4 Ways To Create A Video Podcast (And Why You Should Try It)

Why do all the top podcasts publish videos to YouTube? Because YouTube has 2 billion logged-in users (and growing), which makes it a powerful place to grow your audience.

In fact, 43% of monthly podcast listener say they’ve enjoyed podcast content on YouTube in the last year, which means you probably have potential fans browsing YouTube for content like yours right now. All you have to do is turn your regular podcast into a video podcast.

Fortunately, you are already doing most of the work. With a few small additions to your workflow, you can create engaging video podcast episodes that appeal to people who prefer video content.

What Is A Video Podcast?

A video podcast is simply a podcast with a video element. The video element could be as simple or as complex as you like, but it often consists of a single static image or a video recording of the podcast hosts and guests.

Why You Should Start A Video Podcast

Before we explain how to create a video podcast, let’s cover why you should bother.

People love looking at faces

Humans are visual creatures. 30% of our brain is devoted to our eyes. And we particularly love faces. Infants begin to prefer looking at faces as soon as 24 hours after birth. That effect gets stronger as we get older because of the wealth of information we get from faces. According to some psychologists, facial features provide more data than spoken language.

This means you can create more value for your audience and help them make deeper connections with your content by adding faces via video.

Video opens you to a wider audience

As much as we like podcasts, there are plenty of people who prefer to consume video content. This should come as no surprise, YouTube is the second largest social media platform. By adding a video element to your podcast, you gain access to a massive audience of potential fans.

Source: Oberlo

That’s exactly what happened to Andrea Raquelle, producer and content provider for the “Hey Frase” podcast. “Without video, we hit a plateau; we could not go past 10,000 [downloads],” she said. “When we started doing video recordings, we saw the best growth. It took two months to get to 35,000 [downloads]. We noticed other influencers and podcasters in the space [with big download numbers]. We can’t even compete with that if we don’t have video.”

Video is far more social

Ever notice that all the videos on social media are set to autoplay, but without sound? That’s because social media platforms are optimized for video, but not audio. The audio is mute by default.

Adding video to your podcast makes it a bit more engaging for social media users when they come across it in their feed. Yes, you can post audio clips to social media, but they aren’t immediately engaging like videos.

You’re already doing most of the work

In terms of time and labor, there’s not much difference between creating a podcast and creating a video podcast. You can add a video element with just a few extra steps and minor expenses.

4 Ways To Record A Video Podcast

There are four ways to record a video podcast. Choose the format that’s right for you, your team, and your show.

1. Static image recording

This is the easiest method of recording a video podcast. All you do is convert your podcast audio file to a video file and add a static background image to “play” as the user listens.

This American Life uses a simple title card for all of their video podcasts.

Equipment needed: All you need is video editing software to add the static image and audio file together.

Example shows: Stuff You Should Know and Kickass News.

Pros: This method is fast and easy. If you host your podcast with Castos, we offer a free YouTube republishing service that automatically turns each of your episodes into a video with a static image and posts it to YouTube.

Cons: The video created by this method is less engaging than the following methods. It’s basically just a way to publish an audio file to a video platform.

YouTube Republishing by Castos converts your podcast audio files into videos and automatically publishes them to the YouTube channel and/or playlist of your choice. Set it once and forget about it. Learn more now.

2. In-studio recording

In-studio recording is when you set up video equipment inside your recording studio to capture the conversation between the host(s) and guests.

Not Too Deep with Grace Helbig records a video of their podcast studio.

Equipment needed: At least one camera to capture the conversation, but some podcasters like to set up multiple cameras (wide angle of the room and one for each speaker) so they can toggle between angles during editing. You’ll also need video editing software.

Example shows: The Joe Rogan Experience and The Dave Ramsey Show.

Pros: This is another easy straightforward and easy method of making a video podcast. You simply set up your cameras, conduct the podcast as you normally would, and add video file to your audio file during editing.

Cons: You’ll have to buy at least one camera, but maybe more. If you capture multiple angles, you’ll spend a little more time editing the video.

You can store video files alongside your podcast’s audio on our Pro plan, as well as automatically publish your video podcast episodes to YouTube or your podcast website.

3. Remote interview recording

Remote interview recording is when you capture footage of multiple speakers who aren’t in the room together. The video usually shows all speakers at the same time, but some tools let you maximize one at a time.

Mixergy captures video of their remote interviews.

Equipment needed: You’ll need a software tool that captures multiple webcams at the same time, like Riverside or Zoom (Zencastr is also testing a beta version right now!).

Example shows: Neal Brennan and Agency Mavericks.

Pros: This is the only way to get video footage if the episode participants can’t be in the same room together. It doesn’t require any special equipment.

Cons: This method relies on the quality and reliability of your recording software and internet connection. If either fail, the end product could end up with a crummy episode that requires a lot of editing or no episode at all.

4. Interview & b-roll recording

This is a mixture of archival or b-roll footage with a standard podcast recording. For instance, if a guest references a movie clip, news article, or chart, you might edit that asset into the video for viewers to see.

The Ground Up Show mixes b-roll footage into each video podcast.

Equipment needed: Cameras to record the episode participants, archival footage (where you get it will depend on what you need), and video editing software.

Example shows: H3 Podcast and StoryCorps.

Pros: This format creates highly engaging episodes because the production quality is so high, especially if you premium footage and captivating visuals.

Cons: This is the most time-consuming and expensive format for video podcasts because it requires a lot of video editing.

How To Create A Video Podcast

Ready to record a video podcast? Fortunately, it’s easier than you probably think.

1. Capture the episode on video

If you plan to just use a static image for your video, your first step is to create that image. Create a simple card with your logo, name, and podcast website URL. If you interview remotely, you just have to hit “record” on your conferencing software during the interview.

If you plan to create an in-studio recording or a recording with b-roll footage, you’ll need to set up your cameras to capture video. Make sure the room is tidy and has plenty of light. Wear presentable clothing and make yourself camera ready.

When you record the episode, make sure your face is visible to the camera so viewers can see your expressions. Maintain professional body posture.

The biggest challenge to capturing video is that you don’t have the luxury to slice out errors. In a standard podcast, you can cut out a mistake and no one will know. But on a video podcast, you can’t cut out mistakes without creating an easy-to-see cut on the video. So avoid saying or doing anything you would have to remove.

2. Edit the video

While cameras have the ability to record sound, it’s best to record your audio separately using your standard podcast gear. This ensures you’ll get a clean and crisp sound without too much background noise.

Once you edit the audio file like you would for a normal podcast, create your video podcast by syncing the audio and video components together in your video editing software. Make sure the sound matches what’s on screen (especially the lips) or your video will seem amateurish.

If the video seems dull or washed out, consider adjusting the color grading in your video editing software. This will create a pleasant aesthetic. Stitch in your b-roll footage or graphics if you have any. If you want to be really creative, use cuts, zooming, and transition effects to raise the production value.

Here are some video editing tools we recommend:

3. Design a thumbnail image

Before you can publish your video, you’ll need to create a custom thumbnail. A thumbnail is the graphic people see on video platforms that encourages them to click.

By creating your own thumbnail, you can choose what viewers see first, rather than letting the video platform choose a random moment from the video file. 90% of the best-performing videos use custom thumbnails.

The best way to create a captivating thumbnail is to grab a screenshot from the video that represented well. Add your logo and some catchy text in a clear, visible font.

4. Upload the video to Castos

Now that you have your video podcast file, you’ll need to upload it to your podcast host so it appears on your RSS link. This will make it available on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, SoundCloud, and any other podcast directory that has your link.

Publishing a video podcast to Castos is as simple as publishing a standard podcast. During the upload process, you just need to select MP4 (a video format) instead of MP3. Learn more about publishing to Castos.

5. Share the YouTube link on social media

Once your video podcast is up on YouTube, make the most of your hard work by sharing it across all of your social media profiles. The more eyes on your show, the faster it will grow!

Get started with your video podcast!

A video podcast is an opportunity you can’t ignore. It’s a key way to open your podcast to a wider audience and it doesn’t add a lot of labor or expense to your workflow. We recommend that all podcasters create video podcasts to boost the reach of their show.

Castos’ YouTube Republishing feature is built with video podcasters in mind. Using our Growth or Pro plans, upload video files directly to your Castos dashboard and they’ll automatically sync with your YouTube channel. See exactly how it works.

Speaker 0 00:00:06.8700000 Hello, Speaker 1 00:00:07.2200000 Welcome back to the audience podcast. I'm your host Craig Hewitt from Castillo's hope everyone out there is fairing. All right. Uh, with the Corona virus and the COVID-19 pandemic, uh, I know a lot of us thought we were at the near the end of the tunnel and it seems like we might have a bit further to go with this. So I hope everyone is staying safe and healthy and happy during these times. Uh, I, for 1:00 AM glad that we have podcast to turn to, and that we're able to express ourselves and share how we're feeling and what's going on in our lives through this medium, uh, today we're going to be talking about video podcasting. One of the most popular questions we get is should I be putting my podcast on YouTube or should I do a video podcast or it, should it be audio only? And I don't think there's a single right answer to this, but what we're going to talk through are some things to think about some reasons why you might, should think about doing a video podcast, uh, maybe some reasons not to, but I think the prevailing wisdom is you should have some sort of video component and video presence to your podcast in some form. And the question just is, how do you do that? And what is the best way for you and your show and your content to connect with your audience on platforms like Speaker 0 00:01:16.8800000 You too? Speaker 1 00:01:24.3800000 The thing that listeners to this show will know is that we've referenced the Joe Rogan podcast several times, right? It's acquisition by Spotify for a hundred million dollars was a big deal in the podcasting space. And, uh, folks like Tom Webster from Edison research and the previous episode, uh, said that, you know, Joe's show is by far the biggest podcast in the world and what he said and what a lot of other people say is Joe Rogan's podcast is so big in large part, not entirely, but in large part due to the fact that it's on YouTube or it has been so far. Uh, so I think you could go to that and say, okay, at least a single point of data here about what a really successful podcast is means that that podcast is on YouTube. So, you know, it's not necessarily a rule because it's a single data point, but that is one very good example to say the biggest podcast out there is on YouTube has a lot of YouTube viewers and ways that people consume the Joe Rogan show is on YouTube. Speaker 1 00:02:24.4700000 So we might should think about doing that as well for our podcast. Some data by Oberlo says that 79% of internet users have a YouTube account. Uh, this is from 2019, and surely that number has gone up since then. So 80 plus percent of people on the internet have a YouTube account and consume some content on YouTube on a regular basis. Uh, if you look at the percentage of folks in the U S at least that have listened to podcast recently, uh, this 80% is, is much bigger than the number of active podcast listeners. So getting your podcast, a platform like YouTube and having your content in video format surely could be a way to gain exposure to new listeners and new audience members and connect with them in a different way. 43% of podcast listeners say that they've listened to podcast or watched podcasts on YouTube in the last year. Speaker 1 00:03:17.8900000 And YouTube currently has 2 billion logged in users and growing every month. I'm sure. So with that being said, the next logical question for a lot of us is, okay, Craig, you got me, you've convinced me. I need to have my podcasts on YouTube. What are the ways that I can do this? And we're going to walk through a couple of ways that you can do this. And this is really the, the Hal, right? The why I think we answered in that is that there are just a ton of eyeballs and a ton of search traffic and a ton of real SEO juice as YouTube is owned by Google, a ton of kind of link authority and domain authority and brand recognition can be attributed to having your podcast on a platform like YouTube. And so we're going to talk about maybe from the easiest to the hardest ways to get your podcast on YouTube, uh, the easiest way. Speaker 1 00:04:05.2000000 And we're going to kind of toot our own horn here is Castillo's YouTube republishing plan. Uh, so our YouTube republishing plan takes an audio. Only podcast applies a static image to it, converts it to a video file and publishes it to YouTube channel. Automatically every time you publish an episode, it takes about five minutes for us to process and crunch those zeros and ones. And then publishes that episode, your YouTube channel, along with the show notes that you've created for that episode. And we can even assign this to a particular playlist. So in your YouTube channel, you might have a playlist for your podcast, all the episodes that go in that playlist like our audience podcast has. And so you'll see in your channel, the playlist created on all of your episodes there automatically. The great thing about this is it's totally automated. You literally have to make that connection from your cast dos account to your YouTube channel once. Speaker 1 00:04:54.4000000 And from there every time you publish an episode, it's automatically creating that video with a fixed image on YouTube. Every time you publish an episode. So that's great because it's easy. It's on autopilot. You don't have to do anything. The con honestly, is that it's a little less engaging to have a static image there than it would be to, to actually have what we call native video. But the upside is you don't have to create that native video. You don't have to have a camera. You don't have to have a webcam. You don't have to be in a great looking place with a cool backdrop. You can be in your PJ's or late at night or whatever, uh, when you're recording your podcast and because it's audio only, it's okay, nobody nobody's ever going to see what you look like when you're podcasting or see your background or see your guest and their background and the scene they're in. Speaker 1 00:05:42.0100000 So I think this is the easiest way for that reason is that you don't have to capture native video because video is really hard when we do videos for our YouTube channel, it honestly is stressful and takes a lot of time. It is really, really intense to be honest, uh, as opposed to podcasting, I can hop on and flip the mic on here and record for 10 or 20 minutes. And it's pretty easy. I've been doing it a long time. So maybe that's it. And I haven't been doing video as long, but, um, I think most people you talk to will say that, yeah, podcasting audio is really easy podcasting video or doing webinars or doing videos is a little more intense because you have both the audio that you have to get, right. And the video and the scene and the lighting and the camera and the sound and all of this that, that have to really meld together very nicely. Speaker 1 00:06:27.8000000 So, so creating native video content is hard. I won't, I won't lie to you. Um, so if you're, if you're saying Craig, I get it, I need to be on YouTube, but I don't want to record myself on video then maybe a feature like Castillo's YouTube republishing is something to check out. However, if you do want to record yourself podcasting, the next kind of layer of recording this, uh, I would say is, is to record yourself podcasting. So, and there's really two flavors of this at all. I'll throw out there and what is like an in studio recording. So if it's you and another person podcasting in like a podcasting studio, or you have a home studio that you've set up, you have a camera set up kind of to the side or in front of you. That is recording kind of your whole setup of you podcasting. Speaker 1 00:07:16.3700000 And this is really great. Maybe this is like what a news anchor would look like. That's the kind of vibe that you would get, um, or like seeing somebody in a recording studio. And that kind of look is what this would be the other option for those of us that, that podcast at our computer, which I think is the majority of us, is to use your webcam to record from your computer, from your computer, monitor you on a tool like squad cast, or zoom or Zencaster. Uh, and so with all these tools, you can record video that's comes from your webcam and you can use that for either just you or you and your guest or guests to be the video component of your podcast. When I do record video, this is how I do it. I typically don't have an external camera set up to record going to me at my computer or to where you can see all of that. Speaker 1 00:08:06.7700000 It's just me coming from my computer, using the webcam, uh, that, that I use at my computer for video conferences and stuff. And then I use my regular podcasting mic. Uh, so that, I guess that's kind of a taking a step back is I used my regular podcasting mic, my audio Technica ATR 2100 for all of the content I create, whether it's an audio only podcast or it's a video. And I think this works plenty. Well, you don't need to go get a separate Mike just for video. Um, you certainly could, if you're a gear head and you want to go spend a few hundred dollars, you can go get a shotgun mic or a level air mic. It certainly is not absolutely necessary. I think this mic does a plenty good job to record video, especially when it's me sitting at my computer recording content in the same kind of setting and environment that I normally create content. Speaker 1 00:08:55.6000000 And so that's recording native video content of you where you're podcasting. Normally for most of us, it's at our computer. You can either set up an external cameras to capture kind of you. And if you're co if you're podcasting with someone else in the same room to capture the two of you in the, in the same place, or if you're podcasting with someone in a different location with a tool like zoom or squad cast, or Zencaster capturing that video from your webcam of just you kind of in front of your computer with the background behind you is, is the way to go. The next one is, is a bit of a combination of the interview. So kind of you talking with somebody and then adding in additional B roll footage there as well. And so I think that folks that do kind of indie filmmaking or have a real kind of video background might get into this, but this is a, again, a bit more interactive, a bit more creative to capture that B roll footage. Speaker 1 00:09:51.6600000 It's typically another camera at a different angle, or, you know, capturing off takes when you're not actually creating the content, but you got to setting up or making a mistake or something like that. And so the folks like to introduce those as short little snippets or transitions between segments. So this would be like an interview plus that B roll would be another way that you could do video content for your podcast. So those are kind of the four different ways that we, we think that are pretty standard for folks to create video content for their podcast. So again, kind of to recap using a tool like Castillo's YouTube republishing, where you record the audio podcast, we convert it with a static background image into a video file and publish it to your YouTube channel for you. The next two are kind of two different flavors of, uh, you capturing the video content of you doing a podcast interview, whether it's you and another person in the room and capturing that from an external camera, or if you're podcasting at your computer via a tool like again, zoom or Zencaster or squad cast from your webcam and kind of the background behind you and your guests as well. Speaker 1 00:10:57.8400000 Um, and then the last one would be a bit of that kind of interview look with B roll footage, um, more of kind of maybe the narrative style podcasts, but applied to video format. The next question that comes up is, okay, how do I edit? And how do I produce a video podcast versus an audio podcast? Did they go through the same kind of editing process? Do I treat them differently? And the way that we do it with our customers at Costa's productions is to edit the video podcast first, just because you can't edit the, the video content quite as tightly as you can audio content, because the person would be all chopped up looking. And so we tend to edit a video podcast, a little more fluidly and a little more in a conversational manner than we do the audio. So we can edit audio much more tightly and have it be really crisp. Speaker 1 00:11:46.2900000 Whereas a video needs to be a little more free flowing. So we edit the video and get it already add in things like what are called lower and graphics and transition effects as well as kind of an intro and an outro bumper to the video. Once we're happy with that, then we extract the audio out of that, that original recording and edit that audio podcast as we would irregular any, you know, any audio podcast. So there's things like adding intro and outro and music and bumpers and ad spots, the same regular audio production process you would go through for regular podcast. We follow there. So do the video podcast first, edit it a little lighter than you would an audio podcast, but add those graphic elements to it, especially creating that thumbnail image that people see when they pull your podcast up on YouTube. You want to have, you know, really descriptive things like the title of the episode and maybe your, your face or you and a guest, the title of your podcast, have it be really descriptive. Speaker 1 00:12:44.0500000 Um, so, so creating all of those visual elements for, for the video, then extract the audio out of that original recording or recordings create the podcast you would normally, and from an audio editing perspective and then publish each of those separately. So the video goes to YouTube. The audio goes to your hosting platform like Casos to be then distributed to all the podcasting directories that you've submitted your show to. And of course doing this and having a presence on a platform like YouTube will go a long way towards you. Being able to share a YouTube as a place where people can check out you and your brand and your content. So it's not just, Hey, check out me on this social media platform or go to my website here. It could be, Hey, go subscribe to my YouTube channel. And once people do that, there'll be automatically notified when you have new videos. Speaker 1 00:13:32.6200000 When they go to YouTube, your new content will be one that suggested there. And with people following you on YouTube and consuming your content there, they'll be able to get to know you better and get to know your brand better. You gaining their trust will go a long way towards furthering your relationship with them. So it's kind of an overview of how we like to think about creating podcast content in video format. I think that creating native video content surely is the way to go. If you can, if you have the equipment, if you have the setting and the backdrop that looks nice. If you have the gear, it is the way to go. It is quite a bit more work. I won't lie to you, but if you're able to do it, I think it's really worth a try. If you're not able to capture native video, then using a tool like Castillo's YouTube, republishing is a great way to get your audio only content onto YouTube. Get that kind of digital footprint on an enormous directory in place where people consume content. I think it's a no brainer way to repurpose your content. Um, so if you haven't already checked out, cast us YouTube republishing. So that's it from us on creating video content for your podcast. If you have any questions at all, shoot us a message we're at Castillo's HQ on social media or Castillo's dot com. Thanks so much.