Apple Podcasts Video: The Painful Truth

Apparently, if you're not doing video podcasting right now, then you're basically broadcasting from a cave with a stick.

And some hope.

I mean, that's the vibe that all the podcasting video gurus are perpetuating on a daily basis.

Certainly in places like LinkedIn.

Everyone's acting like adding a camera is the thing that's been holding your show back from success.

It's not your content, it's not your structure.

It's not the fact that you ramble for 12 minutes before you play a 2 1/2 minute long intro before you say anything useful.

No, it's all about the camera.

Here's something that might make these people feel a bit uncomfortable, because this is the truth.

Podcasting Insights Video doesn't fix a weak podcast.

It actually exposes it faster.

Now, it's important you understand there's a difference between being discovered and.

And being delivered.

YouTube is a discovery machine.

You may get loads of views or you might get completely ignored despite having thousands of subscribers, because it's still an algorithm which is in charge, not you and not your community, not the following you've built.

Now, when it comes to podcast apps, they're all about delivery.

That is, someone follows your show, they then get your episode every single time.

There's no begging for the algorithm to play the game with you.

There are no thumbnails, really, that make or break a show.

There's no please like and subscribe or I'll cry.

And here's where people lose the plot around this.

They see video and they think, I need to be on YouTube.

Maybe.

But what you actually need is both sides working together.

Now, everyone seems to stop at the discovery part with YouTube.

It.

It's the biggest search engine second to Google.

Okay, great.

Discovery gives you the attention, but how are you gonna keep that?

That's where delivery comes in.

And this is where Apple's move into video is interesting.

Not because it's gonna kill YouTube off, it won't.

Let's be honest about it, it absolutely cannot.

But because it's doing video without the algorithm.

That is you click subscribe or follow, as it is now within Apple Podcasts.

Well, you do that, you get the video.

Strange concept, I know, but that still works in Apple podcasts.

Here's the bit that most podcasters are kind of screwing up at the moment.

They're bending their entire show around video, and so in the process, they're making the audio that little bit worse.

I mean, we've all heard these shows where all of a sudden the main host is saying, look at this thing here.

And then they're pointing to a screen that we can't see.

Or what do you think of that as someone is showing somebody else a graph?

Let me show you this example.

We hear more than we should.

I mean, it's all brilliant content.

It's just.

It's a shame I'm driving and I can't see a bloody thing.

And shows are in danger of becoming borderline unlistenable because they're building for video first.

That is the trade that you're making with this, whether you realize it or not.

So before you buy lights, cameras, and maybe even a personality if you need it, ask yourself something quite simple.

What is this actually for?

Is it for growth?

Okay, great.

Use video clips, shorts, you know, the stuff that gets put into algorithms.

That's where video does its thing.

It's very difficult to get a audio clip buried in the algorithm and producing results in that way.

Most people scroll past audiograms.

They're old hat.

But if it's for your main podcast, then be careful, because audio still wins in one.

Quite boring, frankly, but very important way.

It fits into people's lives, whether they're driving, they're walking, they're in the gym, they're cooking.

They don't need to look at anything.

There's no demand for attention.

It's just there in their ears, doing its job.

And that's why podcast listeners stick around.

Not because it's flashy, but because it's consistent.

So, no, the answer is you don't need video.

You need strategy.

Use video to get seen, use your podcast to build the relationship.

Mix those up and you'll spend a lot of time making content for people who never come back.

So let me save you a lot of time with all this.

Video won't fix your podcast, it won't make you interesting, it won't make people care more, and it definitely won't rescue a boring episode.

All it does is add a camera to the setup.

So if you're going to use it, use it properly.

Get attention with video, keep it with audio.

I hope you found this episode useful.

If you did, send it on to somebody else who is considering adding video to their content marketing mix.

And until the next episode, good luck with your continuing journey towards pod mastery.