Melanie
The Monday Morning Marketing Podcast is brought to you by Esther of IPA Group, bringing premier online promotion to your business.
Esther
And Melanie of STOMP Social Media Training, who empowers business owners to manage social media and marketing for themselves. And welcome back to another episode of the Monday Morning Marketing Podcast. Today we're joined by Anita Wong, Video Marketing Expert at anitawong.co.uk. Welcome, Anita. How are you?
Anita
I'm good, thank you. Thank you for having me. Really excited.
Esther
You're very welcome. We met Anita a while back at an event that we were speaking at altogether. And we just loved what she had to say, so we had to have her on the podcast to talk to you guys as well. So we're talking about podcast podcasting on YouTube. That's a new one.
Anita
It is. And it's something that's really developing from YouTube over the last twelve months, so super excited.
Melanie
When we normally think of YouTube, it's obviously a very visual platform. So Esther, I assume that this is forcing people to do their podcasts, not just audioly, but visually as well. Is that correct?
Esther
I feel attacked right now. Can I just say I feel attacked? Anita, please tell me that's not the truth.
Anita
No, that's not the truth. Not anymore. As of maybe a few days ago, which
Esther
That's fine.
Anita
Oh, okay. So, yeah, so recent updates in YouTube have shown that now we can actually pull our podcast over to YouTube without having to have video. So what happened was that YouTube could see that podcasts were becoming really popular, and especially on platforms like Spotify, where they were introducing video podcasts. YouTube was thinking, okay, how can I compete with this other platform? So they introduced a podcast playlist, which basically meant that you did have to originally upload a video version of your podcast. So some people would just place the audio onto a background and upload it. Other people who had got the video version but weren't sharing it, uploaded the video version. But they've now actually shown that because it's becoming such a popular way for people to go to YouTube, they've now made it easier for podcast creators to actually just share their RSS feed directly into YouTube. So you don't actually have to have your video already set up to go.
Esther
There you go, Melanie. I'm off the hook.
Melanie
Well, not quite. I mean, this is something that I've actually seen in Substack as well because they also have an RSS capability and you can pull all of your podcasts, your audio podcast, over to Substack as well. But do you feel that you would get better coverage, more followers, more engagement by using the video aspect as well, Anita?
Anita
Obviously, you would. I think the only down-point at the moment that I can see with focusing solely on trying to get your podcast onto YouTube is that without having YouTube premium, which is their paid version, you can't listen and go. So for example, if you're on, say, Spotify or iTunes, you can open up a podcast and then put your phone in your pocket. And by doing that, you can then carry on listening to the podcast that you're listening to. You can carry on even working out, cooking your dinner, whatever you want to do. Whereas at the moment, if you're on YouTube, most of us use it, although I'm not a premium member of YouTube, but most people watch YouTube with the adverts and things like that. They don't necessarily realise there's a paid for version. So the only way you get to at the moment, and this might have changed by the time things roll out, you can't close your phone and go and carry on listening. So with regards to your question, I think you should have your podcast everywhere like you would normally have and just add it into YouTube as an addition to what you're already doing to amplify its visibility.
Esther
Okay, so YouTube is essentially just grabbing more things that they know are working on other platforms because they've already got Shorts, which are like reels or TikToks, and now they're branching into this other market. Is this something that you think will really take off, or is it just another ranch to YouTube itself?
Anita
I think it will take off. I think having the ability to have different formats of content available to their viewers is something that will expand the reach and attract different audiences. So some people will go to YouTube purely for the visual side of things because they want to see how something is done. However, if there is the podcast option there, then obviously it's accessible to everybody, and then you've got a choice. So depending on where you're located will depend on how much the podcast is in your in upfront on the home page as well.
Melanie
Again, it's just another platform to be found in search, isn't it?
Anita
Yeah, it is, but it is the biggest platform. So because YouTube is second to Google. And of course, Google owns YouTube. So the two of them together create quite an empire of search. And if you're using your podcast as a tool to raise your visibility, then having it on YouTube makes it easier for people to find in Google as well, because Google will index YouTube as a priority because it owns the platform.
Esther
Yeah, because that's actually something that I noticed, that there is a thing called Google Podcast Manager, and it has now come out to say that it's saying goodbye in the middle of 2024, and they'll... Because they're going to be enabling this RSS feed on YouTube. So then will all the analytics be Will they be on YouTube? Will they be just on Google, GA4? Where will we find out our stats for the YouTube version?
Anita
Okay, so the stats for your particular YouTube podcast will be inside your YouTube studio. They've already got stats for podcasts already. I've got a client who has a very active podcast who already does the video version, but wasn't putting it onto you. Well, was putting it onto YouTube, but it wasn't in the allocated playlist for podcasts. So now that we've moved all of those video podcasts over into that podcast playlist, YouTube can see it as an individual type of content, and we're getting individual stats. So we're getting stats on how the podcast is performing compared to the videos and other content on her channel.
Melanie
Okay, so this is yet another platform that we need to get our head around. And Does it matter, Anita, if we have full studio performance, or can we just rock up, put a liquor paint on the Zoom filter or YouTube filter or something and just do it? What would work best, do you think?
Anita
Yeah. I think what happens when we look at YouTube, if we've not got a presence on YouTube, is that we tend to compare ourselves to the big YouTubers, the big creators, and they have a large budget behind them. Everybody started with no videos, no subscribers, and a limited amount of tech, I suppose. Most of us will start with our mobile phones, a microphone, and decent light. Those are the three main elements that will make the equipment that you need to create a video or an audio for YouTube. Obviously, the content matters because the content needs to be engaging and needs to be aimed specifically at a target audience of whom you want to reach. But it's not one of those platforms where everything has to be polished. You start and every time you do another video or another podcast, you learn from the last one. And it's really good because YouTube has this analytical suite which allows you to actually look at what's working in your video, what's not working in a video, how people are coming to your channel. So you can actually get, after you've been on there for a few weeks or a couple of months and you've consistently uploaded, it actually gives you a lot of data for you to play with.
Esther
So initially to get started, done is better than perfect.
Anita
Yeah, absolutely. Just do it.
Esther
Just go from there and build on that. Because just in general, not just talking about podcasting for YouTube at the minute, but I know a lot of people who say they would love to start a podcast channel. No, it's not me. But they're so scared of, oh, it's not polished enough. It's not this enough. It's not what if people don't like it? What if? What if I need to do this before it can get... They're trying to run before they can walk. What would you say to them?
Anita
Well, I would say to them that just do it, basically. But before you do it, do a little bit of research. So don't like... Obviously, if you were going to learn to ride a bike, you would, what, watch a few videos or you would practise. So have an idea of what you want your first video to be about and who you want it to reach from your target audience. And I think that once you've done that a bit of research and have a look at what your competitors are doing on YouTube, but don't compare yourselves to them. So do the research. Number one, have an idea of what I usually say is think of five things that you're really passionate about in regards to what you're wanting to share, and then choose one of those things and do a bit of research around it. Because if you're passionate about it, then it's going to be easier for you to create a video around it. And then if you just look at what other people are doing in that field, you'll get an idea of, okay, so they've done a video about this and it's getting quite a lot of views, but they did a video about that and it's not getting so many. So let's look at this and go, how can I do a video around that subject that will reach my audience? And then just do it. Don't worry about, is it perfect? Will people like it? You won't know that until it's up there. As long as people can hear you and they can see you, then they will watch you. Obviously, if they come to your video and they can't hear you very well, then they're not going to be able to move along with you. And of course, if they can't see you and you're showing certain things, then that will frustrate them as well. But as long as it's a clear video and people can hear you, then you've ticked all the boxes. And then it's... I was thinking about this yesterday, actually, about it's a bit like YouTube is not like a drive-through. So you know It's not like when you go to a drive-through and you might order a Starbucks coffee or any coffee from a drive-through. You go, you take your order and you go away. Well, it's not like that. You don't go to YouTube, you put your video on and you walk away. You've got to go back. You've got to be, you've got to go back every day or every week and have a look at how the video has been going. Tweak it, have a little play with it, change the title, maybe change the thumbnail. But don't just drive through, drop it off and then drive passed, if that makes sense.
Melanie
Okay, so we've established that there is a need for this. There is, and people are going to enjoy it. But whether we like it or not, Anita, people do compare. When I think of video podcasts, I think of Joe Rogan. There's no way that the likes of myself and Esther can compete with that, even though we do actually share a similar audience. They're all in America. So how can we get out of our own heads and get started? I believe you have something that you can offer.
Anita
Well, yes, I can offer you some help with that. I do have some coaching packages where I can actually take you through the whole process of how to approach preparing for YouTube. In other words, like planning out your content and your strategy and then your timeline and then supporting you while you actually do it. But I think it's like everything that we do as an entrepreneur and as a business owner, we do tend to compare ourselves to the people who are doing really, really well. They usually have a big team behind them because they've got to that point in their business where they then get a financial reward. They then have the means to pay for the support network. Now, I'm still pretty much a one-man band, and I'm only just starting to look at maybe outsourcing some aspects of it. But that's more for need and time rather than the fact that I've got money coming in. So I think it's all to do with look at the people around you. Are they doing something on YouTube? Don't look at the ones that have got thousands and thousands of subscribers. Look at the ones that have got maybe a thousand or 2000 subscribers and look at their first videos. Go to their video tab on their YouTube channel and go to Oldest, and you'll see the first video they've ever put up, and you'll see that it's not perfect. It's not polished like perhaps they are now. They are just sitting in front of the camera and actually just talking to it and saying some stuff. And that's where we all start. I mean, I look at one of my first videos and I still am quite with my videos. If I discover something that's happened, I'll just plump myself in front of the computer and record something about it. And in those days, I used to do it downstairs in the living room. So the lighting would be a bit shocking. I'd be just looking down. I wouldn't have a webcam or anything like that. And one of my videos has got the most views is exactly that. It's four minutes long and it's just me sharing something. And it's just like that. You've just got to do it. So, yeah, just don't compare yourself to the that have got lots and lots of subscribers because they're not your target. They're not speaking to your target audience, if that makes sense.
Esther
And is there a magic number of how many videos you should upload at the one time or podcast videos? That's getting back to the podcasting on YouTube, because we have over 200 episodes in our RSS feed. Is that too many? Is that just the right amount of number? How How many is too many? Or should those who are just starting out in podcasting wait a while and then add their podcast to YouTube after they've got more feeds going, more episodes?
Anita
Okay, so when you started on your podcast platform, you possibly did one a week because you were planning yourself out. So that's exactly the same type of structure and timeline that you should be aiming for for YouTube. You set the balance of how often and you want your, your videos or your podcast to go up. So if you know that you can manage one podcast a week, then that's what you start with. With this new feature that YouTube have introduced, where you actually just connect your RSS feed, I do believe there is a setting where you can choose how far back the RSS feed grabs from. So you could allow it to go all the way back to the whole amount that you've got, or you could go back, say, 10 or 20, and then use the older ones that you've got and repurpose them at a later date.
Melanie
Okay, so Is there much prep work that we need to do in order to set this up on YouTube? You were talking about thumbnails there. Is there a particular size we need to use? What work, what knowledge do we need to have in order to do this?
Anita
Okay, so in order to start a YouTube channel with a podcast or with a video podcast, you do need to have some of the basic settings in situ. So your channel itself will be the same as any other channel. So you would need to have your channel name branded the same as your business. So the one that you... If you're known as a certain thing in When you're outside of your podcast and things, you decide whether you want it to be solely for your podcast, then you call it the same as your podcast. If you're going to be slightly varied, then you choose something around your branding. It should have a banner, which is like the billboard effect at the top of the channel. That just gives you an opportunity to put a picture to the audio, really, or a visual. So maybe two of you at the top or even just your normal branding. Then you've got an About section, which just tells people when they get to your channel, what your channel is about. And there is some places for some links there. So you can link people from your channel to your podcast, audio if you want, or to your website and things like that. That's the basics that one would expect to be set up. There are some back-end basics that you go through when you first set up, like the settings and all those sorts of things. And then once you start uploading, then you have the options to group the content into what they call what are known as playlists on YouTube, which are, I suppose, similar to series in the podcasting world.
Melanie
Now, this is a call to action that I think we all forget to add, and that is to subscribe to our channel. But when you've got a podcast, for instance, we have a podcast, we have a podcast website, and do we ask people to subscribe to our YouTube channel or to our email list or to our website, or do we ask for all three? It can get very confusing, can't it?
Anita
Yeah, it can. I think that sometimes puts people off as well. It's like, Oh, what do I do? I mean, ultimately, with the option inside of YouTube now, there's an option to have up to five links on your bio. So what they did recently with the introduction of podcast and the introduction of the username, YouTube have made it easy for creators to collaborate. Let's call everyone that uses YouTube a creator for this example. Each YouTube channel is owned by a creator, you, me, and everyone else. And each channel has its own unique username. And what YouTube did recently is it introduced this username so that we could tag each other to help with collaboration. A bit like when you're on Instagram, you can tag somebody else in your post. You can do exactly the same as that now on YouTube in the description of the video. So it allows you to cross promote with each other and obviously tag each other. Now, when it comes to call to actions, there are inbuilt systems inside of YouTube that you can use. So at the end of each podcast video that you upload or RSS feed that you upload, there are settings that you can pre-set, like the end screen, which automatically puts a subscribe button on at the end of your podcast. So you You don't have to worry that if you've got podcasts that you're uploading that you did before that aren't specifically for YouTube, because there'll be a call to action at the end of the podcast episode when it's on YouTube, if you set that up. And that's done inside of the settings. But you can, of course, in the description of the podcast, that you have, say, like with the RSS feed, when it pulls in, it pulls in the information from there. So you can always add in to your main podcast podcasting platform in the description of your podcast. And if you're listening to this on YouTube, then don't forget to follow along on that platform. You can have a more generic answer. If you're uploading a video podcast, then it's treated like a video. Therefore, you have the title, the description, where you can add clickable links and all those sorts of things in there, and then you have all the other settings as well.
Esther
Okay, so the RSS feed would pull over the audio, and then if and when we start recording the videos of these as well, should we stop that RSS feed so that it's only the video one going up, or should the audio also pull over?
Anita
Now, I haven't had a lot of experience using this because it's a new one, but I personally, I feel that it would be good to have both on the channel. So I'm launching my own podcast video channel in January, and I'm going to be putting both of them up. I'm going to be putting my podcast into a podcasting platform, for example, Spotify. But I'm also going to be putting the video version of it onto a new YouTube channel. And then I'm going to also create a new playlist which is specific for the RSS feed. So they'll have a choice then. It's almost like I'll have two podcast playlists, one with the video version and one with the RSS feed version. And then the user can then choose which one they want to listen to at any particular time. Sometimes they might be able to put their phone in front of them when they're cooking and then it can watch it. Other times, they might be in the gym and they might want to listen to it.
Esther
And so with the video version, would you recommend subtitles?
Anita
Yes, you could have subtitles on there. Now, YouTube automatically adds subtitles to a video anyway. There's a little button on YouTube that you can click or you can upload an SRT file, which is like the text format file that you can upload into the studio, into the settings when you upload the video and that will show. Or you can use a software which burns it onto the bottom of the video. But because YouTube offer the option to turn on the captions, the visual captions, I would recommend uploading the SRT file so that it is compatible with that and it's not making a guess, especially if you've got maybe a different accent or the words, depending on how clearly you say things will depend on how quickly or how precisely the AI picks up the wording.
Esther
Yeah, it doesn't generally like my accent very much.
Anita
No, sometimes it makes mistakes on mine as well.
Melanie
On yours?
Anita
Just certain things. It depends on what I say, but if I'm mumbling a bit, sometimes it might. Sometimes it always... Like when you say, the other day I said something like, and I did one in 2024, so it did the one as one, two, o, two, four, and then it wrote four. So it's those sorts of things that you want to make sure, correct, I suppose. Just little bits.
Esther
Well, this has been very interesting, very fascinating. And we have homework to do. I don't know about the rest of you listening, but we certainly have homework to do. Where will you be tuning in to listen to us next time then?
Melanie
That should be interesting. So how do we learn more about you, Anita? Where can we find out how to get information and any advice? I hear you've also got a free bit of training to offer as well.
Anita
Yeah. You can obviously find me on my website, which is anitawong.co.uk. I do have a free Facebook group, which is called Get Started With YouTube. Of course, you can jump in there and ask me questions in there. And then on my website, I have a free training which shows you how to take your short videos that you've got, perhaps on Instagram or TikTok, and upload them into YouTube as YouTube Shorts. So we haven't really spoken much about YouTube Shorts at the moment, but that's the same style as video as you do your Instagram reels and TikToks. They also introduced that recently onto YouTube. Again, like we said, broadening the content aspects for their viewers.
Esther
Sounds like we'll have to have Anita back at some other point to discuss all these other options on YouTube.
Melanie
Actually, she's a front of all knowledge because we have her back about something else as well.
Anita
Yep.
Melanie
Well, thank you so much for your time today, Anita. We're very grateful for your time. We will be back very soon with another podcast, and check out Anita if you've got any questions. Say goodbye.
Esther
Bye.
Anita
Bye.
Melanie
So there you go, Esther.
Esther
Homework, homework, homework.
Anita
Homework as well, because obviously with the podcast RSS. I'm just going to look it up now. Because I was thinking of doing that for my client who I've got the podcast for, is to add that in, but their video one is doing really, really well. So it was like, do I add that in or not?
Esther
It does give the audience that option as to whether to watch or listen.
Anita
Yeah, it does. See on YouTube, a podcast is a playlist, which is what was said, and the podcast episodes are videos within that playlist. But now you can also connect.
