Awhile back, we put out a post detailing how to use Facebook to promote your podcast. And it got us investigating some creative ways you can use other available platforms to market your show and grow your audience. Today we’re looking at YouTube, and specifically, how creating video content for your podcast can help you expand your reach. 

It must be said at the offset that there are many who don’t think podcasts “work” on YouTube, as the platform centers around video content, and podcasts, by definition, are audio files. But I’m not entering the debate about whether or not a YouTube podcast is, in fact, a podcast or not.

Today I’m going to looking at some of the versatile ways you can use YouTube to expand your podcast community, reach a whole new audience, and build up your authority within your niche. You’ll see that if done well, starting a YouTube channel in conjunction with your podcast could help you offer your existing audience bucket loads of new, valuable content, and amp up your show’s overall value factor. 

Here are some of the top ways you can use YouTube to grow your podcast audience.

Related read: The Whys, Whens, And Hows Of Video Podcasting

1. Share Video Editions of Your Podcast Episodes

The first way to use YouTube to grow your podcast audience is simply by starting a video podcast. This is the most traditional video version of podcasting and involves recording and uploading a video featuring footage of your podcast as you’re recording it. This format works really well if your podcast features interviews of interesting guests that viewers would enjoy seeing as much as hearing. Or if you co-host the podcast and there’s great energy and chemistry between you.

Viewers can then enjoy seeing your chemistry and interactions as much as your listeners enjoy hearing it. You can, of course, also have a video podcast as a solo host, but you’ll need to be quite animated as you film and find ways to engage with the viewers in order to capture their attention. To help create that engaging content for this type of video podcasting, you will need to create a setting that is visually appealing and find the best camera set up to capture the recording from the best angle possible.

If you do decide to go the route of a straightforward video podcast, you should first do some YouTube research to ensure that there will be a new audience to reach with your content with this format.

2. Share Key Points

If you are not sure that reproducing a video version of your whole podcast episode on YouTube will draw in a new audience, then you could consider using your YouTube channel to share key points from your episodes. Joe Rogan, possibly the most famous podcaster around at present, used this method with incredible success. In general, an episode of Joe Rogan’s podcast can be anywhere from an hour and a half to well over two and a half hours.

Now, your average YouTube viewer probably won’t sit and watch a video of that length, but they will watch short videos focused on certain key points that they find interesting. Once they’re hooked on your bite-sized portions, there is a high chance that they will move over to being part of your podcast community to get the full episode in the audio version. 

3. Flesh Out Topics

You could also use your YouTube channel to create videos that are companions or extensions of your podcast. This could be a great way to reach a whole new audience with your new video content and draw them back to the podcast to get the full picture. Sometimes within your podcast episodes, you would want to explore topics more in-depth or look at subtopics from other angles, but it’s not possible within your usual episode structure.

You could consider creating videos that explore different angles, flesh out subpoints, or elaborate on tangents that pop up during your discussion. These videos would be able to serve a new audience, give added value to your loyal listeners, and, most importantly, help grow the community around your show. 

4. Share Practical Demonstrations or Tutorials

If your topic or niche lends itself to tutorials or demonstrations, these could be a really effective way to diversify your content and grow your audience. Through these types of videos, you could reach a whole new audience, showcase your content in a new way, and help establish yourself as an authoritative voice within your niche. Whether you have a foodie-focused podcast, one that shares your passion and pitfalls as an artist or a crafter, or perhaps you use your podcast to share your expert knowledge in the engineering field, topics such as these could all lend themselves to tutorials or other types of practical demonstration videos that you can then upload to your YouTube channel.

One of the greatest qualities of the YouTube platform is that it is filled with a vast variety of subsets catering to specific hobbies, all with an already-thriving fan base, you just need to tap into the right niche and you will find eager viewers reach with your content. For example, one of the biggest YouTube subsets is BookTube, which focuses, as the name suggests, on all things books.

If your podcast is all about your love and evaluations of classic literature, or anything of a bookish nature, there will already be a whole audience ready and waiting to consume your content. It will then be the natural next step for your YouTube subscribers to become eager podcast listeners. Demonstration-type videos provide a whole scope of opportunities to establish yourself as an authority within your niche and share your knowledge of and passion for your subject matter, besides being a really fun, interactive way to repurpose and diversify your content.

Related read: Top Podcasts For Makers And Creators

5. Create Discussion Videos

Our last strategy for using YouTube to grow your podcast audience is to use the platform to share discussion type videos that tie into your podcast episodes. Your discussions could be centered around topics covered in your episodes, or on topics or ideas that link up or tie into your subject matter. You could find a whole new audience interested in your discussion topics that could then be directed back to your podcast to hear more about what you have to say on the subject, or to hear more about your guest’s point of view.

Discussion-style videos add value to your current audience by giving them even more of your valuable content, and they are attractive to a whole new audience who enjoy these types of “knowledge-sharing” videos on the YouTube platform. They also serve to help you establish your authority as these types of discussion videos show another angle of your knowledge, and they can also help showcase your passion and expertise within your niche. 

Before we bring this post in for landing, we need to share some “do’s” and “don’ts” that you should bear in mind if you decide to take up the challenge of sharing content on YouTube…

Some Do’s and Don’ts

No matter how you choose to use YouTube to grow your podcast audience, a few Do’s and Don’ts apply…

Do:

1. Maintain a High Standard

If you’re going to branch out into the wonderful world of YouTube, your first “Do” is to maintain a high standard. This refers to both the content you create for the platform as well as how you put your video together. Your videos must be of high quality if you’re going to successfully use them to draw the viewers to your podcast or keep them subscribed to your channel.

Obviously, your content must be engaging and valuable, but the overall product must also look and sound great. Now, you don’t need a top-of-the-line camera or recording equipment, but you do need to ensure that whatever you use produces a high-quality video with clear sound. As you’re competing with so many content creators, you need to make sure that your offerings maintain a high level of excellence and can hold their own against all that’s out there. 

2. Get Creative

As you have seen from the above, there is really no one-size-fits-all approach to using YouTube as an extension of or companion to your podcast. At the end of the day, the only limit to how you can use the platform is your creativity. You don’t need a whole lot of expensive resources, a professional videographer, or a degree in filmmaking.

All you really need is your passion, your dedication, and a healthy dose of your creative juices to create something that viewers find value in, and that keeps them coming back and tuning in episode after episode. With a little out-of-the-box thinking, you could come up with unique ways to promote your podcast via YouTube!

3. Have Fun

Above all, no matter how you choose to use the platform, HAVE FUN! When your audience sees you having a great time making your videos – whether it’s an interview, a tutorial, or a discussion – they will, without a doubt, have a great time watching your channel and engaging with your content. If your audience sees you genuinely enjoying what you’re doing, and genuinely striving to put together the best show, whether on your actual podcast or via YouTube, they’ll stick around and become a part of your loyal podcast community. 

Don’ts:

There is really only one vital “Don’t” when it comes to putting videos up on YouTube to help expand your podcast audience, and that is simply:

Don’t Use Static Images With Your Podcast Audio and Call it A Video

Okay, so that’s a pretty big title, but this is a pretty big NO-NO! If you’re wanting to use YouTube as an extension of your podcast and successfully grow your audience, you will need to create high-quality videos. Simply putting a waveform and your podcast logo on the screen with your podcast audio is just not going to cut it and is something that should NOT go on YouTube. I repeat: these types of “video” should NOT go on YouTube!

YouTube is filled with so much high-quality video content that in order for you to use the platform with any success, you’re going to need to also create high-quality, engaging video content. If you’re not willing or able to put the time and effort into creating that engaging, visually-appealing content, you will most certainly be disappointed with the results (if any) of your journey into YouTube. 

Closing Thoughts

The reality is that YouTube provides a whole new world of opportunities for traditional podcasters. Whether you decide to start sharing high-quality video recordings of your audio podcast episodes, or you decide to diversify your content and turn it into creative YouTube videos in their own right, the opportunities and possibilities really are endless.

If you’re looking for a creative challenge or want to tap into an as-yet-unreached audience, starting a YouTube channel in conjunction with your podcast might just be that next step that brings huge growth to your current reach. Take some time to brainstorm, get that thinking cap on, and start to dream up some ideas of how your show could be experienced in video format. Who knows? This could be the start of another great chapter in your adventure in podcasting! 

If you’re all pumped up to give video a go, but you’re unsure how to do so amidst the current restrictions, then check our post covering all the basics of How To Create A Video Podcast From Home for all you need and then some!