It’s the Google Search of Content. It’s the third most popular destination for podcasts, citing data from Edison Research. So it’s no surprise that YouTube is finally investing (big time) in podcasts.
The platform announces bold moves into the podcast space by paying content creators for video versions of their episodes — up to $50,000 for individual shows and $300,000 for podcast networks.
Not for nothing, Tom Webster of Edison has been nudging podcast creators to think about YouTube:
The fact that most people listen to audio-only podcasts doesn’t mean that consumption of podcasts on video platforms doesn’t happen. It happens a lot.
Podcasters stand to make significant monetary gains. YouTube is the second most visited website after Google, with 1.7 billion unique visitors per month. Ad reach alone has the potential to reach 2.56 billion users — or 51% of total online users.
Former media partnerships manager Kai Chuk spearheads YouTube’s strategy to draw audio-only audiences to the platform. Plans include a podcast discovery hub and home page, supported by audio ads, analytics, and more to provide podcast creators with new ways to promote their shows while building audiences and ad revenue within their app.
These changes are impactful for both the Indie podcasters to the brands leaning into audio as part of their integrated marketing strategies.
YouTube’s power as a discovery engine is unmatched. Top podcasts, including The Joe Rogan Experience and The H3 podcast, developed huge followings from its discovery algorithm. Users stream 694,000 hours of video every minute, crushing Netflix and other video platforms.
Although many podcasters are now on YouTube with in-studio recordings, millions more exist as audio-only versions on YouTube Music. In 2020, YouTube Music reported 77 million subscribers. Users can listen to free content on YouTube’s app, whereas Premium users pay monthly to stream podcasts and music, in the same way, Spotify and Apple Podcasts do.
While naysayers argue that a podcast video component changes the nature of podcasts, essentially turning them into vlogs, at Share Your Genius, we welcome YouTube’s support. Podcasters who previously avoided the video platform due to financial considerations — the costs of building a studio, hiring editors, developing fully-fledged video channels, etc. — will now be able to grow their shows in a powerful new way.
On the horizon beyond YouTube, TikTok, the world’s fastest-growing app, is looking for an Operations Manager to exploit the growing opportunities in the podcast world. And, Moonbeam, started by Paul English, the former CTO of Kayak, is a new start-up with a TikTok-like interface, allowing users to discover new podcasts by swiping through clips.
What’s Our Take?
- Create audio first content, but make sure you’re capturing it to allow you to leverage YouTube as a destination.
- Track consumption — if you’re seeing growth from YouTube lean into the channel strategically without having to change your show’s premise.
- Design your show to have stand-alone segments to repurpose as separate additional content for YouTube.
- If you’re not thinking about audio — then you’re going to fall behind. It’s not about creating more, but you do need to think about how to leverage your content for a podcasting initiative.
Exclusive insight from Podnews on YouTube’s Podcasting Plan.
