With over 3.4 million podcasts and billions of content minutes available, it is increasingly difficult to connect with listeners and grow your audience, despite record interest and listenership.
The challenge isn’t just creating content—it’s getting that content in front of listeners and keeping them engaged. For many podcasters, simply releasing full-length episodes isn’t enough. People are consuming content faster than ever, and attention spans are shrinking. How do you get new listeners to notice your show, and how do you keep them coming back?
That’s where podcast clips come in. Podcast clips are short, targeted snippets that give potential listeners a quick preview of what your show has to offer. Instead of asking for a full episode commitment upfront, you’re giving them a taste—a way to hook them into your content by highlighting its most engaging moments. Clips don’t just improve discoverability; they help you extend the value of every episode by creating bite-sized pieces of content that are easy to share across platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.
And, most importantly, podcast clips are not designed to create “viral” moments. Podcast clips are all about aiding in podcast discovery and fostering deeper connections with future and current audiences.
In this blog, we’ll break down why creating podcast clips should be part of your strategy, along with a step-by-step guide on how to create them—whether you’re focusing on video clips or audio clips. With the right approach, podcast clips can help you grow your audience, boost engagement, and make sure your show stands out in the crowded podcasting space.
1. Why Create Podcast Clips?
Before we start, let’s look at some reasons you should consider making clips for your podcast.
Podcast Clips Help Capture Attention Fast
Research shows that attention spans are shrinking—the average person now has an attention span of just 8 seconds. That’s less than a goldfish! With so much content available, listeners are less likely to commit to a full-length episode upfront. Clips allow podcasters to grab attention quickly. They offer a quick, engaging preview of your podcast, much like a movie trailer.
Data Insight: Video clips under 2 minutes see the highest engagement rates, according to recent studies. This makes podcast clips an ideal tool for catching potential listeners’ attention when they don’t have time to listen to a full episode.
Podcast Clips Extend the Life of Each Episode
Every episode you produce represents hours of work, from research and recording to editing and publishing. Podcast clips maximize the value of that work by allowing you to break episodes into smaller, shareable segments. By turning key moments into standalone content, you stretch the reach of each episode across multiple platforms while extending an episode’s lifespan.
Data Insight: Posts with video content receive 10x more engagement than text-only posts on social media. Sharing podcast clips across social media platforms and YouTube can significantly increase engagement and visibility for each episode.
Podcast Clips Fit Today’s Content Consumption Habits
The way people consume content has shifted towards short-form, video-driven experiences. Platforms like Instagram Reels, TikTok, and YouTube Shorts thrive on content that can be consumed quickly and easily. Podcast clips fit right into these trends, making them an ideal format for reaching audiences who prefer shorter, bite-sized content.
Data Insight: 95% of marketers report that short-form video content is the most effective type of social media post. Clips of your podcast can tap into this growing consumer preference, helping you reach more listeners and potential listeners.
2. How to Create Podcast Clips
Now that you understand why clips are so effective let’s dive into how to create them. Whether you’re looking to increase discoverability or repurpose your content for different platforms, the process of creating podcast clips can be simple and efficient with the right tools.
Step 1: Decide How You’ll Create Podcast Clips
Before diving into the actual clip creation, podcasters must decide whether they’ll focus on video clips, audio-only clips, or a combination of both. Each format has its benefits depending on your podcast’s setup, the platforms you want to target, and the resources available to you.
Step 2: Select Clipping Tools
Once you’ve decided how you’ll create podcast clips, you’ll need to pick a clipping tool or software to help you create clips that match your needs.
First, it is important to decide how exactly you’ll want to produce and create podcast clips. Podcasters can create clips from both audio and video shows; however, not all tools support both mediums. It is important to pick a clipping tool that will work for your skill level, your needs, and your budget (don’t worry—free is an option!).
There are several user-friendly tools designed to help podcasters create clips quickly and easily:
- Headliner: A popular tool for creating podcast clips, Headliner allows you to upload your audio and video, select key moments, and automatically generate video clips with captions and other branding elements. It’s perfect for social media sharing.
- Descript: Descript offers a transcript-based editing feature, allowing you to cut clips directly from the text. This tool is useful for identifying and trimming parts of your episode.
- Adobe Premiere Pro: If you’re familiar with video editing, Adobe Premiere Pro gives you full control over the look and feel of your clips, with options to add branding elements and graphics.
Pro Tip: Aim for clips that are 30 seconds to 2 minutes long. These lengths work well across platforms and ensure that your content remains engaging without overstaying its welcome. Clips at this length also tend to have higher retention rates, about 50% to be exact.
Step 3: Optimize for Each Platform
Different platforms have different requirements and best practices for video content. Make sure to optimize your podcast clips for each platform you’re using:
- Instagram: Use square (1:1) or vertical (9:16) formats for Instagram posts, stories, and Reels. Standalone videos on Instagram cannot be longer than 90 seconds.
- TikTok: TikTok only allows for vertical (9:16) formats. You may upload horizontal content, but it will be cropped to fit the mobile-first platform screen dimensions. On TikTok, you may post podcast clips that are up to 10 minutes long.
- YouTube Shorts: Like TikTok, YouTube Shorts accepts vertical (9:16) podcast clips. In a recent update, YouTube announced Shorts will now support videos up to 3 minutes long.
Additionally, be mindful of content best practices for each platform. Each platform is a little different in terms of how it pushes and recommends content to viewers! You can learn more about that here.
Pro Tip: 92% of mobile users watch videos with the sound off. Adding captions ensures your content is more consumable and accessible to everyone. You also ensure everyone can enjoy your podcast videos and clips at a time and place convenient to them.
Step 4: Be patient and be consistent
The key to building an engaged audience is consistency and intention. Posting regularly helps keep your podcast at the top of your mind and allows you to maintain a constant presence on social media.
And, when creating podcast clips, you don’t need to worry about creating super high-quality videos in terms of production. 84% of people say they care more about a video’s story than its production quality. Aka, a good story wins!
Step 5: Analyze and Adjust
After posting your clips, pay attention to how they perform. Most platforms offer built-in analytics that shows metrics like views, likes, shares, and comments. Use this data to learn which types of clips engage your audience the most and get insights about ideal posting times, lengths, and formats.
For example, if your data shows that clips with guest interactions perform better than solo moments, you can adjust your future content strategy accordingly. Experimenting with different types of content will help you refine your approach and keep your audience engaged.
Pro Tip: Keep clips short and sweet. While platforms like TikTok allow for longer videos, shorter clips, 90 seconds or less, tend to have the best success.
Create Podcast Clips and Grow Your Podcast
Podcast clips are more than just a way to promote your latest episode—they’re a powerful tool for growing your audience, repurposing content, and engaging listeners where they already spend their time.
With so much content competing for attention, creating short, targeted clips allows you to capture new listeners, keep current listeners engaged, and get the most value out of each episode. Whether you’re producing video clips to engage viewers on platforms like YouTube and TikTok, or audiograms to keep things simple yet effective, clips offer an easy way to repurpose content and reach more people.
By creating clips, you’re not just boosting your podcast’s visibility—you’re aligning your content with the way people prefer to consume media today. The tools to create clips, like Headliner, make the process simple, and the benefits are clear. Clips extend the life of your content, improve engagement, and increase discoverability.
If you haven’t started creating podcast clips yet, now’s the time. With the right strategy, podcast clips can turn casual scrollers into long-term listeners. Podcast clips help your podcast stand out in a crowded market.
So, what are you waiting for? Create podcast clips, and watch your audience grow.
