“Podcasts or YouTube? Which is better for me?”
I was asked to comment on a client’s idea of doing a podcast recently. And of course, you don’t ask a marketer something like that without expecting a long answer. I saved the long version for you, dear reader. And here it is.
Podcasts or YouTube?
The set up cost for a plain unadorned podcast is relatively small (with sound editing, that’s a per podcast expense of maybe 1-2 hours). The only problem is that podcasts have waned in popularity (they never were really that popular–even with B2B).
Video (on YouTube) is the real trend going forward. In fact, marketing gurus are telling content makers to factor more time to add in video and, if anything, to subtract that extra time out of other forms of content. Plus, video is more beneficial to your site traffic than a podcast could ever be. Videos get on regular web search results, whereas podcasts are unnoticeable even when they do (rarely) make it onto regular web search results.
What podcasts are good for
Podcasts are great for radio-style news commentary or for digital eggheads, like philosophy or history buffs. I’m personally a bit like that (I love all three), but I’ve still honestly never really gotten into listening to podcasts, per se, even the really cool ones, because YouTube seems way more intuitive and easy for free online content (I use Audible for audiobooks–easy note-taking). YouTube’s already a branded utility in the mind of the average media consumer, much as Google is for “flat” search.Additionally, podcasts have never actually captured a mainstream audience, unlike radio, which still has a captive audience (think commuters). But who is the captive audience for a podcast? Even when I worked in a hip little anarchist-infested bookstore as a college student, the radio was typically what was on. Okay, so yes they might be doing the podcast route these days, but radios are still cheap low tech, so…yeah maybe they would still be using a radio.
YouTube Video
With video, even if the video visuals are largely just powerpoint or a simple splash screen…people are hanging out on YouTube to consume content now…not iTunes. People on YouTube are there to watch a lot of videos at a single sitting or on their break. I’d recommend that if you’re considering trying out a podcast, you simply convert that idea to the YouTube video format. You’ll want eye-capturing, ear-enchanting videos for your YouTube channel.Twitter as Amplifier & Networking Tool
You really need to be using Twitter to personally network actively. Lots of owners out there would sooner trust a consultant (or any brand) with a face and a name out front, someone they actually share with weekly or now and then and who regularly gives them value without actually asking for anything.
How to do Twitter Effectively
Brands need a face and a name on Twitter to get the traction for the business usually. That is the essence of true social media marketing. Chris Brogan has called it being a “trust agent” for your brand via social media. And while the newbess of social media and Twitter have rubbed off a bit, it’s still an utterly viable must-have, much like email marketing.
It’s not just about visibility and repetition of a message like an advertisement, it’s more about trust through value received. That’s why I encourage my clients to have a personal Twitter account and to actually network with it and use it to become a solution provider to those with industry-relevant questions. There lies much of your untapped email list members, future followers, future repeat clients and business partners.
How to do YouTube
The thing about video is that it’s a medium that’s designed to point to and link up with other mediums. You can riff off your Quora account for video show episode material and share with Twitter and Facebook.
Quora?
Yes, Quora. For consultants or educators, Quora is great for search visibility and social media (it is a social platform, of course).
Quora is a big missed opportunity for most consultants. A site full of people asking questions about what you sell. Each answer becoming a search result with a link to your site or your YouTube channel. That seems like an easy one to bag and keep going. Like little monuments to your ability to provide what your ideal prospect actually is looking for, strewn all over the internet. Again, it’s a value thing, but you can still mention that you provide those services at the end or in your profile boilerplate. That’s plenty of sell already, and all that really comes off well on a third-party site.
YouTube’s Huge Traffic Potential
YouTube channel promotion can greatly help site traffic. And then there’s the fact that YouTube is often overlooked as the largest audience search engine in its own space. More and more millennials choose YouTube as search engine over Google. That’s probably the biggest search trend, and one we always recommend to our clients who mature as regular digital marketing clients.
