts to experiment as creators, and build bigger and more engaged communities. Goals: Create Videos To Grow Audience Creating content leads to people finding Open Podcast. Videos are a new medium with new people to discover content. Convert Video Audience To Listeners Creating videos can lead more people to my podcast. Video platforms do not give creators ownership of content. Which is why converting viewers to listeners is a better strategy. How To Create Videos For Podcast Create Videos Related To Podcast’s Content The type of content a host can create is videos that relate to their podcast. People that have an interest in those videos most likely will have an interest in the podcast. For example, I create videos about podcasting. I have created a video showing viewers how to upload a podcast to the most popular podcast players. The idea is that people who are looking to set up a podcast are starting out on their podcasting journey. They might want some tips on how to podcast, and my podcast might provide the advice that the viewers want. Create Videos Based On Most Search For Results About A Topic Some websites will show the most searched for results based on keywords. if I type in "podcast" to these websites, they will show me things such as "Where to get an RSS feed" or "how to launch a podcast." This is how I get my content ideas. Fill Out Description, Tags, And Channel Every video platform has users create a channel, add a description to the videos, and search tags. Hosts need to add content to these spaces to increase the visibility of their videos. Adding content to these spaces makes a host's videos more relevant in the search results. For example, if a viewer is searching for "Dogs and Web Development." A host can create a video around that topic. The host's video will be more likely to show up if the channel's information is in place. Upload Podcast Episodes As Video Files Some people choose to listen to podcasts on video platforms. Be more accommodating to them by converting the audio file to video. The listening platform does not matter. Only that people listen to the podcast. If a host wants people to listen to their podcast, they should make it as easy as possible. Use Screen Recording Software For Tutorials To create tutorials, a host needs screen recording software. On some operating systems, screen recording software comes out of the box. Before recording, check for sensitive information in plain view on the screen. Put anything sensitive into a folder. Organize Videos Into Playlist A host should take videos that are similar subjects and put them in a playlist. The reason is that a host can give the playlist a title, and the playlist is searchable. Share Videos With Current Audience To Get First Views The platform's algorithms do not suggest brand new channels. A workaround is to send videos to the podcast's audience to get the first few views. Keywords In Titles A host should put the keywords that they find from their content searches in the title. A host should make it as easy as possible for people to find their videos. Benefits Use As A Lead Magnet A host can use the videos created as an incentive to get email subscribers for the podcast. A host can set up a welcome email that will send email subscribers the lead magnet when they sign up. SEO A platform's algorithm promotes videos from channels that write a channel description. The channel will lead to more views from search engines. A channel's description creates trust and authority with a search engine's algorithm. Bigger Audience There are more video viewers than podcast listeners. A host can use the video platform to get viewers to become podcast listeners. A host can use their videos to convert viewers into podcast listeners. Detailed Analytics Video platforms have more analytics than in the podcast industry. A host can see analytics that can help to improve content. Analytics, such as traffic sources, real-time views, and average view time. Exclusive Content The video platform is not a host's main platform. This means a host can experiment on the platform. A host can rearrange the titles to test which titles get more clicks. For example, if the title of the episode goes first or the title of the podcast. A host can experiment with content. A host can create unrelated content to the regular content. Using the video audience to test the popularity of the new content. Giving viewers look at "exclusive content." Other Content Creators Might Join OP Other content creators might view a host's content. The content creators may enjoy the content and join their audience. After, the creators might buy the host's product. Potential Income Source A host can make money from the videos that they create. By working with a platform and allow ads. The ads will play either before or after the video. A company might be willing to sponsor videos that the host makes. A host can add a donation button to the description of their videos, viewers might donate. A host can sell something to their video audience. Items such as stickers or t-shirts, or sell the same items that would appeal to the podcast audience. Problems: Competition On video platforms, there are millions of creators and billions of videos. A host has to figure out a way to stand out in the crowd of a billion videos. The solution is the same as blogging, figure out how to make the videos stand out. That solution can be the same as blogging, using dogs. Put a dog in the thumbnail of a video or create content around dogs. For example, I could create a video "How to Upload a Dog Podcast to Major Podcast Players." Visual Element Making videos is like blogging, there is a visual element. People have to sit down and be ready to watch a video. Especially tutorials because people need to go over the videos step by step. To create a good tutorial video, a host should take lots of pauses. The pauses allow viewers to pause the video and do the steps. Without the pauses a viewer has to spend time re-watching each step. Then, once they catch up they have to find the time in the video to continue. Less Control The video platforms maintain ownership of the content on the platforms. Once a creator's video is not up to the platform's standard, their algorithm will hide the video. The video will not show in search results. There is nothing a host can do once the algorithm starts to hide videos. Pay The Troll Toll Depending on a video's topic, there might be people that will leave bad comments on the videos. There are several courses of action to deal with this situation. One solution is to not allow comments on videos. The problem with this is a solution that comments allow a channel to rank higher in the search results. Banning comments adds to the difficulty of ranking high. The other solution is to ban certain words from videos. People will find a way around the solution if they want to put effort into making a comment. They might use numbers instead of letters or accent marks. A host might not get bad comments at all on videos. It is best to deal with this problem as it occurs. Need Big Audience To Monetize The big platforms want to prevent creators with obscene content from making money. The platforms have high standards for content that they want viewers to watch. A channel needs thousands of views and subscribers to make money with the platform. Creators can bypass the platform by using other monetization methods. The creators would have to be proactive in using other monetization methods. Need To Constantly Be Adding Videos To Stay High In Ranks Most video platforms want to show videos from active content creators. For that reason, the algorithms tend to favor channels that post new videos. This is a problem if a host wants to stop making videos but wants to leave the channel up to make money. Sometime in the future, those videos will fall out of favor with the algorithm. The videos will stop getting views and money for the host. Comedians Comedians use videos to grow their audience. Some comedians record their performances. They will cut up the performance by jokes and post the individual jokes on the video platforms. Several comedians will post videos of them dealing with hecklers. Hoping that viewers like their jokes and will come to their show when the comedian goes to the viewer's city. A comedian's job is to go from city to city. The videos help them fill seats in venues worldwide. Conclusion Content is the name of the game. Podcasting and video creation have similar attributes. Every host should consider making videos for their audience. The videos have several uses, such as finding new listeners or being a lead magnet. A host can learn from creating videos and take those lessons to improve their podcast. -- This post is an excerpt from the Open Podcast Community book. Which is available for purchase here .