Two years ago the answer to should I do video podcasting would have been NO! Back then video podcasting done effectively was far too expensive.
But with the arrival of LIVE Streaming to YouTube, LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook, video podcasting has now moved up on marketers “Gotta Do Right Now” list.
The cost of video podcasting is still more than just straight-up podcasting, but now podcasters have to have both audio-only podcasting and quality produced video podcasts. The question now becomes…can you afford not to have a video podcast produced? This answer is now… NO!
Why Video Podcasting?
What caused the push to video podcasting?
- Consumers adapt quickly to new and more quality-focused social media content. They also search for trustworthy content. Podcasting offers the content consumers are looking for…but does not deliver the trustworthiness video provides.
- Podcast advertisers also felt their product or services were better marketed using video. This mean sponsors of podcasts were not interested in the marketers who only use podcasting to market their content. If a podcaster did not have a quality produced video podcast to go along with their audio-only podcast sponsors would pass on advertising.
Thus, video podcasting gained traction and is now a much better digital marketing strategy.
Does video podcasting threaten the pioneers of audio-only podcasting?… Yes! Are the people who have spent a lot of time and money on podcasting going to start whining that Video Podcasting is not as popular as podcasting?… Yes! Are you going to believe them?… Sadly, Probably.
Going to Have to Get With the Program
Fortunately, I am not one who lets whining influence me. What convinced me that video podcasting was a more powerful media for social media is what the people are telling me why they want to produce quality video podcasting.
Here is what I have found out over the last year since we starting offering both podcasting and video podcasting services.
- 85% of the people I talk to over the past year are former podcasters coming to us for our video podcasts service. The rest are marketers wanting to start off with Video Podcasting.
- 90% state their reason for the change was due to their consumer’s demand for higher quality visual content.
- 40% said that podcasting and all of the digital marketing needed to get listeners was not what they did professionally and felt it was why their strategy was failing. They found it made better sense and was more profitable if they paid professionals to carry the load of producing a more consumer pleasing video podcast.
- 65% felt the money spent on camera, lighting, audio, and maintenance of the equipment was better spent on paying for professionals to produce their video podcasting.
- 80% felt having their message produced and delivered to both the video and podcasting platforms was a stronger digital marketing strategy.
- 75% liked the fact that the video footage of the video podcast could be also be used to produce shorter videos for their social media content.
But You Have To Do It Right
What also was found over the past year was not a surprise was podcasters who were videoing their podcasts were being told by their listeners that they did not like having to look at someone on camera wearing huge headphones and talking into a huge microphone that was put in their face.
Watching the behind the scenes of podcasting was fun for about 15 minutes. After that, the distraction of looking at someone sitting in a closet wearing huge headsets in front of a huge mic with a spit guard covering most of their face gave consumers another reason to CLICK off the video and move on to programming that met their needs. Those needs are always based on quality. Quality set up, quality audio…quality lighting…quality background visuals and ….quality camera production.
This meant consumers
- Quickly left a video podcast that had audio issues…low volume, room echo, static,..etc.
- Click off video podcasts if the lighting of a video is bad…the person standing in front of a window that has the sunlight shining in…or sitting in their living room with a desk lamp or halo ring in their face.
- Will quickly key on items in the background of a video…the whale harpoon you have leaning in the corner of your bedroom…the furry jacket you have hanging in your closet…the photo of your grandmother on the wall of your living room…or a political poster you have posted in your office. All of these will result in the consumer missing the point of what you are saying or..CLICK…they are gone because they feel you are not taking your business seriously.
- Are tired of smartphone and web-cam videos…handheld, dashboard-mounted, produced in portrait format..etc. Those formats and techniques were all good the first time they were used…but now turn consumers off because they are not unique anymore.
There obviously are many reasons why marketers are moving from podcasting to quality produced video podcasting.
The bottomline was all of these marketers:
- Managed their time better by coming into the controlled environment of a studio at a scheduled time. Produce one to four video podcasts at a time and walk out in an hour or so to go do what they do for a living.
- Did not have to worry about doing any set-up or tear down of equipment…nor any investment in the expensive cameras, lighting, and audio needed to produce a video podcast.
- Did not have to take the hour, or hours, more of time to edit the audio and video.
- Did not have to take the time to upload the audio to their podcasting host and then the video to YouTube, LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook.
- Did not have to maintain and optimize their digital footprint.
- And the ROI from their time invested and an increase in consumer engagement are far better than when they did all of this themselves.
All of this clearly shows why you should be doing video podcasting. So stop the whining and get started.
If you would like to learn more about how to get started in video podcasting or where you can go to get started, contact SyncLab Media, synclabmedia.com
Let me know how I can help.
