Is your podcast on YouTube? We asked our followers on TikTok (top) and Twitter (bottom) that very, all-important question. Here’s what they said:
Breaking that down – it looks like about 72% of y’all are not on YouTube. BUT the good news is, it looks like y’all have an open mind. (Side note: excuse the overuse of y’all – our writers are based in Nashville, TN 🤠).
For the 20-30% of you already publishing to YouTube – congrats! You’re doing it! To the rest of you, we’re here to help.
At Headliner, we believe YouTube is a powerful podcasting tool that can increase your listener base, open new paths to monetization, and is just part of a strong promotional plan (podmotional if you will). But don’t take our word for it – check out these stats:
- Over 52% of internet users visit YouTube each month
- YouTube is the #2 platform by time spent in the US
- YouTube visitors consume over 1 billion hours of content every day
- YouTube is the second-largest social media platform in the world
And by the way…YouTube is investing in podcasting too! YouTube released its very own podcast destination page, designed to help connect people to their new, favorite podcasts in the US. They also released an official in-depth guide to podcasting on YouTube. The guide walks podcasters through best practices and tips to help optimize content for the traditionally video-based platform.
Still not convinced YouTube is the place for your podcast? That’s okay – we have some additional reasons and research to back our position.
So, why should you upload your podcast to YouTube?
You may not have realized it, but YouTube is the second-largest search engine in the world. In 2022, it was also the most popular podcast discovery and audio streaming platform, beating out established host platforms (like Spotify 🤯).
We believe YouTube is a powerful platform that helps podcasters expand their reach, provides new paths to profit and monetization, and is part of a strong PODMOTIONAL plan.
1. Expand your reach
YouTube is a platform where over 2.24 billion (yes, that’s billion with a “B”) people go to find and discover new content. 8 in 10 social media users report accessing YouTube with the largest user bases found in the US and India. Additionally, people spend a lot of time on it – like, a lot. Over 60% of YouTube users report visiting the platform multiple times per day. Viewers spend an average of 4.9 hours per week, making it the number one social media platform by average time spent!
YouTube’s popularity as a podcast discovery and audio streaming platform has grown exponentially in recent years. It has surpassed established host platforms such as Spotify and Apple Podcasts, becoming the go-to podcast platform for millions. Podcasters everywhere are expanding their reach and getting their content in front of a larger audience on YouTube.
2. Path to profit
Another benefit of uploading your podcast to YouTube is that you can monetize your content in several ways. YouTube empowers creators to turn their passion into profit through placed advertising, merchandise sales, and subscriptions.
The first path to profit is through advertising. Have you ever seen a commercial IN a YouTube video? That is what advertising with YouTube looks like! They do the heavy lifting by inserting advertisements into your video and then splits the profit with you.
Another way is through channel memberships. Channel memberships allow your listeners to join and support your channel with a paid subscription in exchange for exclusive perks or content – so, kind of like an all-in-one Patreon.
Don’t have thousands of views yet? No worries! There are still plenty of ways you can monetize your podcast on YouTube.
You can join the YouTube Affiliate Marketing Program and make money by adding affiliate links in the description area. Simply promote the affiliate links or partners and earn commission on sales. Have your own swag? You can even promote your merch with YouTube Shopping – but here, you can keep the commiss.🤑
It is important to note, channels are subject to eligibility requirements. Check out YouTube’s Monetization for Creators page to learn how you can start turning your podcast into profit.
3. Just good marketing
Omnichannel – what? An omnichannel approach is a strategy that seeks to provide a seamless user experience across touchpoints and builds towards one uniting message. The goal is to provide a cohesive experience with a consistent look and feel across channels – aka, you want your audience to recognize you across your different platforms! And with YouTube’s massive potential, you certainly want to consider adding YouTube to your marketing strategy.
YouTube is one of the most powerful tools for building toward an omnichannel approach because it is such a user-centric platform. The algorithm works in the viewers’ favor looking to serve the most relevant, interesting content based on their interests. YouTube tracks and rewards viewers based on their engagement with content using stuff like – well – likes, comments, and watch time. So the more time they spend on the platform, the better it gets!
It also uses a combination of factors such as the video’s title, tags, description, and engagement to determine a video’s relevance and potential for engagement. So it is important to continuously engage with your audience. Show them you are listening by liking, hearting, or replying to comments they leave on your posts across all touchpoints to boost interactions. Not only will this build a stronger relationship – it increases the time users spend with you, in turn, increasing the likelihood your content will get pulled to new viewers.
In addition to traditional video content, the algorithm also includes audio-only content, like podcasts, in its recommendations. This allows users to discover new audio content that they may be interested in, even if they are not actively searching for it. YouTube allows creators to reach new audiences with their audio content and provides an additional outlet for listeners to connect – furthering the goal of an omnichannel approach.
Headliner is here & happy to help!
We know what you’re thinking – “but I don’t have the time to spend hours and hours editing my podcast for YouTube or the bandwidth to invest in video content.” We totally hear you, why create more work for yourself? Unless you don’t have to…
Headliner has developed easy-to-use solutions to help you get started and can even automate the entire process of uploading your podcast to YouTube. Because you already did the work once – why do it again?
One of our personal favs is the ability to upload your entire back catalog of episodes. All you have to do is input your RSS feed, and we’ll take care of the rest. Headliner will upload your past episodes – up to 3 per day- PLUS we’ll also automatically upload new episodes as they’re released.
Not ready to commit? No worries – our Free members can use this to set up single automation too. So go ahead, test it out on us! 😎
Another great feature is the option to create branded templates. Pro and Basic users can edit one of our templates or design their own with custom watermarks, Google fonts, and intros and outros. Headliner will even optimize your content for all platforms, including YouTube, so you can focus on creating great content.
Interested in seeing how Headliner works in the real world? Check out The Telegraph’s YouTube channel. We have helped stylize, simplify, and automate their upload process enabling them to focus on their podcast and garner hundreds of thousands of views.
See? YouTube is so much more than a platform for finding hilarious cat videos or learning how to “quickly hang wall-paper hassle-free”(lol, good luck with that 😬). YouTube is a powerful podcasting solution that helps you expand your reach, creates new paths to monetization, and is part of a strong promotional plan. And with Headliner, you can seamlessly and automatically get your podcast uploaded to YouTube – no more complicated or expensive workarounds. So go, create! We will be here and ready to help you go from audio to audience on YouTube and beyond!
