Feature
The Gist
- YouTube growth. YouTube podcast discovery is on the rise.
- Advanced features. YouTube offers tools for podcast visibility.
- Discovery options. YouTube optimizes customer discovery through podcasts.
While there has been considerable buzz about AI and Threads this year, another quietly growing trend is the use of YouTube as a source for podcast discovery.
YouTube has long been a source of video entertainment, but like all social media platforms, it is looking to adapt to user interests that have emerged since its arrival. (Remember, YouTube launched in 2005).
Some podcasters video stream their shows, so naturally, YouTube became a default platform choice. As a result, YouTube sought ways to make video podcasts easier to find.
YouTube has introduced a number of features over the past year dedicated to those looking for their favorite podcast episodes. Many are simple additions, yet they offer content creators and marketers working with creators an opportunity to share broadcasts that enhance customer experience with a brand.
Related Article: How to Use Content Marketing to Your Advantage
What the YouTube Podcast Results Page Provides
The first feature introduced to support YouTube’s podcast plans is a dedicated podcast results page. The page appears within a user’s YouTube account as an extension of YouTube’s video categories.
Podcast Listing
To see the podcast listing, the user goes into the Explore section of the YouTube main page. The Explore section appears in the lower listing of the page menu, so scrolling downward a small way is required. Explore displays YouTube Shorts, trending videos and a set of categories. The Podcasts listing is shown at the end of the categories.
Popularity Playlists
The Podcasts section returns popular recommendations of podcast topics such as true crime, sports, comedy and music. Users can also establish a popularity playlist to display podcast topics of their choosing. They can discover podcast playlists on your channel’s home tab so that listeners can find their favorite episodes.
YouTube Music
Other YouTube features provide ways to be discovered. Podcasts listed in YouTube also appear in YouTube Music, the platform's music streaming channel, giving podcasters another avenue to be discovered.
More to Come
More is expected. YouTube has search cards that display podcast information, but current availability is limited.
Other Discovery Tools
There are also free YouTube badges that can be added to website pages, other social media and print media to let listeners know your broadcast exists. You can download them from this YouTube Help page.
YouTube also introduced a few YouTube Studio features designed for podcasters to leverage the interest in podcast discovery through search. One feature allows a podcast to be searchable as a playlist. To do so, YouTube users must add a specific tag called “podcast” to the uploaded video. Adding that tag features the video in podcast specific searches.
All of these reflect how podcasts are becoming more visual. YouTube has more daily average users and monthly average users than any other streaming app. So, Google is working to take advantage of that metric to provide better query results related to podcasts. It helps keep users on its platform while promoting an increasingly popular format.
Related Article: 6 Podcast Marketing Tips for Better Listener Adoption
Podcast Search Is The Latest Search Trend Emerging
Google has made these improvements to extend its major mission: to increase the number of items or events that people can discover within its search engines. Most people already know YouTube is the second largest search engine behind Google. Moreover, many people turn to YouTube for product information and research. This makes it a natural foundation for establishing a customer experience.
Shifting Search Behavior
But in recent years Google has faced various competitors for people’s query attention, some of which reflect generational taste. At a 2022 Brainstorm Tech conference, Prabhakar Raghavan, senior vice president at Google, noted how many Generation Z consumers use TikTok as a search engine as well as an entertainment streaming source. The insight reflects how bit by bit Google Search, which is still dominant, is encountering new technology that creates a shift in search behavior and expands the search experience people are encountering. The use of search data to support a ChatGPT or Bard response further evolves the experiences people expect.
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Podcasts Spark Marketing Strategies
The need for a dedicated podcast search engine reflects the spark podcasting has brought to marketing strategies and budgets. Marketers are recognizing how a podcast can be a great way for refining relationships with existing customers and building brand loyalty. A lot of people launched podcasts, turning to live social audio programming like Clubhouse as a means to draw people to their mediums. The podcasting market took off during the COVID-19 pandemic, with many programs becoming favorites and a part of people's daily routine. Marketers feel these audiences are a powerful means for drawing people to the initial steps of new customer experiences.
Final Thoughts on YouTube Podcasts
Despite the varied choices people have to search for podcasts, YouTube is making headway in establishing itself as a search engine choice among podcast listeners. Whether your marketing campaign consists of an unofficial trial podcast series or a full plan to launch new podcast programming, YouTube offers plenty of options that will drive customer discovery and enhance customer experience.
