Video Podcast: Why You Need One
There are 5 Million podcasts available today. Some databases like Spotify even report numbers upwards of 5 million! With all that competition, how can your podcast stand out?
It’s not with gimmicky effects or perfect sound mixing. It’s expanding the platforms your content is available on.
What’s the most effective way to do this? Stop making your podcast exclusively audio content. Grow your reach exponentially by making video podcast content.
Video marketing is accelerating massively in 2023. Right now, 96% of marketers report that video is important to their strategy.
But the beauty of video podcasts is that they don’t have to be flashy. You don’t need film-level cinematography to catch viewers’ attention. The goal is to add a face to your audio content.
In this brief guide, we’ll cover six benefits of making a video podcast. Read on for why you need to add video to your podcast and how to do it.
1. Reach a Wider Audience
Think of the number of people your business podcast currently reaches. Is this number split over multiple podcast channels? Likely you have listeners from both Spotify and Apple tuning in.
What if you could add even more channels? Your audience would grow massively.
When you create video content, you have new places to share it. TikTok, Instagram, and even Facebook are built for viewing and sharing video content. And these social media sites are where the average American spends over 2 hours every day.
To get consumers’ attention, you need to force yourself into that social media time.
2. An Affordable Upgrade
One of the biggest arguments favoring video podcasts is how affordable the jump is.
Generally speaking, any new marketing initiative requires a considerable investment. It involves an expensive, multi-stage process right from conceptualization through to creation.
But with an audio podcast, you already have the content! The planning, the scripting – it’s all been done. All you have to do is add a camera to the process and you have new marketing material at your fingertips.
Best of all, it doesn’t even require expensive equipment. Even some smartphones today have 4K cameras that produce clear images.
With barely any extra spending required – the planning is done, and equipment is affordable – adding video to your show is a no-brainer! It ensures you get the most value for your marketing out of every episode you produce.
3. Become Recognizable
The mere-exposure effect is the psychological phenomenon of liking things we know. It’s also known as the familiarity effect. It means that the more we’re exposed to a sound, smell, taste, face, or other stimuli, the more we like it.
This applies to voices to some extent. For example, you may prefer a voice on the radio that you’ve heard many times to a new one.
But over half of our brain’s surface is dedicated to visual processing. So if you don’t use visuals, like video, you’re missing out on the biggest opportunity to develop familiarity.
Videos let viewers become familiar with your face, brand, and other visuals in your videos. The more they see it, the more they’ll enjoy and want to interact with it. Plus, they’ll become familiar with your voice, as they would in an audio-only format.
4. More Willing Guests
Inviting guests to feature in your podcast is a fantastic way to expand your audience.
If the guest has their own online following, they will promote the video to their audience. That draws new people to your content and your business. Even if they don’t, inviting guests adds credibility, painting you as more of an authority in the industry.
The larger your following, the more likely they’ll agree to the guest appearance. And adding videos to your podcast grows your following! Therefore, guests will be more willing to join you on a video podcast than an audio-only one.
5. Opportunity for Branding
How can you brand an audio-only podcast? Perhaps you use a jingle or iconic sound effect in the introduction.
But this is a dated method, especially considering how short the modern attention span is. Padding out your audio with anything other than information could cost you listeners.
You also have the opportunity to brand the thumbnail that identifies your podcast. But that is just one image. And the text you can attach is limited to the format of the podcast site.
In contrast, video has endless opportunities to promote your brand.
The background of the video is completely customizable. You could use it to display artwork, furniture, and even lighting that promotes your brand. You can also wear clothing featuring your logo or brand imagery.
If you prefer subtlety, video podcast production still allows you to present an image. The clothes you wear and the décor you choose paint a vivid picture of your company’s values, tone, and goals.
To illustrate, imagine a brightly colored video background. There sits a podcaster wearing a baseball cap and a t-shirt. Are you preparing for a fun, light-hearted podcast or a serious one?
In contrast, picture podcasters in smart-casual attire in a minimalist but tasteful room. Imagine them at a wooden table, on an expensive white sofa, with large plants in the background.
Suddenly, you perceive them as a business or tech company pushing the envelope.
All of these branding messages aren’t possible with audio alone. So take the opportunity to paint a picture of your brand with a carefully designed video setup.
6. Overtake Audio Podcast Competitors
Podcasting with video is growing more popular every year. Eventually, every sector will be saturated with podcasts specializing in marketing their services. And as demand grows, so will the standard amongst competitors.
Video podcasting is an immediate step ahead of everyone else. Every audio-only podcast in your field will lack the familiarity, authority, and audience you have. Then, when someone searches for content like yours, you’ll stand out to serious clients and casual viewers alike.
How to Create a Video Podcast
Video podcasts are an unmissable upgrade from their audio counterparts. But how can you turn your audio podcast into a video podcast? The answer depends on how you record your podcast.
In a studio, many records the organic process.
Solo podcasters film themselves speaking, usually against a background curated for brand promotion. Podcasts with more than one speaker may take the same approach but use multiple camera angles.
Other podcasters record their audio on the move. Perhaps they interview people in the street or at their own workplaces. In these cases, most again, film the process itself as the video content.
In contrast, some podcasters create videos without featuring their faces. This may be a series of short clips that play over the audio to complement the message.
This process is more time-consuming and expensive, and it doesn’t promote your face. While it’s not the most effective method, it’s popular nonetheless.
How to Optimize Your Video Podcast
Each social media platform favors different types of video. YouTube is the king of long-form video content. Viewers will happily tune in for an hour or more because that’s what they expect from YouTube.
This is the most straightforward kind of video content to produce. It still requires work but is a direct match for your podcast.
However, TikTok and Instagram – where videos go viral – are built for bitesize clips. That involves cutting your content into clips, usually less than a minute long.
The clips you promote depend entirely on the brand you’re building. They could feature:
- The most helpful tips from a video
- An attention-grabbing statistic
- A teaser for the rest of the podcast
- A moment of humor
- Anything else that will grab your audience
These videos are essential for modern marketing. But video production is a time-consuming process if you’re not a professional producer. Thankfully, we have a solution.
Talk to the Video Podcast Producers
Should you stitch the video podcast together yourself, editing each one for hours on end? Or should you involve an affordable producer that specializes in helping small businesses?
The answer is bringing us, a professional podcast production company, on board.
Let us use our expertise to edit your video marketing in a way that keeps people’s attention. Whether editing, production, coaching, development, or tips and recommendations, our team is ready to help you with your podcast.
Book a FREE strategy call with Two Brothers today!