We’re talking about podcasting trends for 2021 and how to set yourself up for a great year of podcasting. For all my podcasters out there, content creators, and anyone thinking about starting a podcast, this is the show for you. Pay attention to what’s happening in the world around you.
Today I’m breaking it down for you. Let’s jump into it. What do I see happening? The best way to judge a trend is to see what is happening right now in the world. That is what you can expect to continue happening and to grow at scale.
Related: Click here to get your FREE Podcasting 101 Starter Kit
Here are three things that I see happening right now. Video podcasting, repurposing your content, and branded podcasts.
2021 PODCASTING TREND #1: VIDEO PODCASTING
Let’s start with this video podcasting. That could be confusing for some people. Isn’t video podcasting just YouTube? No, it’s not, and here’s why.
When you are creating your content, you are building it with podcasting in mind. You are building it to be consumed in the audio format first. Therefore you are concerned about how it sounds.
You’re concerned that the show is built in a way that keeps people engaged for forty minutes if that’s how your podcast is structured, which most of them are. You’re concerned about the interviews and how you’re going to get the most out of your guests. Then you are thinking about how this translates into other formats.
However, video is going to be a huge part of this. How do we leverage video to:
a) show up in other channels like YouTube and get found by the search engines?
b) add content to our website that makes it more interesting?
c) take that video and use it as shorter clips and snippets that can be interesting for promoting your show on social media?
THIS 2021 PODCASTING TREND IS A HUGE OPPORTUNITY
Video podcasting is the next step. If you’re a podcaster, it should be obvious that this is a huge opportunity. You don’t have to change much of what you’re doing. You already have a computer in front of you and a microphone. All you need to do is buy a webcam that costs less than a hundred dollars and stick it on top of your computer and press record.
Obviously, I’m simplifying things. It can be a little more complicated than that. That’s why I just did a three-part series on video podcasting, Why You Should Video Podcast, the Things You Need to Set Up, and How To Convert Your Show from podcasts to the other media channels.
Those will help you get started, but why is this so important? Why is video podcasting a trend? Number one, podcasters (for most of us that aren’t the top ten shows in the world) need to find more eyeballs and “earballs” for our show. We need more people listening.
The way to do that is to diversify, to get ourselves across other channels. Video is a great resource to get you there. It is a great source file to convert into lots of different things.
On top of that, when you can add video to your show, you now open yourself up to getting a little more creative with the types of content you’re creating. You can be thinking about how this translates to other channels.
THE 2021 VIDEO PODCASTING TREND BRINGS MORE ENGAGEMENT
Now the great thing about video is it is the top engaged-with format for other channels. YouTube obviously is all video. However, even your social channels, your stories on Instagram and Facebook, embedded posts on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn, vertical video on TikTok, all these things can originate from one source.
Why would you want to create across all channels? Start with one source. To do that, video is going to be your source file.
I do believe in people starting with podcasting before they start with the video. What does that mean? It means sometimes you need to learn how to find your voice. Cameras can be intimidating. Lighting can be intimidating. If you start by podcasting first, you develop the skills you need to then eventually transition.
However, you have to plan to transition. If you only keep yourself in the podcasting world and never think about how to share your story on social media, YouTube, and build a blog with video that matters on your website, you are missing the opportunity to reach people.
THESE 2021 PODCASTING TRENDS BRING IN MORE AUDIENCES
There are other people that haven’t converted to podcasting. Maybe they have, but they’re not spending all their time there. They’re still spending a ton of time on social media and other channels. To take advantage of that, to capitalize on your reach and be everywhere, you need to have a video podcast.
The top brands you think of when you’re out there purchasing from the big companies are companies that I’ve worked for, like Apple and Coca-Cola. I’ve worked on their media planning and brand strategy. Everyone thinks about advertising with them.
The thing they know how to do that no one thinks about is distribution. They are amazing distribution companies.
Number one, they put their products everywhere people can find them. Number two, they find channels to put their advertising on that everyone sees. They think, “How do we reach as many people as possible, the fastest and easiest way possible?”
They think about distribution. If you want to buy a Coca-Cola, it’s not just at the grocery store. It’s at the grocery store on the front shelves and at the checkout lines. Beyond that, it’s also at the gas stations. It’s at the movie theaters and at the theme parks.
It is literally at every convenience store. You can’t walk a couple of blocks without being able to buy a Coca-Cola. They created a massive distribution system.
RELATED: Build your personal brand with the Content Marketing Starter Guide.
FOLLOW 2021 PODCASTING TRENDS AND BE DISCOVERED
Your content is your product as a podcaster. You need to figure out a way to distribute your content. Like Coca-Cola distributes their bottles, how do you get it everywhere?
That’s not simply distributing your podcast to all the podcast players. That doesn’t mean people are finding it. That’s like writing a book and sticking it on the back shelf of a bookstore. No one will ever find that book. You’ve still got to put it in other places that people are actually spending their time.
That means you’ve got to go and put your podcast on social media where people are spending their time. The majority of people’s time is spent on Facebook and Instagram. There is more time going to TikTok now, but it’s still not even close to Facebook and Instagram.
Then YouTube is just doing an amazing job of serving your content up to people, and also Google search. Google search and YouTube search are the number one ways you could be found. Video is going to help you get there.
2021 PODCASTING TREND #2: REPURPOSING YOUR CONTENT
Repurposing is the second trend that I want to convey to you guys today. Repurposing is simply multi-channel distribution. It is what we were just talking about. This is how you take your pillar content (your raw source material) and distribute it everywhere.
This is all without having to recreate new content for Facebook or for TikTok, new content for articles on LinkedIn, new content for articles on your website, long-form videos on YouTube, short-form videos on YouTube, stories, and every different version, et cetera…
That is a lot of work to independently create those individually over and over again. You need a source file and then the repurposing can happen.
You can start with that video podcast that we just talked about. Take your most full version of it and have that edited to where it sounds good, looks good, and is readable. Make YouTube videos, podcasts, and blogs out of them. That’s the original content in its best form.
You can chop it up into shorter form content like stories, shorter blogs, five to ten-minute videos that follow a train of thought that keep your content to a particular subject, because to be honest, most of us go on tangents and talk about lots of things for forty minutes.
Pick one train of thought, isolate it and create one show from that. Now you’ve got two or three different mid-length pieces of content from that one piece. Put that everywhere.
THIS 2021 PODCASTING TREND WILL SAVE YOU TIME!
Then you have short-form, which is your shortest of the short. It’s the one-minute or less video clips, highlights, quotes, and graphics that pull out the little key moments that really stand out and grab the emotions in your content.
You put those everywhere and can schedule that out with social media schedulers, but the point is, you are creating content that is prolific and everywhere. You did that because you recorded one hour of content.
Now I do have a resource. If you guys want to know how to take one hour of content and convert it into one month of content, just go to brandsonbrands.com/toolkit. I’ve walked through the steps there for you guys. That’s there to serve you. It’s free. Just download the link.
Repurposing is where I’m focusing a lot of time because not only is it so effective, but also I think people are scared because it can seem difficult. It can seem daunting to turn one piece of content into so many pieces of content, but there are simple systems and tools that are already out there for you to take advantage of.
USE THIS 2021 PODCASTING TREND TO OUTSOURCE
Now, if you are the one-stop-shop and you are the person doing all the work on your show yourself, you can still leverage tools to help you get this stuff done quickly.
However, I’m hoping that a lot of you are creators out there that have realized the benefit of outsourcing. I hope that you have found the opportunity to leverage virtual assistants, graphic designers, and editors for blogs and for video.
You are leveraging that talent pool that is all over our country and other countries across the world to efficiently get your content produced and distributed where you can just be the creator.
Maybe you don’t have a budget for that, but I’ll tell you for as little as sometimes $15 an hour or less, you can have someone for ten hours a week taking care of everything for you, really doing everything. You might want to specialize and have an audio editor just doing that part, but you can figure that out.
Figure out what your budget is. Maybe for a hundred dollars a week, you can get all of this done. Then if that’s not your budget and you need something smaller than that, you can do some of it yourself and then pay someone to do the other piece you really don’t want to do. Work up to that.
REPURPOSING CONTENT IS A GROWING TREND
Repurposing I’d say is the secret skill that everyone that’s anyone is leaning into. Again, it’s a mix of the systems you set up. It’s a mix of the tools that you use to help you get it done and the talent you use to help you execute the process. That’s repurposing in a nutshell, and I hope you guys take advantage of it.
It’s made leaps and bounds for my business and content distribution on my end. Repurposing is the second thing you’re going to see more and more people do. It’s getting easier and easier and there are companies out there helping people with it right now.
I’ll mention by the way, if you guys need help with that and you just aren’t sure where to get started, hit me up. Go to brandsonbrands.com/coach. Set up a time to talk with me. Maybe I can help you get your systems up and running so that you can be working as a content engine, instead of just a creator that’s doing everything themselves. Hit me up if you guys want to check that out.
2021 PODCASTING TREND #3: BRANDED PODCASTS
Lastly is branded podcasts. This is the last trend that we’ll talk about today. This means, how do you leverage a podcast to build your brand, the brand of you, or the brand of your business?
This is happening a lot already. Companies are realizing that content is the lifeblood of their business. It is what’s driving attention to their business. Like you or anyone else, they need to be found. If they want people to buy their products, they need the attention of the consumer.
How do you get attention? It’s simple. You have a great message that speaks to your audience. You put it into the places where people are actually spending their time. Message and attention, combine those two and you have a marketing plan.
HOW TO MAKE YOUR PODCAST A BRANDED PODCAST
Now to be a branded podcast, obviously your company needs to find a story or an angle that really works for how they create content.
Maybe for some companies, or if you’re an independent entrepreneur, it is your educational content. It is the content of, “How to do this.” Maybe it’s just informational content resources, like how to find these other things.
If you are a business that is more of a retail business or something like that, you are looking at, “How do we entertain and bring in an audience that is looking to be entertained?” Perhaps you are someone that’s a little more aspirational. Then you’re building content that just inspires and motivates people.
You can decide that. Figure out how you carve out a niche that is authentic to you, speaks to your brand core values, and offers value in some way that your audience is looking for from you. Are they looking for you to help them with information, inspiration, or some kind of education?
THIS 2021 PODCASTING TREND CAN APPLY TO ANYONE
At the end of the day, what can you step up and own to build your brand and around? There are some logistics to that. You’ve got to figure out who’s hosting this? Is it someone you’re paying, maybe someone that works for your company? Is it the CEO? Where does that tie in?
Maybe you have a company where your personal brand, the leadership of the company, and the company’s business are intricately tied together. That would make a lot of sense to then have them as the host of the podcast.
Or you can outsource it to someone who’s just good. They know your industry enough that they can bring the guests on and interview them and bring experts on and talk about these things.
They can have interviews or they could just be solo shows that you curate and produce. The value is all of these things you create are now thought leadership content for your business. They are entertainment, or they are some kind of source material that leads people to you as you being the content creator.
Instead of you paying to put ads in front of things that other people created, (which is effective,) you are creating something organic that is integrated into the community of your audience.
USE THIS 2021 PODCASTING TREND TO CREATE COMMUNITY
Let me give you an example. This isn’t the first time this has happened. This has been happening for a long time. Red Bull is a company that did this.
Red Bull realized that they needed to beat out the other massive caffeine soda companies. They realized they needed to tap into the community of their customers. Red Bull needed to be a part of their culture and realized that Xsports and extreme sports were a part of that culture.
They said, “You know what? Let’s throw the events, be a part of the events, and sponsor the events. Let us create the events that are so integrally tied to our customers.”
They are now synonymous with extreme sports. Then that turned into other things, other stunts and things that they went beyond.
However, it started with this mindset of, “I am not going to just advertise to my customer. I’m going to build experiences with my customer and for my customer. I’m going to be a part of their community instead of speaking to their community.”
A media platform like a podcast can be the groundwork for you to do that. It can be the source material for you to have content that feeds your website, that feeds your social media, that fills all those channels, and creates community and engagement with your audience.
THESE 2021 PODCASTING TRENDS ARE THE ONES TO FOLLOW
That’s what is happening these days. You’ll see a lot of brands now starting to create and that have already created podcasts. They have jumped to the top of the charts because they also have money to put behind ads to prop these platforms up and to send their audience to that.
Once they have the audience one time, they are now subscribers. Instead of paying for an ad every time, they are now building an audience that accumulates over time and becomes part of their world instead of just someone watching TV. That’s the magic and the power of creating your own media platforms.
Your immediate platforms can still be events, which is a huge budget for a lot of companies. It can still be short form content and TV shows, which are harder to and more expensive to produce. It can still be social media posts.
However, if you create something that’s more platform-oriented, like a YouTube channel or a podcast, you’re going to be better off for it.
Podcasts are a pretty low commitment. Start to test the waters and get your footing to see are we going the right way? Can we optimize this better to really be what our audience is looking for from us?
Branded podcasts, I think, are a huge trend for 2021. I’m excited to see how this grows and develops.
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