197 | Why 3 Million YouTube Views Didn't Boost My Podcast

[00:00:00] Over on my YouTube channel for Podtastic Audio, two of my most recent short form videos just hit over 1 million views each, bringing my channel to well over 3 million views total. I got tons of hype, new subscribers, but almost no bump in podcast downloads. What happened? Well, let's dive in and find out.

[00:00:31] Sound matters. Be heard. Welcome to the podcast where you get exclusive behind the scenes tips to make your own show sound truly spectacular. This is Podtastic Audio. What's happening? How are you doing today? Thank you so much for being here. I truly do mean that. Thank you. I do appreciate you spending your time with me today. And I am Chris and yeah, this is Podtastic Audio.

[00:01:01] This show right here, I designed it and I created it to help you. Yes, you, the Indie Hobby Podcaster, you make an amazing show for your audience. And one amazing tool to help you make that happen is Riverside.fm. Today's episode is brought to you by Riverside, the platform that I use to make my podcast right here sound crystal clear and look professional every single time. So let's talk about it. Is YouTube actually a podcast platform?

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[00:01:47] You get video quality audio plus high res 4k video and their one click video editor makes trimming, capturing and all kinds of cool little magic clips with ease. Easy peasy. Plus, multi track editing gives you full control over every single voice on your show. So whether you're going all in on video or keeping it classic with audio, Riverside gives you the tools to look and sound your best.

[00:02:14] You can try it right now for free. But if you're ready to upgrade, you can use my promo code PODTASTIC for an extra 15% off any paid plan. Check that out. If YouTube wants to be your podcast platform, make sure your show is ready for the spotlight with Riverside.fm.

[00:02:34] You know, when somebody says I have a podcast and for most of us, most hobby indie podcasters that do a regular RSS podcast, podcasting classic, I like to call it. But for most of us, when someone says I have a podcast, you assume, oh, where is it in Apple? Where is it in Spotify? Where is it in iHeart? Where is it in Amazon Music? Where is it on the regular podcast apps?

[00:02:56] And then they'll send you a YouTube link and say, there's my podcast. And you'll say, well, hey, is there like an audio RSS regular podcast version of this thing or is this only on YouTube? Oh, they say, well, it's just on YouTube right now. That's where we do it. I get it. I understand. YouTube makes it very, very easy. So the term podcast has been increasingly difficult to define. Historically, you know, podcasts were audio shows only, audio only available on demand.

[00:03:23] But now somewhere around the ballpark of, let's just say, 52% of people consider YouTube only podcasts, or should I say YouTube video only shows as podcasts. And 72% believe recordings available on platforms like YouTube, Spotify, and yes, even Apple Podcasts. Well, they also count.

[00:03:45] So this shift complicates matters for advertisers who are already struggling to categorize their budgets and track ad performance across different formats. You know, for us indie hobby podcasters here, this raises important questions. Should you start creating video content? Will it help you grow your audience? Or is it just another trend that may not even pay off in the long run?

[00:04:10] Recently at the latest podcast movement, Podcast Evolutions, all I ever heard people talk about was video and video and more video. It seems like every presentation I heard about was video this and video that. It's all you got to be on video. You got to do video and video everything. But do you really have to be on video?

[00:04:30] You know, when I'm creating a podcast, I love audio podcasting mostly probably because I am actually doing other things than sitting and watching something on a screen. I'm like doing the dishes or I'm driving. Most of my podcast consumption is done while I'm driving. So I love YouTube, yes, but I think we have to think of it as two separate platforms. Because they are two separate platforms. Things that work on YouTube may never work on an audio podcast.

[00:05:00] And things that work on audio podcasts may never actually work on like a video platform. But hey, listen, you can do your show however you want. If you enjoy making video first podcast content and dumping it onto YouTube because it's free and they give you 4K, 8K. Do they do 8K on YouTube now? Maybe they do, but I do definitely know 4K is available. I've posted 4K stuff on there. Great.

[00:05:26] But if you want to do video podcasting and then maybe take the audio side of things and dump it onto a podcast platform, a regular audio host, and do the audio side there, that's great. Just remember that not all of your audience is going to be watching the thing you're saying. So if you're going to be doing the video side of things, just be aware of things like, hey, check out this cool shirt I'm wearing. Oh, look at that thing. Look at your hat, dude. That's so funny. Oh, what's that thing behind you? That looks so cool. Yeah. Don't do things like that.

[00:05:53] Remember, focus on audio first. In other words, describe the thing you're talking about to the audio audience before you say, look at this one cool thing or look at this video or whatever. That's just a little side tangent if you're going to do like the video podcasting stuff. But you may not know this. Well, maybe you do. I don't know. But I have a YouTube channel for Podtastic Audio. I've had a few different YouTube channels. Not for this show, but I've had ones for my original channel.

[00:06:21] I started that thing back in what was like 2007, 2006. Somewhere around then, I started a YouTube channel over there. Way before Google probably bought it. Way back in the day. I had a YouTube channel. I would just post things on there. I like videos, like creating fun videos. Just stuff I would share with family and friends. And never even thinking about this being like this mega channel that would explode with millions and millions of views.

[00:06:44] I think even back then in the early days of YouTube, I don't think like content creator was even like thing people were really thinking about. Maybe blogging was a thing, but I don't know. Anyway, so on my Podtastic Audio channel, my YouTube channel, I should say, it's kind of been a mishmash of things that almost like an experiment, like a testing bed or creative playground. That's probably a better word to say. Yeah. So I've been treating my YouTube channel for Podtastic Audio as this creative playground.

[00:07:11] I upload my podcast episodes, you know, video interviews that I've done with Riverside. They all go right there on my YouTube channel. And recently, I've been playing and experimenting with shorts. You know, those short form videos that are vertical TikTok style or Instagram Reels style, things like that. So I would take clips thanks to Riverside, put them in there, and they do the editing right there within Riverside Studio. Give me little magic clips. I put those right on YouTube and other things too.

[00:07:38] I've really been experimenting with short form video on YouTube, aka the shorts. And they have not have all been just my podcast stuff. I do a lot of funny videos, a lot of memes. I love memes. And I was thinking about this the other day. When I'm scrolling, say, Instagram, I'm going through all the reels and things like that. Like, what makes me stop to scroll are like funny videos, like funny things or, you know, not just so much someone talking.

[00:08:04] Like the ones where it's like the interview style, which are probably the ones most of us podcasters post, which are like the two talking heads doing the back and forth. You know, whether it's on a Riverside or anywhere else. Those ones, sometimes I'll stop, but more than likely than not, I would probably pass by those. And I love like the memes and the funny stuff. So I started posting a lot of those on my YouTube channel.

[00:08:27] And what I have noticed a trend is that people seem to like those videos more than the podcasting type of videos. And I'm the same way too. Listen, I like those kind of videos too. That's why I post much more like, and that's why I enjoy those videos. And to my surprise over the last few weeks, my last two shorts videos that I posted on YouTube, each now have over 1 million views a piece. Yeah.

[00:08:57] So my channel now, my little podcast channel on YouTube, which basically is mostly audio stuff and a lot of other fun fluff stuff, actually now has over 3.2 million views on my YouTube channel. You're probably thinking, holy crap, that's a lot of views. What would I do with that many views on my YouTube channel? Over 3 million and counting. By the time this show goes out, it may have 4 million. I don't know. It's climbing every day. Every day I see new numbers.

[00:09:27] But does it make a difference? Does it do anything for me? Like having all these millions of views on my channel, like does it? I did see a slight bump in subscribers. I'm going to give you that. Like a slight bump. Not a ton, but maybe a few hundred new subscribers to my channel. Okay, that's great. That's cool. I get it. Yeah. But I did notice a ton, and I mean a ton of comments on both of those videos. I was getting these email notifications from YouTube saying, oh, new comment, new comment, new comment.

[00:09:56] I'm talking thousands of them flooding my inbox. Eventually, I had to turn it off because it was too many to keep up with. I go in there and give them a few likes and things like that, but thousands of comments for those two YouTube videos I posted. Now you're thinking, yeah, that sounds great. That sounds amazing. That obviously must have increased your downloads of your podcast because it's all connected, right? Right? Well, actually, it didn't.

[00:10:26] That's the thing. What this experiment taught me is that while video content can increase visibility, it doesn't necessarily convert viewers into podcast listeners. So what does this mean for us indie hobby podcasters? Well, you can experiment with video. You know, you can use platforms like YouTube, like Instagram, like whatever you want.

[00:10:51] But specifically speaking about YouTube here, you can test different content formats, shorts, interviews, behind the scenes clips to attract new viewers. And I mean, come on now. Who doesn't want 3.5.7 point whatever million different views on your YouTube channel? It looks great. It looks like big numbers are always looking great. We love them. But if these big numbers don't do anything for you, then they're just numbers on the screen. That's all they are.

[00:11:19] So focus on your strengths. If audio is your forte, then continue creating high quality podcast episodes. Video should complement, not replace your core content. Let me say that again for you in the back. Video should complement your content and not replace it. Because everything starts with good content. Whatever your content is, whatever your show is, it all starts with really good content.

[00:11:48] And I think the video side of things should really kind of complement the content. Let's just say you are a movie review show, right? There's plenty of those out there. Now, if you're talking about an old movie, say Jaws, for example. Jaws is very popular. Came out in like the 70s. Great. So if you're talking about Jaws and you're talking about your favorite scenes of the movie, if you had a video component to that where you were showing clips of Jaws while you were

[00:12:15] talking about Jaws, that kind of makes sense. It complements what you're talking about. But you do not need to show the clip for us at home listening to understand what you're talking about. So in that scenario, a video clip of the movie would complement the content of your actual podcast. They kind of go hand in hand in that way, but it's not necessary. You don't have to do that. You don't have to do video.

[00:12:44] Hey, here's another thing you can do. It's very simple. We all can do this. Actually, engage with your audience. What? That's like a no-brainer there, really? Yeah, you can use video to build your community. But remember that meaningful engagement often happens through consistent quality audio content. People come to listen to podcasts because they want companionship. They don't want to be alone.

[00:13:11] When you're driving, you listen to the radio, you listen to music, and yes, you probably listen to podcasts too. And there's two parts to this. One is because, yes, you're going from point A to point B, and that makes a perfect time to listen to an audio podcast. But secondly, when you're in the car by yourself going on a long trip somewhere, we listen to podcasts for companionship. They have somebody sitting there with us telling us stuff, talking to us, talking directly to

[00:13:40] us. So when you create your podcast, try to talk directly to you, that one person, not everybody. Don't get this everybody talk. Like, hey, everybody, ladies and gentlemen out there in podcast land, how are you all listeners out there? Try to avoid that stuff. Try to talk specifically to one person. I know it can be difficult to do. Trust me, it was for me too. It was kind of a hard mind flip, thinking that I need to talk directly to you and you alone. You're the only one listening right now.

[00:14:09] It's just you and me, just you. So when you do talk to your listener, try to talk to them just like that. So that's why we listen to things while we're driving in the car. So I guess it really comes down to you. What do you like to create? Do you like to create video? Do you like to be on camera? Do you like to get all dolled up and get all special, get your camera out, all your background stuff out, all your cool, crazy lighting, all your cool stuff and be on video because you think you have to be on video? Then do video.

[00:14:39] If you love that stuff, go ahead and do it. Now, I'm telling you right now, creating audio is way, way easier than doing a video show. Way, way easier. But hey, you do you. You do what you think is important. But just remember, people that actually like watch things on social media and watch things on YouTube do not always translate into audio podcast listeners.

[00:15:07] And I know you might see your YouTube channel like mine bump up to millions and millions of views. And you may see that and say, what in the hell am I doing with doing an audio podcast? Obviously, YouTube is the place to be. I mean, look at all those numbers. Look at all those great numbers. You know, YouTube counts numbers like way differently than an audio podcast does. An audio podcast, they really have honed down and really cracked down and tighten things up on the numbers. They may seem smaller.

[00:15:36] It's because they go through so many different filters to get down to what really is a true actual listener of your show. YouTube, who knows what YouTube does over there? I think it's like, like if someone presses play for a second, maybe even not that on a YouTube short, it counts as a view. And I think it's like 30 seconds or less on an actual, you know, actual long play video on YouTube to count as a play over there.

[00:16:02] And if you look at your metrics on your standard video show or video, whatever you're doing on YouTube, you look at the metrics and you see the consumption rate on videos. They are like sad to look at really are. They are so sad. You look at those. You're like, oh my gosh. So basically someone's pressing play and then right after press play, they drop off and they never to be seen again. Great. I get people to press play, but they're not sticking around. And if nobody sticks around, then what's the point? Just so you can get numbers.

[00:16:32] Great. It's all you want is numbers. Well, I would rather have an engaged audience, an audience that communicates, an audience that shares my episodes, an audience that actually appreciates when I create an episode and they say, hey, your podcast is the first thing I listen to when it comes out. I love your show. That is more important to me. That equals more value to me as a content creator than 3.2 or 5 million views, whatever

[00:17:01] it is that right now, those numbers mean nothing without actual engagement. Engagement from real, actual people. People make the difference. We create these shows for people, not bots, that give you big inflated numbers into the millions that do nobody any good. I get it. Podcasting is definitely evolving right now. Everybody keeps swearing by video, video, video, video. Yes, I've heard a million times.

[00:17:28] So platforms like YouTube are jumping all in on this whole podcasting bandwagon. I mean, I think if you call anything a podcast, you literally can call everything a podcast, really. I have a podcast, but it could be like you videotaping. Keeping yourself on your iPhone and just putting up on YouTube shorts as your podcast. Good job. Go right ahead. But however, it's essential to stay true to your content and your audience.

[00:17:52] So if you want to use video to say enhance your podcast, go right ahead. But it should not physically replace your podcast. Video is a great way to mention your podcast. You can do a quick video on your iPhone and put it on a short or real or TikTok and say, hey, new episode coming out, you know, link below in the show notes or however you want to do it. Check this out. We talk about this, this and this, or we got this guest on this, this and this.

[00:18:20] But remember that podcasting, at least podcasting classic, the traditional RSS audio side of podcasting is based on long form content. Content that can go 45 minutes to an hour or a few hours. Most of the video stuff you see on YouTube, the stuff that does fairly well on YouTube is short form content, aka shorts do very, very well on YouTube. Millions and millions of views overnight.

[00:18:49] And even some of the long form stuff. When I say long form on YouTube, I'm talking like 10 to 15 minutes, maybe 20 minutes is considered like a really long video on YouTube. Most of the really good stuff on YouTube is probably in the, you know, 10 to 15 minute window, but you can do your show however you want to do your show. And if you're curious right now to see how my podcast is doing on YouTube links below in the show notes, but you can go to youtube.com slash at podtastic audio.

[00:19:18] But if you want to find out more about me and my podcast and all my wonderful stuff, you head over to my website, which is podtasticaudio.com. I've got links to my brand new book right over there. Podtastic playbook. It's in the about section on podtasticaudio.com. Hope I don't overwhelm you with all kinds of stuff right now, but podtasticaudio.com is where everything is and lives right there. One stop shop. I want to say thank you once again for being here today. I do these episodes for you.

[00:19:48] I love podcasting. I love audio podcasting. I love dabbling in video too. I like making fun videos that I enjoy doing. It's probably the same way with my audio podcast side of things. I love creating the audio side podcast. So I love listening to the audio version of podcasts also, but I also love short form meme videos too. It's probably like creating those and sharing those. And I hope you have an amazing week with your amazing podcast.

[00:20:15] And until next time, happy podcasting.