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(By Scott Carson) So, this might come across as a bit biased, but I’ve been involved with video marketing for over a decade now. Well before I knew what a podcast was, I have been creating content and throwing it up on YouTube or Facebook to help draw eyes and ears to my business. It wasn’t until October of 2017 in Las Vegas that I heard Kevin Harrington (of Shark Tank) preach on the merits of adding video to your marketing plan for your business that I really started to take it seriously. It was after that event that I started recording daily Facebook LIVE videos (and what spawned my podcast) and has helped me grow my show faster and more efficient in the past three years with the help of video versus just audio (like most podcasters start off with). Here are the three primary reasons that you MUST (yes, it is a must now) add video to your podcast marketing strategy in 2020.
- Searchability I’m sure that we all want OUR PEOPLE to find us. Yes, those that tune in to what we put out on a weekly basis (and no, your mom doesn’t count for you, but she does count for me). The days of just posting to Apple Podcasts or Spotify and praying for a million downloads or the merit of New & Noteworthy has gone the way of the dodo bird. If you look at the top 100 most visited websites (leave the porn sites off for a different article) you’ll find that only platform for podcasts amongst them in Spotify. But websites with video dominate the top ten with YouTube, Google (YouTube’s daddy), Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Linked In all making the top 20 or higher. When you add in that YouTube is the #2 search engine, then refusing to post your podcast there is just downright ignorant. And while the demographics of podcast listeners is getting larger, older, and more acquainted with podcasts, not everyone (including your grandma) wants to listen. Many people would rather watch videos and discover other useful channels (or shows) via the YouTube. That alone should be worth you at least throwing your podcast on YouTube with some sort of thumbnail at least. Not doing that is choosing not to grow your show.
- Accessibility Video used to be a lot more expensive and difficult to produce years ago and unless you wanted to invest a lot in cameras and time in editing that you probably didn’t have, then video wasn’t for you. But with the 21st century and the improvements in camera equipment and our cellphones, there isn’t really an excuse not to at least add some video to your marketing. And with Facebook Live, Periscope, Instagram TV, YouTube Live and a host of other cheap and free streaming services, video is accessible for everyone to create. It’s the wild west out there in video (just look what’s going on with Tik Tok) and if you can rub together some brain cells, I’m sure that you can figure out an easy way leverage the different video channels (see my previous article on Three Tools). My buddy Adam Schaeuble from the Million Pound Mission Podcast tapes together several old smart phones (donated by friends and family) on a Wi-Fi connection and goes live at the same time on several different platforms.
- Get Over Yourself One of the biggest excuses I hear from people about them refusing to do video is that they hate the way they look and sound on video. Both sexes complain that they don’t want to have to run a comb through their hair, do their makeup, or worry about what they are wearing. They can roll out of bed and record a podcast without having to do all the work of getting “camera ready” for their audience. If your audience was really worried about what you looked like or complained about what you wore, they would probably be spending more of their time on the OTHER top 100 websites that they frequent when no one is around. People identify, listen, and buy from people who they identify with. A mentor of mine told me long ago that “delivered will beat perfect every time. Perfection equals broke.” If Steve Jobs would have launched the perfect iPhone or iPad, we’d still be talking on Nokia’s and listening to music on Walkman’s. You will get better at your message and get over your image fears by practice. If they were looking for Playboy, they’d be somewhere else.
Video doesn’t have to be that difficult to incorporate into your podcast and with the help of video, you can often exponentially grow your shows following on different platforms. Start tracking your engagement on the other platforms besides just how many times hour mom downloads your episode. We saw a 225% increase in our audience when we compared the traffic of our videos to our podcast downloads in the first year of our podcast. That was proof enough that we needed to continue leveraging video with our podcast and audience in the year to come. You never know where your listeners are lurking and what channel that they call home.
Scott Carson is the host of the Note Closers Show Podcast. He can be reached at scott@weclosenotes.com