This week we are talking about video podcasting best practices. What are the best practices for podcasters out there who are trying to start including video with their show?
This is part three of our three-part series, and it is all about video podcasting best practices. We talked about the equipment you need to get set up. We talked about why you should be using video podcasting to begin with.
BEST PRACTICES FOR VIDEO PODCASTING
Now we’re going to get into some best practices. Again, I’m trying to keep this short and simple for you. I don’t want you to be intimidated. This should be easy for podcasters. That is my goal: I want to make this easy for you to transition from being a podcaster to being a video podcaster.
It is my belief that anyone podcasting should have a camera running at the same time. You should have those assets being created that you can use to grow your show in the future.
You may not be ready right now to go live on YouTube, have content on YouTube or have video on social media. However, you should be starting to capture video that you could use in the future when you are ready. That way you’re not creating it from scratch.
RELATED: Why You Should Be Video Podcasting
YOU’VE COMMITTED, SO WHAT IS NEXT?
That’s what we’re talking about today, specifically when you’re getting ready. You’ve taken these steps that we talked about and gotten the right equipment and set up your show.
After you’ve committed to doing this and are ready with just minimal setup as we talked about in the last show, what you’re going to want to figure out is what is going to take me from being “Ready” to being “Done”.
That’s what we’re going to get into, are those best practices from now having video assets to actually getting them onto YouTube and onto social media. What are the things that matter? Specifically, on YouTube, we’re going to focus on that because that’s the easiest transfer of episode content.
BEST PRACTICES TO CONSIDER FOR YOUTUBE
That’s the first place that you could have a new home for your long-form podcast content. There are a lot of podcasters who ask the question, “Should I be repurposing my podcast to YouTube?”
That’s a good question because YouTube is a very different visual. We have people that have amazing camera content, different angles, and they zoom in and out. They do different things.
The reason that is important is it is just another level of interest for your show. When thinking about what is the difference when you’re ready to take that step, I think the first thing we’ve all got to commit to is creating content that makes sense for the channel.
Just taking your podcast and throwing it up on YouTube either as just audio or as raw video footage is not going to work. Those two things are not interesting to watch, not engaging to the audience, and really don’t respect what the power of the platform is.
KEEP PEOPLE ENGAGED WITH YOUR VIDEO PODCAST
If people take the risk and look at your video once, they’re not going to want to watch it a second time. Your goal is to be able to develop a video that is strong enough to keep people coming back and keep them engaged to finish watching your video so that new eyeballs come to your channel.
This isn’t a masterclass on YouTube, but there are three basics that I want you guys to think about just to get you started so you’re not posting random audio and video content on YouTube.
You want to do this, right? You took the step, got the camera, the equipment, have the right lighting, and you recorded this stuff. Here are the three simple things you guys need.
RELATED: Video Podcasting Setup
BEST PRACTICE #1: YOU NEED VIDEO ASSETS
The first is going to be video assets. You’re going to need a couple of little graphical things that help brand your show like a little overlay intro that may be shorter than your podcast intro, maybe an animated intro.
You’ll need a couple of little pop-ups that you can overlay in the middle of your show, some transitions, things that say, “Subscribe to the channel,” things that transition between scenes if needed. Have a couple of simple ones that you could use over and over, as well as an outro to the show.
Those few simple branding elements shouldn’t take long to create. You can outsource those to a designer or download an asset pack from somewhere on Google where they sell those pre-existing.
KEEP YOUR CONTENT INTERESTING AND BRANDED
Those assets take you from just randomly posting content to having things you need to make your visuals more interesting.
When I started thinking about putting my stuff on video, I tried a bunch of different things. I just gave the whole thing to an editor and got it back. I tried to just post the graphic images, then I tried to just post audio. However, I wasn’t proud of it and it wasn’t effective. You could tell why. I didn’t want to watch it. Why would someone else want to watch it?
I gave it to an editor, and that was slightly better, slightly more interesting. However, I realized I didn’t have any consistent branding assets. I needed something to make the show feel connected instead of something that was randomly hodgepodged together.
Those video assets are step one. They are the kind of thing you can have developed for pretty cheap. I would say if you are trying to get there, put that on your checklist of things to do. “I need to create some video brand assets.” That should be step one in your checklist.
RELATED: Build your personal brand with the Content Marketing Starter Guide.
BEST PRACTICE #2: INVEST IN AN EDITOR
Step two on your checklist is to figure out who your editor is going to be. Who is going to edit this footage? You can go directly to Upwork and find an editor there to work with you consistently. I tried a few of those people.
They can be a little expensive and inconsistent. I tried different people from different countries. I started working with someone consistently and then they ghosted me. That could happen when you work with freelancers, especially in different countries. However, it’s an option that maybe will get you started.
Secondly, I interviewed a lot of YouTubers. When I asked them, a bunch of them referred two different companies to me. One was Video Husky, and the other was Vidchops. You can Google those and find them and check out their offerings. I think Video Husky was the one that people recommended the most.
VIDEO EDITORS SAVE YOU TIME AND FRUSTRATION
Essentially what they do is they take all this footage you’ve been saving. You take these video assets that you’ve now built and you send them to the editor.
They take care of all the editing. They’re a company, so you always have someone working on you on your projects. They try to keep someone consistent on your project so that they know all the information you give them. They can apply that to all the upcoming videos after the first one you give them.
Depending on the packages you buy, you could essentially (for $400 a month) get twenty videos edited or something like that, or as many as you need. Yes, it’s an investment. That’s why I say if you’re not ready to spend the money, at least be capturing the video so that later you can give it to them. You can just have them do a bunch of videos from your archives.
That’s going to be the fastest power move to getting your show ready and presentable for a video format for YouTube.
They’re going to do all the extra stuff. They’re going to cut your videos down from being a forty-five-minute interview to being a ten or twenty-minute interview. Maybe it’s two or three ten-minute interviews based on the trains of thought you’re having in your show.
THIS BEST PRACTICE HELPS CREATE INTEREST
They’re going to create different looks. If you have two cameras running, they can take a camera #1 perspective. They can zoom in and out, and could take a camera #2 perspective.
They can get one with you looking at that directly, or they can get one from the side while you are talking to the other camera and just present different points of view that are interesting to the viewers.
With that, they can do some graphic overlays, some transitions, and all the things you might need that bring the show together. They make it in a way that’s quick and delivers a topic to your audience in an interesting way.
It sounds daunting, but guess what? That is not work you have to do. I don’t think any of you should be your own editors, especially if you’re trying to do this consistently. Find the money, invest in the team, go to something like video Husky and have them do this for you consistently.
BEST PRACTICE #3: YOU NEED KEYWORD RESEARCH
The third thing is a little bit of keyword research. You’ll notice that YouTubers and bloggers do that. (Podcasters tend to neglect this.) They think about what people are searching for that they can create to bring their audience to them, that’s relevant to their content and channel.
What’s great is because you’re having this video edited, you might be able to cut it down to the topics within your show that are the most important things, the how-tos, or the quick tidbits of information that are the most interesting.
HOW TO USE KEYWORDS
Now you can think, “How am I going to title this show in a way that makes people want to click it, that’s relevant when searching?”
When people search for how to podcast, I’m going to use the word “Podcast”, “Podcasting”, or “Start a podcast” in that search term. I’m not going to get clever with it and say, “Find freedom in your life through the power of your voice.” That’s interesting and somewhat clever, but it’s not actually going to get you found because that’s not something anyone would ever type into a YouTube search or a Google search for that matter.
What you’re going to want to do is figure out the keywords that represent your brand, that you want to be known for, that people type in when looking for something like you or looking for content like yours.
How do you take that information and embed it not just into the themes of your videos, but also into the titles of your video and into the descriptions of your video so that you can start to rank for these types of shows or these types of words?
THESE BEST PRACTICEs WILL HELP YOU RANK
Also, YouTube asks you specifically, “What are the keywords that you want to rank for? Help us categorize your content.” Thinking about that ahead of time is helpful. If you can’t do it for past shows, in terms of thinking about it ahead of time, you just have to then categorize them as best you can and then look ahead for new shows.
Ask yourself, “Does this show represent a keyword? Is there something that I could be focusing on that really represents my brand, or am I creating random content that doesn’t fit into the context of my show?”
If you’re doing a show about fitness and you randomly talk about your vacation, but you don’t talk about fitness at all, that’s going to be a little jarring and off-topic. It may not fit your channel.
Trying to stay in your lane and thinking about keywords and how they lead your audience to you is important. That’s the last thing.
THE 3 BEST PRACTICES FOR VIDEO PODCASTING
Again, have a few video assets prebuilt for your show. Clip down your footage, have an editor clip your footage down to make sense for the channel, and then leverage the power of keywords to get your show found.
If you’re ready to take that step, this might be what you need to scale your content and take your voice, your brand, to the next level to reach more people quickly using the power of YouTube and Google. These are the two strongest search engines out there.
That’s what I have for you guys today. I hope that helps you think about where you could be taking your podcast. If nothing else, if you’re not ready for that today, at least it gets you thinking about how you can move towards that in the future.
Also, If you are just getting started and need podcast ideas, check out my 10 Podcasting Ideas for Beginners!
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