Just when we thought we had grasped the true power of content repurposing, along comes the Cumulus Media and Signal Hill Insights’ Podcast Download Spring 2023 Report — it further reinstates the importance or repurposing content — and not just podcasts, but all types of content.
This highly-reputable industry report is executed from a nationally representative sample of weekly podcast consumers, who represent 31% of the U.S. according to Edison’s Infinite Dial. Amongst many things, the survey looks at the most popular podcast platforms for listening to podcasts, and it was these results that stood out as the most surprising…
In this article, we’re going to look at why these findings emphasize the importance of repurposing your content, and why we shouldn’t make assumptions about our audience and how they consume content.
Understanding the podcast landscape
The Podcast Download Spring 2023 Report provides an in-depth analysis of popular podcast platforms and listener preferences.
Surprisingly, YouTube has emerged as the top podcast platform, surpassing other contenders like Apple Podcasts and Spotify. And, almost as surprisingly, fourth on the list is Facebook, which is a favourite for new listeners and those between the ages of 18 and 34. Twitter is number 10.
So we have YouTube — seemingly a video platform and search engine, as the number one podcast listening destination. And Facebook and Twitter, both social media platforms — as fourth and tenth. What’s going on?!
These findings challenge the conventional wisdom surrounding podcast destinations and are a big reason why we should reevaluate our assumptions about audience behavior.
The importance of distribution and variety
Another key finding from the report was that over half of weekly podcast consumers who listen to podcasts on YouTube say they also listened to the same content on other channels. This highlights the importance of content distribution and the need to be present across multiple platforms to reach a wider audience.
Because using this example, if you have a podcast and you only focus on Apple, Spotify, Amazon etc then you could be missing out on the largest slice of the pie — YouTube!
TOP INSIGHT
YouTube, known primarily as a video platform, demonstrates that audio-only content can garner significant attention. Listeners spend nearly as much time on YouTube listening to podcasts without visuals as they do watching videos!
If you have an audio-only podcast and you’ve hesitated about putting episodes onto YouTube, maybe you should give it a go.
Even if you don’t have a podcast, every content creator can take a lesson from this. We mustn’t make assumptions about how and where our audience wants to consume our message.
Podcast repurposing strategies for YouTube and social media
If you have a video podcast, uploading the full episode video to YouTube is an obvious first step. Plus you can cut some of the most engaging segments for YouTube Shorts, which is a great way to promote the episode and pull in a wider audience…
As mentioned already, if you only record the audio, then you can still put that content onto YouTube. Where you might previously have asked yourself, who on earth would want to listen to audio on YouTube with no video, the answer is a lot of people!
You can create an episode-long audiogram or audio with just a static image using a tool like Descript.
Many podcast hosts allow you to do this, and more are becoming integrated with YouTube.
But what about Facebook and Twitter, which are both in the top 10?
Facebook did once have a dedicated podcast service, but in June 2022 it was shut down, so why are podcast listeners still naming it as a popular podcast destination?
This study says it’s because Facebook is where people originally see a promotion for the podcast they’re interested in, then they click through from there.
What’s more, the study found that podcast consumers are looking to connect with their favorite hosts and shows on social media. Half of weekly podcast consumers follow their favorite podcast hosts on one of the social platforms and it’s proven that shows that repurpose podcasts onto social media, grow because of that!
If you don’t repurpose your content onto the social media platforms that your audience hang out on then you could miss the opportunity to reach an engaged and active audience…
Find out where your audience is, then repurpose content from your podcast to that social network.
Ways to repurpose your podcast for social media:
- Short, vertical videos for YouTube shorts, TikTok, Stories and Reels
- Create quote graphics or infographics from the episode
- High-value, text-only posts with a link to the episode
Repurposing your content is undoubtedly the best way to get your message out to a wider audience and establish yourself or your brand as a thought leader and industry leader… don’t make assumptions about where and how people consume content because you might just be wrong!
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