With an estimated number of over 2 million active podcasts worldwide, podcast listeners today have access to a substantially wider pool of options than ever before. Naturally, as a podcaster, you would want to have a far-reaching audience, or at least to see your podcast grow. So how can you grow your podcast on Youtube?
Like any brand out there, you have to put in the work to make your platform known and appreciated by your target audience. Brands pay top dollar for advertisements and marketing to create awareness about what they offer and their value to consumers. As a podcaster, YouTube is one way you can use it to gain traction and grow your podcast audience completely for free.
As the second-largest search engine in the world, YouTube boasts 1 billion users every month. This is about 33% of internet users all over the world. YouTube is currently available in 80 languages, meaning that 95% of the global population can use it.
There’s no denying that the audience you are looking for is on YouTube, but how can you reach it, starting completely from scratch? In this article, we would look at 5 methods you can use on YouTube to expand your podcast audience.
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1. Share Your Knowledge Practically
If your topic of interest requires you to showcase your knowledge practically, then YouTube is the perfect place to share demonstrations and tutorials.
Creating tutorial videos on YouTube would help you:
- Diversify your audience.
- Establish yourself as an authoritative figure within your field.
- Put your content out there via a different medium.
The thing about YouTube is that it has an already thriving fan base for different subjects. This means that once you tap into your niche, you will find an eager audience waiting to consume your content.
If you prove to be good at what you do, your newfound audience will develop an interest in your podcast, turning them into listeners.
For instance, if you run a photography podcast, many situations would require you to demonstrate practical knowledge. If you are discussing Canon cameras on your podcast, you might want to demonstrate how to use the different models. If your episode is about editing, you could produce a companion tutorial on how to use the different editing software like Photoshop and Lightroom.
A good example is The Landscape Photography Podcast as run by Nick Page. Nick is a professional photographer with immense experience in landscape photography. In his podcast, he provides tips on matters to do with the same, such as the type of gear to own and different techniques for taking bomb photos. Nick Page demonstrates some of those techniques on his YouTube page Nick Page. Ultimately, his viewers will become eager listeners of his podcast, thus growing his platform.
2. Collaborate With YouTubers in Your Niche
One way of using YouTube to grow your podcast is collaborating with well-established YouTubers in your niche area.
Now, it’s important to highlight that when I say “well-established” I don’t necessarily mean very popular or very big channels. You have to set realistic expectations when it comes to collaborations.
For instance, if you run a podcast about cooking and culinary arts, your dream might be to appear in a video of a renowned YouTube chef, the likes of Gordon Ramsay, which garners millions of views on his cooking YouTube channel, Hell’s Kitchen.
But that’s a long-term goal. As a new creator, you’d have a far better chance to succeed by reaching out to smaller channels with dedicated and loyal fan bases.
Collaborating with YouTubers will bring attention to you and your expertise in the field. It is important, then, to present yourself in an interesting manner. Exude eloquence, skill, and knowledge with the way you carry yourself in the videos. Charisma will also draw the audience towards you, and they will develop an interest in your podcast.
It is beneficial to collaborate with several YouTubers, not just one. Each YouTuber has their audience, so it is wise to connect with as many viewers as you can. Also, learn about how each YouTuber presents their content so that you can fit in the setting and the atmosphere of each video.
How can you outreach for YouTube collaborations?
In order to reach out directly to YouTubers with your proposal, you don’t need to do any advanced search.
Simply follow these steps:
- go to their YouTube channel’s page.
- Click on the “about” tab at the top right.
- In the following screen:
- Click on the “view email address” button, and you’d get their contact details.
3. Use Whiteboard Animation
Whiteboard animation is a type of video that mimics stuff being drawn or written on a school whiteboard. The visuals look hand-written or hand-drawn. Essentially, it is used by video producers to communicate complex information using simple-to-understand graphics.
Whiteboard animations are also popularly referred to as ‘How to Videos.’ This is because they are mostly explainer videos and are very popular on YouTube. Using whiteboard animation to complement your podcast will definitely work to your advantage.
For one, there are YouTube consumers that particularly enjoy watching a whiteboard animation. Thus, they will easily find your content on the platform, which will lead them to your podcast. Only, you have to make the graphics catchy enough for a viewer to want more. You could even add some music to make it more compelling.
The following are the benefits of using whiteboard animation for your podcast videos:
- They are catchy and memorable: The moving graphics will attract and hold a viewer’s attention better than a real video of talking people. In fact, a researcher by the name Dr. Richard Wiseman showed that watching a whiteboard animation is 15% more memorable than watching people talking.
- They are easy to create: You wouldn’t require a degree in animation or expensive equipment to create a whiteboard animation for your podcast. There are whiteboard software and tools that will do all the hard work for you. The most popular ones include Doodly, Animation Studios, and VideoScribe.
- They are fun to watch: Whiteboard animations tend to be fun and light-hearted. Examples include the Redbull whiteboard animation series which aimed at increasing sales, and content 2020 by Coca-Cola, which beautifully illustrates the company’s marketing efforts over the past 6 years.
One particular YouTube channel, Domics, exclusively uses whiteboard animation and has a following of over 7 million subscribers.
- They are versatile: You can use whiteboard animation for virtually any topic under the sun. It matters not whether your podcast is on politics, history, or business. You can also easily upload them to multiple platforms, including your own site and social media profiles as part of your content strategy.
4. Share Full Video Editions of Your Podcast Episodes
This is one of the best ways to grow your podcast.
It involves recording your podcast sessions and uploading them to YouTube. However, there is a catch. Your podcasts recordings have to be interesting to watch, not just listen to. You want to capture the attention of viewers and ultimately grow your audience.
Therefore, this method works well if you have interesting guests and interviewees, such as celebrities, who people would want to see as much as they would love to listen to them. Naming the video “Interview with [Guest Name]” comes in handy for SEO purposes.
The method also works if you have great working chemistry with your co-host, as the energy would be entertaining to watch. If you host the podcast solo, you may want to engage the audience with animated gestures and interesting visuals.
More importantly, you ought to create a visually appealing setting to keep the viewers engaged throughout the podcast. The lighting should be on point, with good quality camera sets that will capture the video from the best angles.
Elsewhere, you could also upload your podcast audios to your YouTube channel. In this case, you don’t necessarily need to shoot a video to go with it. You could use a simple image as a cover for your podcast video and still get neat views, provided your topic and voice are catchy enough.
Nikki Closser of The Portrait System Podcast uses this method and garners handsome views on her YouTube channel.
5. Create Companion / Highlight Videos
If you already have a YouTube channel for your podcast, then companion videos are a smart way to promote your podcast episodes.
Companion videos are short videos that act as extensions of your podcast. They can serve to advertise the podcast by providing snippets (or highlights) of what the podcast is all about, creating curiosity in the audience. Subsequently, viewers will be drawn to the podcast to get the full picture.
Additionally, companion videos help to provide in-depth explanations or perspectives about topics that are being discussed in the podcast. This helps in exploring different angles of different opinions or subtopics. The videos come in handy when the usual episode structure does not allow for such explorations. They flesh out subtopics that come up during discussions.
Another way of using companion videos is by creating trailers to build anticipation for the upcoming podcasts. Usually, trailers highlight the best parts of a video without necessarily giving context. This way, the audience becomes eager to see what it is all about.
Not only do companion videos catch the attention of potential listeners, but they also offer added value to loyal listeners. At the end of it all, they contribute to the growth of your podcast community.
For example, H3H3 is a very popular podcast about online news. They have a YouTube channel dedicated solely to uploading highlights of their podcast episodes, in a short and digestible format.
In Conclusion
YouTube is a great avenue to grow your podcast. From the statistics provided earlier in the article, it is evident that YouTube is a far-reaching platform with numerous users. Using it to promote your podcast will definitely bear fruits, but only if you are creative enough.
Since YouTube is a video platform, it does an excellent job of complementing podcasts, which are all audio. For one, you can decide to record your podcast sessions and upload them on your channel. You could also use whiteboard animation to emphasize points made during the show. Similarly, you can employ companion videos to advertise upcoming episodes and draw audiences to the discussions.
All in all, you ought to be creative about it. Do your research, brainstorm, and choose the best method to connect with your audience.
Chris Moore is an online entrepreneur and the founder of SMBillion.com. He’s been creating YouTube channels since 2010, helping online businesses and brands scale their growth organically and via affiliate programs
