In late 2023 YouTube announced that Google Podcasts would be closing in favor of increasing investment into the podcast experience on YouTube Music – but what exactly does that mean?
For many people in podcasting, this wasn’t a huge surprise as YouTube has started to carve a name for itself in the audio world over the last few years.
Flashback to 2022 when YouTube launched a dedicated homepage just for podcasts, and in March 2023, it was announced that podcast tools are now available on YouTube Studio, showing the world that podcasts are top of mind for the platform.
Tellingly, Edison Research found that 23% of weekly podcast listeners in the U.S. prefer to listen to podcasts on YouTube – when looking at Google Podcasts that number is only 4%.
If that number wasn’t convincing enough, in July 2023, Veritonic released a report revealing that 65% of people who watch a podcast on YouTube are consuming it for the first time and that 54% of listeners like to consume podcasts on YouTube to see the hosts and guests interact.
Branded podcasts and YouTube
All of that’s to say that it’s clear that YouTube is a growing platform for podcast growth and tapping into new audiences.
Despite there being endless listening platforms that can share your podcasts globally, YouTube offers unique features that allow your brand to reach even bigger audiences – ones you simply can’t with just an audio format.
Brands have started to take advantage of the opportunity. While in 2019 only 17% of podcasts were leveraging video, it’s been reported that 85% of companies captured video for their podcasts in 2023.
But if your brand hasn’t turned to YouTube yet - don’t worry! Riverside’s Future of Video Podcasting for Brands report reveals that over 84% of brands surveyed think that video will be a central part of their future podcast strategy, so you’re not too late to hop on the video bandwagon.
To help you and your brand decide whether YouTube is right for your series, we put together our top 8 reasons why your brand should be using YouTube podcasts in 2024.
1. Audience size
YouTube is the second most used social networking site, right after Facebook. As of 2024, YouTube boasts over 2.7 billion active users. With 5x as many users as podcasting platforms, the platform represents a massive opportunity for audience growth.
Another key aspect is that because it’s visual, you’re able to attract visual learners. Some of these audiences would never download an audio-only episode, but the visual nature of YouTube allows them to stay engaged, stimulated, and connected (far more than if your brand only used audio).
In fact, nearly a third (32%) of Americans prefer listening to podcasts with video — increasing to 46% among podcast listeners who listened to a podcast within the last month.
2. Audience feedback from YouTube comments
Typically, audio streaming sites don’t have any feedback from the users, except for Apple’s Ratings & Reviews. But that’s not enough for you as a brand to improve your content or have a true understanding of how your content is resonating with audiences.
YouTube is more like a community where people can interact with you. Rather than podcasting being a one-way conversation, you open it up to two-way dialogue.
There’s no need for audiences to email or search for you through other social sites. They can simply comment in the comment section. This exchange allows your viewers to feel more connected to your brand because they have access to you.
3. Likes and dislikes
Apart from comments, another very telling metric for your podcast is likes and dislikes – which YouTube provides! Truly a dream feature in the audio world to be able to understand which content is resonating with your audience and which isn’t.
On listening apps, typically you only have a star rating to go off of. Otherwise, you’ll have to dive into your consumption rate and drop-off points to find out which content is meeting the mark. While diving into deeper podcast metrics is extremely important, like and dislike counts are a great way to tell right off the bat whether your audience is enjoying your episodes.
This sort of consumer feedback is invaluable and can continue to inform your future brand content, format, and guests.
4. Google rankings via YouTube SEO
YouTube is consistently ranked as one of the most visited sites in the world. If your brand is using the right keywords, tags, titles, and descriptors then you would naturally rank higher on Google.
The best news?
Google shows YouTube content on the first-page search results for relevant keywords. It’s a missed SEO opportunity for your brand to not be capitalizing on these advantages by having your podcast on YouTube.
We suggest optimizing video titles, descriptions, tags, and closed captions to improve SEO and increase visibility.
CoHost tip: If you’re interested in learning more about how to optimize your podcast SEO on search engines and listening apps, check out our full guide.
5. Analytics around listener profiles
Unlike most podcasting platforms, YouTube provides you with valuable analytics that you can use to learn more about your audience (apart from comments, likes, and dislikes that we covered earlier!). You can get insight into who watched your videos, how they found you, and how long they watched the videos.
Aside from a few data-driven hosting platforms, this type of data is not available from most podcasting tools that can often only tell you the number of times your show was downloaded.
Understanding who your listener profile is, how they’re finding you, and at what point they jump off, allows you to zero in on the content and topics that are resonating and also tweak content based on the gender and age profile that is tuning in.
CoHost tip: If you’re interested in learning more about podcast analytics and how to maximize and calculate your podcast ROI, check out our full guide.
6. Protected content
Content ID is a unique feature on YouTube, which allows copyright owners to take down any content they find that they own. This feature prevents others from stealing your brand’s content and making revenue from it.
For podcasters, Content ID offers several benefits:
- Protects your original content from unauthorized use or duplication on YouTube
- Enables podcasters to monetize their content through ad placements on videos that include their material
- Provides valuable insights into viewership metrics, allowing you to understand audience demographics and engagement levels better
7. Increased accessibility
What makes YouTube such an obvious choice for your brand is how easy it is to use. The reason it’s popular across age demographics is because:
- It’s easy to search and view videos
- Doesn’t require any sign-ups
- It’s free!
Much like podcast listening apps, viewers can access YouTube content anytime, anywhere, from the device of their choice. Whether on the go or at home, users can seamlessly stream videos, engage with creators, and discover new content across various devices, enhancing the overall viewing experience.
8. Social media
Lastly, video formats are far more conducive to social media than audio formats.
Autoplay videos without sound are a common feature in social media feeds. We suggest sharing YouTube video snippets or highlights from your podcast on platforms like Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn to maximize your reach.
In fact, over half of podcast listeners say they learn about new podcasts on social media, making it a very useful channel to attract attention, generate engagement, and drive traffic back to your full podcast episodes (whether on YouTube or other listening apps).
CoHost tip: If you’re looking to speed up your content repurposing process, check out our blog where we go over how AI can help you repurpose your podcast content across various channels – including social media.
How a podcast agency can help you leverage video
In 2024, 43% of marketers report not having in-house resources as their main barrier to diving into video.
We understand the extra time, effort, and budget that’s required to add a video element to your podcast. If you’re not already, look at working with a podcast agency to help you manage, produce, and promote both the audio and video content for your show.
Here are just a few benefits that come along with partnering with a podcast agency:
- Experience and industry knowledge
- Piggyback on their credibility
- Access to additional resources like audio engineers, editors, videographers, and podcast hosting and analytics tools
- A robust network for guest sourcing and arranging promotional opportunities
- Time savings
- Professional-grade quality
CoHost tip: If you’re interested in seeing how a podcast agency can help your brand create a visual story that makes an impact, reach out to the Quill team.
Should your brand be on YouTube podcasts?
It’s clear that brands only have more to gain than lose by being on YouTube. Besides, in 2024, not leveraging video is a missed opportunity for your brand as that’s where a lot of your current and future consumers are.
Remember: 62% of businesses leverage YouTube as a channel to post video content. You want to be part of this wave (because your competition definitely will be).
