Podcast Predictions for 2023 with Lauren Wrighton [Ep. 75]

 
 

Click play to hear our podcast predictions for 2023:

 
 

Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts | Stitcher

Here’s what to expect from this episode:

Can you believe we are only a couple of weeks away from 2023??

Today I have a really fun episode for you guys with returning podcast guest Lauren Wrighton, because there's nothing we love more than sitting down and talking all things podcasting. We did a similar episode last year, and it was so much fun that we wanted to do it again this year! 

In this episode, we're chatting all about our predictions for the podcasting industry in 2023, as well as a little bit of what we've seen in terms of podcasting growth, stats, and trends in 2022. It's really exciting to think about all that's evolved in this space up until now and all the possibilities in the years to come. I hope you enjoy this episode as much as I did! 

PS. When you're done listening, we'd love it if you sent us a message on Instagram (linked below) to let us know what you thought about this episode and any predictions you have for podcasting in 2023! 

Meet Lauren:

Lauren Wrighton is a podcast strategist who has helped female business owners launch their chart-topping shows since 2017. In addition to helping podcasters grow their shows, Lauren uses her expertise to help freelancers become profitable podcast managers through her course, The Podcast Manager Program. You can hang out with Lauren each week on her podcast, The Podcast Manager Show. Aside from Podcasting, Lauren loves being a wife to her husband, David, and mom to her daughters.

Topics Covered:

  • The rapid growth of the podcast industry (and some recent stats and trends)

  • Prediction #1: More products specifically for podcasts

  • Prediction #2: More features and competition with podcast hosts

  • Prediction #3: More podcasters looking for sponsorships

  • Prediction #4: More sponsorship opportunities for "micro-influencers"

  • Prediction #5: More accessibility for lots of different people to come into the podcasting space

  • Prediction #6: More advancements in video podcasting

  • Bonus prediction: More searchability in listening apps

podcast-predictions-for-2023

  • Sara Whittaker 0:00

    Hey there. Welcome back to podcasting for educators. We are only a couple weeks away from 2023, which is hard to believe. And today I have a really fun episode for you guys. Lauren riton. And I sat down and did a co hosted style episode where we talked a little bit about what we've seen in podcasting this year, as well as our predictions for podcasting in 2023. Lauren, and I did this same type of episode last year, and it was so much fun. And so we wanted to do it again this year. If you have not heard Lauren on the podcast before she has been on to other episodes, I'll link those in the show notes for you. But Lauren is the creator of the podcast manager program where she teaches freelancers how to become podcast managers, she has created an awesome community in the podcasting space. And she's actually also one of my clients, I help support that community. And there's nothing more that we love more than sitting down and talking all things podcasting. So much has changed and evolved in podcasting, even within the past couple of years. So it's really exciting to think about all of the possibilities in the years to come. I hope that you enjoy this episode. And when you're done listening, we would love it if you sent us a message on Instagram and let us know what you think about this episode and any predictions that you have for podcasting in 2023. Your Podcast is a powerful tool that serves your audience and your business. But how do you manage it all bring in new listeners, and convert those listeners into customers. That's what this show is all about. Welcome to podcasting for educators. I'm Sara Whitaker, classroom teacher turn pod manager and I'm here to help you get the most out of your show all while making an impact on other educators. All right, hey there, Lauren. How are you doing today doing

    Lauren Wrighton 2:02

    great. Happy to be here chatting with you. Happy

    Sara Whittaker 2:05

    to be here to always happy to chat podcasting. With you. We are sitting down today to talk podcast predictions for 2023. We did this type of episode last year for 2022. So we are bringing it back. I'm very excited to jump in Lauren and I are doing kind of a co hosted format this year. So both of us will be airing this same episode on our individual shows.

    Lauren Wrighton 2:30

    Yeah, and I'm just kind of thinking about how if we were to do this every year, how much podcasting would change over the course of I don't know, five years or so. So I like the tradition.

    Sara Whittaker 2:43

    I completely agree. I just feel like there's so much changing so quickly, like even in the past few months. I know you are also signed up for the pod news newsletter. And so that's in my inbox every day. And I feel like every single day, there is some sort of update something that I'm interested in reading about in terms of what's going on in the podcasting industry. And I mean, this has only been I've only been in this space for what the past two and a half ish years, and so much has changed. So I can't even imagine what it's going to be like five years from now.

    Lauren Wrighton 3:15

    Right? And about the pod news newsletter, that's, you know, one of the big places I get news as well. And it's like their big powerful, newsworthy, things are kind of sprinkled in with things like you don't care as much about. So it's like, I'll might skim it and think, okay, you know, not not really interested, not really interested in and it's like this big change, like, oh, wow, that needs to be bolded. Because I almost missed it.

    Sara Whittaker 3:39

    Yes, I completely agree. And I mean, since we're talking predictions today, I'll just do this kind of just popped into my head. But this is kind of an early prediction. But for those of you who don't know, pod news, you should definitely sign up for the newsletter. It is in your inbox every day. So expect that, but they also have a podcast version of the newsletter, where they literally like read the newsletter out on a podcast, it's just like a couple minutes every day. And I do know of some other people who do that with their newsletters. So I would imagine that's a little bit of a podcast prediction itself that we're gonna see more of that.

    Lauren Wrighton 4:14

    Yeah, yeah, that's so true. And I mean, those daily podcasts are really popular because they are putting out an episode every single day. And so they generate so many downloads, you know, if you can imagine if your client gets 200 downloads per episode, if they were then to put out a short episode every single day, that'd be you know, 200 times five times, four weeks in a month, like so therefore, they generate a lot of kind of buzz because they're generating so many downloads. So, yeah, I can imagine if someone has a really awesome newsletter, turning that into a podcast would be really smart.

    Sara Whittaker 4:52

    Yeah, absolutely. Those are the kinds of podcasts that like hit a million downloads really quickly. Yeah, yeah. All right. So before we get into predictions, I thought we could just chat real quick about kind of what we've seen this year, what we've read about podcasting, and like the numbers and podcasting so far this year, and I know one thing that we really want to highlight is a stat that came out from Edison Research. Edison Research does a big media survey every year where they go into not just podcasts, but other media outlets as well. And it's this huge survey with some really great information. And podcasting is a huge chunk of it. And the latest research from them showed that there has been a 20% increase in people who listen to podcasts, ages 13 and up compared to last year. So this time, so we're in November, very end of November 2022. So compared to this time, last year, in 2021. And when I've read that, I'm just like, 20%. That's a huge number. So I just thought that that was really cool to see. I know you love looking at those kinds of stats as much as I do.

    Lauren Wrighton 6:05

    Yeah, totally. And I mean, I think I would have expected maybe like five or 10%. Because we also have to keep in mind that this number has been on the rise for years now. So you can't necessarily continue to increase by 2030. And plus percentage year over year over year. So I think it really speaks to not just that podcasting is growing, I think we see that in a lot of different places. But the fact that there is so much more growth to be had in the future, because 20% is a lot and yet when you look at the numbers, there's also a lot of people that are still not listening to podcasts. So I think that number will be really interesting to kind of follow in the next couple of years in into I guess until every single person will listen to a podcast, which would be the ultimate goal for me.

    Sara Whittaker 6:55

    Yeah, same here. Same here. Yeah, I constantly say this. I constantly remind people that like not everybody even knows what a podcast is or like how to listen to a podcast. I can't remember if I already told you this. But a couple weeks ago, we were at a birthday party and my father in law came up to me and he was super excited. He's like, we just because they had just gotten back from a road trip. He's like, we figured out how to listen to a podcast while we were driving. I'm like, That's awesome. That was literally their first time listening to a podcast. And I mean, I'm their daughter in law, and they know that I'm obsessed with podcasts, and they still had never listened. So there are people out there who literally don't know that these things exist. So the potential for podcast growth is just fantastic.

    Lauren Wrighton 7:45

    Yeah, totally agree. And then you know, as more people go, maybe from middle school to high school and beyond, like this incoming generation, they will, you know, help increase those numbers, because there may be more likely to listen. In fact, that just reminded me that someone in my family told me she's a high school teacher. And she said that they have a podcasting section of like one of their media classes. So like for like, you know, a little part of the class, you will produce a podcast.

    Sara Whittaker 8:15

    I love that. I've actually heard several teachers talk about that, where, especially in high school, where that will be a project that their kids do is they create a podcast, which I mean, I just think that's so cool. And kind of along those same lines, like back to that stat. Another cool thing I found about about that status that that age group of 13 Plus, like, I think that there is more available out there in terms of podcast content for all ages, which is awesome to see.

    Lauren Wrighton 8:47

    Yeah, yeah. I mean, I talk pretty regularly about the show that my daughter's listened to, and my daughters are six and under. So there's obviously a lot of space for, you know, yeah, like you said, podcasts for all different types of ages. As long as ultimately the parent then is making the decision, though, to have their kids listen to podcast. So you're still kind of targeting the 20 You know, and plus demographic, but still, you know, different podcasts for different ages.

    Sara Whittaker 9:13

    Yeah, definitely shout out to Mr. Jim, my daughter loves that podcast.

    Lauren Wrighton 9:17

    Yes. One stat that I wanted to share that I read in pod news, obviously, was that just last week, there were 196,000 shows that were updated, meaning they released an episode. So you know, as we know, not all podcasts released weekly. So I think the number is actually bigger than 196. But last week, the third week of November 196,000 shows released an episode. When I first heard that number. I thought that was pretty low. Because if you look at podcasting stats, you really see maybe like in the millions of how many shows are out there, but not all those shows release episodes. And so I think one thing we can learn from that But from a podcaster perspective is that, wow, they're 196 is kind of small. But then from a podcast managers perspective, it's Wow, there are so many shows out there that could use a podcast manager. And there's a lot of shows out there that don't necessarily stick around. So if you are getting into the podcasting space as a podcast manager or as a podcaster, and you're in it for the long haul, you are going to be with people that are also in it for the long haul, but not a enormous group, I think.

    Sara Whittaker 10:32

    Yeah, absolutely. I couldn't agree more. And especially if you are a podcast manager, like, if you were to look up a number of how many podcasts exist, just like you said, that number would be much larger than that 196,000 number, because there's so many that aren't active anymore, or they're not consistent, and they need that support of a podcast manager. So yeah, I completely agree. I think that number is much smaller than I would have expected, and much smaller than a number that you would probably see if you were to Google, how many podcasts there are?

    Lauren Wrighton 11:06

    Yeah, yeah, but I think it's a good number to kind of that truly shows like, how many shows are out there, I would love to see how many shows have released an episode in the past month, because a month, you know, if your shows active, you're really likely releasing an episode every month. So that would be a really cool number to look at. And one of the reasons that I'm even even diving into these numbers is because we don't have super great numbers in podcasting still. So we do have to kind of fish around for data. Find what you know, we feel like as is credible. So yeah, that's one thing I feel like we probably hoped for over the year was like more tangibly credible numbers. And maybe it's gotten a little bit better. But I think there's still like a lot of room for improvement in the industry of just information in the form of numbers.

    Sara Whittaker 11:57

    Yeah, absolutely. That's one of the things we talk about a lot. And one of our hopes from last year was improved stats that we still don't really have. So maybe this year, maybe 2023 will be the year. All right, what do you say? Should we get into our predictions?

    Lauren Wrighton 12:14

    Yes, let's dive in.

    Sara Whittaker 12:16

    Okay, do you wanna go first?

    Lauren Wrighton 12:18

    Okay, so my first one is that I'm seeing a pretty big shift from different companies that are kind of like they exist, because they do something with audio, with music with maybe radio, like different types of audio that aren't podcasting that they are seeing the growth of in podcasting, and they're making products specifically for podcasts. So like music companies, and things like that, that are like, Oh, we can, we can kind of take our product, and change it a tiny bit so that it's really appealing to podcasters. And one of the examples that I have on this is Adobe, so if you're a podcast manager, you might be familiar with, well, everyone's can be familiar with Adobe in the form of like Photoshop, so they have Photoshop, which, you know, changes photos, but they also have other audio products like editing software. And, and what they're doing is taking that that software and making it specifically for podcasters. So I like seeing that because it shows that these bigger companies are seeing the value in podcasting, and that we need our own tools, right if a product is for music recording, and that's not the same as spoken word. So I like to see companies seeing the value in podcasting and creating products that make our worlds make our lives a little bit easier in producing podcasts.

    Sara Whittaker 13:43

    That's a great one. I think there's I think companies are definitely starting to see what a huge market this is. And I mean, more and more money is being spent in the podcast industry. So anybody who can kind of jump on that now is smart to do so. Yeah, kind of along the same lines as you in terms of like tools or platforms for podcasting. One of my big predictions has to do with podcast hosting. So you know whether you're hosted with Lipson or Captivate or Buzzsprout or anchor, everybody needs a podcast host and I found is something I have seen a big change this year. I feel like all of the hosts are really kind of trying to like level up one another. And they've been adding a lot of new features. And I think we're gonna continue to see that I think we're gonna continue seeing some really cool and innovative features added to podcasting, especially, I think that hosts are now really starting to see how many personal brands are podcasting, and they're really trying to create features that will help them with their business if they're using their podcast as a business tool. Perfect example of this is dynamic ads. Obviously, you know, Activate has dynamic ads. Now Buzzsprout has cat has dynamic ads, and they've even added, like they've extended those dynamic ad features within those hosts. And I think we're going to, like at this point, I feel like that's a necessity in a podcast host. And I would be really surprised if we didn't start seeing that across the board, as well as like, like Captivate gives you the ability to create trackable links, which I think is really awesome, because it can be really hard to track your ROI, ROI, sometimes as a podcaster. So anything that you're promoting in your episodes, you can create a trackable link for it. And I think those kinds of things where podcasters are really able to better promote their offerings and better track their time and financial investment is something that podcast host are going to be focused on.

    Lauren Wrighton 15:53

    Yeah, yeah. And it's, you know, before now, we haven't had as many tools at our fingertips to, to grow our shows in this way. Yeah, like just the information to know, our links, and being able to dynamically insert ads, like all that good stuff, it now gives us the ability to really run our shows the way we want to, to have a business around the show. So yeah, I think it is such a benefit to the consumer, that these different podcast hosts are really like you said, they're just trying to edge each other out. So good for us. But also, it's interesting to see the ones that are willing to innovate, and are really at the front frontline saying, hey, what do you guys need? What do you guys want, we're gonna make it for you. And the other ones that are kind of just like sitting around, not listening as much. So it'll be really interesting to see if there's kind of a winner at the end of 2023. Or if we continue to have multiple hosts that that are really vying for our attention. I would love to have multiple good hosts, I think that would be really the ideal situation, just like it is now.

    Sara Whittaker 17:05

    Yeah, I completely agree. I feel like if you're a podcast host at this point, like, you need to kind of get on that bandwagon of being willing to create those features that people want and that they need. One feature that I've seen, like, Lipson just added this. I don't know Captivate might have the ability, I don't know. But the ability to actually like record within the host, which to me is like, I mean, I guess it's a good feature if you don't edit your podcast, but if you edit in any capacity, I don't really that's one that I'm not like, you know, too crazy excited about. But yeah, excited to see what else they come up with.

    Lauren Wrighton 17:43

    Yeah, it kind of makes me think about anchor who is trying to make a product that is all encompassing, like, you can do it all here, open anchor, record, edit, make money, all that stuff in the same spot. And I think when you do that you do lose like not everything's gonna be great, there's gonna be a piece of it that they're good at, and they're not so good at. But for the person who likes kind of like an all in one solution, it works. So, so yeah, I agree. It's like, sometimes, you know, like anything, they try to fix problems that don't exist, you know, like, okay, the recording situation is fine. I don't need help with that. Yeah, what I need help with is ads, what I need help with is monetization. Like, those are some of the things that really would be that beneficial. But yeah, we'll probably see other things that pop up. That's like, don't really mean don't really need this.

    Sara Whittaker 18:31

    And, you know, as we were talking made me think one feature that has also kind of come about this year at launch, I don't know a few months ago, maybe like four months ago or so Buzzsprout launched their AI, I'm blanking on what they're calling it. But basically, you can buy ads through Buzzsprout, where you record an ad for your own show, and then they insert that into other podcasts. So I think that's a super cool concept. I have not personally tried it myself. My hesitation is like whether or not they actually get put into the right fit shows or not. But I love the idea of it of being able to put yourself in front of other podcast listeners.

    Lauren Wrighton 19:12

    Yeah. So you and I had talked about that a couple months ago. And so I looked into it for one of my clients who's not on Buzzsprout, but you didn't need to be on Buzzsprout to use it. So I submitted her information. And I've never heard back, really from them. And it's it's been it's been like multiple weeks. So I'm actually she's on Libsyn right now. And I'm going to move her over to Buzzsprout just kind of to test things and she's she was open to it. So yeah, I'm gonna see if maybe it's different. If you're a bus route customer, maybe she's kind of being deprioritize because she's not a customer of theirs. But yeah, I I'm really into that idea as well. Because especially because she's in the nutrition space. So I'm like, oh, there's a lot of kind of cross promotion that could happen. But yeah, TBD on on that.

    Sara Whittaker 19:58

    Yeah. Can we update it? That's Interesting, I would think that you're probably right in the sense of like, if you're not a sprout user, maybe you're kind of just like pushed to the bottom of the list. So that'll be interesting to see if you switch over. Yeah.

    Lauren Wrighton 20:11

    Now, that kind of is a good segue into one of my my second prediction, which was about sponsorship. So you know, thinking about it from the podcast manager's perspective, I am seeing a lot of podcasters more excited about getting sponsors, and more willing to do that, I guess, is the right word. Because I've always been like, yes, let's do this, let's do this. But, you know, podcasters, I think a lot of their frame of reference is, I want to do this to help my business number one, or it's, I don't really want to, like they feel weird about asking people for money, which Okay, that is a whole separate issue that we're all probably trying to work through is like, we are allowed to ask for money for the work that we do. Everything we do does not need to be a hobby, everything we do does not need to be free. So I really like that I'm seeing a shift in podcaster, saying, hey, I want to have a podcast. But I also want to get paid. And I'm really open to doing sponsorships. And at the same time, the podcasts industry is really opening up so that lots of different people can get sponsors. So I'm really excited to see that build through 2023.

    Sara Whittaker 21:22

    Yes, I am 100%. With you, I basically had like a very similar prediction just about, I wrote that I think that there will be more quote unquote, micro influencer type of podcast sponsor opportunities. So I think usually, when you think of having a podcast sponsor, you feel like you have to have hundreds of 1000s of downloads every month. And that's definitely not the case anymore. And I think we're going to see even more of that, because I think businesses are really understanding that these smaller shows that are very niche and have a very clear audience like those are great podcasts to have an ad for your product in because it's a very clear good fit audience for whatever it is that the podcaster is promoting. So I completely agree, I think I'm I am very excited to kind of see how that goes. Like even for me. I like Zen caster did a bunch of updates this year. And they are now they actually are now a podcast host too. You can host your podcast through them, I just use them. Like we're on Zen caster right now recording this for guest interviews. But I have an ad through them. Because Zen caster is the perfect thing for me to promote in my show, because I'm talking to other podcasters. And I love I love the product, I use it, you know pretty much every week. And I get paid a small amount to promote that on my podcast. But I do not have a huge podcast audience and like these opportunities. My point is that these opportunities are becoming available, and I'm seeing it firsthand. All right, podcasters that you know how many details come with producing just a single episode and using the right tools is the key to creating high quality episodes in the most efficient way possible. One of my absolute favorite tools, I use Zen caster, I have tried so many different platforms for recording my guests interviews and Zen caster is the one I've stuck with for so many reasons. It always gives me the highest quality audio because there is nothing worse than recording an episode that you can't use because of bad quality. It's so easy for you and your guests, even the not so tech savvy ones, all they have to do is click a link and we start recording boom done. Plus, the video is crystal clear. So you can repurpose your solo and your guest episodes on social media and on YouTube. Oh, and it gives you a transcript of your episodes, you can go to Zen caster.com/pricing and use my code educators, you'll get 30% off your first three months of Zen caster professional, I want you to have the same easy experiences I do for all of my podcasting and content needs. It's time to share your story. So go to Zen caster.com/pricing, that ZENC a s t r.com/pricing and use my code educators for 30% off. That's educators all lowercase letters, the link will also be in the show notes.

    Lauren Wrighton 24:32

    And I've seen a lot about how that is the case for micro influencers on Instagram. So if brands are seeing the benefit of getting in front of a smaller audience on Instagram, then it'd be a pretty easy thing to also see the value of getting in front of a quote unquote smaller audience in a podcast. So you know if your client or you you know podcasts are listening He sees a product or a company that's just such a great fit for their audience, like, don't hesitate to reach out and show them the value and that your small audience has, you know, because I mean, most brands are looking for ways to get in front of the right people. So when you make that easy for them, they're they're happy to get that email.

    Sara Whittaker 25:19

    Absolutely. And like back to that idea of really using your podcast as a business tool. I mean, I think the smartest way to go about sponsorships is not doing the traditional CPM rate. But putting together a package that combines social media and email marketing, and your podcast all together to make this really great appealing package, or sponsor.

    Lauren Wrighton 25:43

    I totally agree, because we're probably already going to promote that sponsor in our show notes, which is a blog on social media, you know, when we're promoting the episode, so you do want to show the value that of all of those things that you're going to do because you're promoting the show, right? So yeah, putting it together a package like that is a really smart move when it comes to sponsors.

    Sara Whittaker 26:07

    Yeah, I was also just thinking, like, it's also kind of cool to look at it like that, because maybe somebody who you know, has an established email list, they have an Instagram following, but maybe they haven't started their podcast yet. Like they could probably get a sponsor from the very beginning, because they have those other numbers to show. Totally lots of opportunity.

    Lauren Wrighton 26:27

    Right. And that is actually something that I was thinking about was that like, podcasters used to, I used to hear this all the time that like, they wanted to be like six months into their show before they got sponsors. Somebody was saying that some somebody out there was telling podcasters Wait, you know, do it for free, build your audience for six months, and then get sponsors. But I'm not seeing that as much anymore. And I'm happy that I'm not seeing that much anymore, because okay, what is this hypothetical six months anyway. And really priming your audience telling them that you aren't doing this for free, I think is smart. Because then they're when they hear an ad, they're not like, oh, wait, you know, she's a sellout or I don't know, people don't even think that anyway, but like, you're setting them up for this is the format of the show, you're going to hear me recommend things. And this is to your advantage. I'm doing it because this is a good thing for you. But I'm definitely seeing that kind of that tight turn.

    Sara Whittaker 27:20

    Yeah, I've had some conversations with people who are a lot more open to this, versus like, maybe when they first started their show, it was like, No, I'm just going to focus on my my offers, but you can do both.

    Lauren Wrighton 27:33

    Right? And there's no, there's not, it's not a bad idea to focus on your own offers, either like it sponsorship is not for everyone. But don't feel like you have to wait for some sort of months to pass or even your audience to get to a certain size. Yeah. But at the same time promoting your own offers is a is a great way to go about it, too. Yeah, absolutely. So my last prediction is I was reading a article about the podcasts industry. And I was seeing that there's a lot of growth in people that literally listen to spoken word like their radio listeners or audiobooks. And that's that sort of thing. Those people that were already audio listeners of whatever, that they're going from listening to radio, to podcasting. And so I thought that really spoke to kind of a bigger movement that I'm seeing of bigger personalities, you know, radio personalities, things like that coming into podcasting, because they're like, oh, I can take my current brand, maybe on Instagram, maybe on the radio, maybe somewhere else. And I can really run with it. When it comes to podcasting, because there are systems set up now there is, you know, an easy way to make money from it, like networks exist now. And they can just really run with a podcast. So I'm seeing that from like these kind of big brands people coming in. But then at the same time, you know, we have when we mentioned anchor earlier, who's making it super easy for anyone to do it. So those two ends of the spectrum, I've seen really boom. And then obviously all of us in between that are, you know, have a big audience or just starting our audience or whatever. I just think it's so interesting that the podcast space has really opened up so that lots of different people can do it. So I'm, that's something that I've seen, but so my prediction is that that will continue to be the case. And us who are in more of the middle of that will really be able to get the benefits of the benefits of what the big media people are doing. And also, you know, what is being created for like your DIY or podcaster.

    Sara Whittaker 29:44

    Yeah, that's really cool to think about. It's just it's such an accessible platform for anybody. And the like, kind of along those same lines. I know I've read a lot of information about how like since because we all know so many people started their podcasts and COVID. But since then, like when there really did start to become this huge increase with podcasting, there's also been a lot more diverse voices in podcasting, a lot more women who are now podcasting. So I just I'm really excited to continue tracking those kinds of numbers too. Because, you know, when podcasting first started, it was mostly men, I would say, and so that the audience of of hosting is definitely expanding. Yes, I

    Lauren Wrighton 30:30

    love to see that. Yeah, same.

    Sara Whittaker 30:33

    Okay, my last prediction is about video podcasting. And we talked about this last year, because, you know, in the past couple of years, it's like, video, video, video, video is king, everybody's talking about video, especially on Instagram. And I've always had a lot of pushback against video when it comes to podcasting. But we've definitely seen some advancements in video podcasting this year. Now, there's a whole new like section specifically for video podcasting on YouTube, which is different than what it used to be it used to kind of all be jumbled together. And then the latest thing that I've seen is that Spotify now has video podcasts. So you have to be hosted with anchor. And you can actually, like upload your video from anchor onto Spotify. And as a user, you can I guess there's like two different features, you can either and you can like kind of switch back and forth. So if you're, you know, sitting at home and you want to watch it, you can watch it or you can kind of like, I think they describe it as like putting it in the background. So it can be just audio only, which is very interesting. Shout out to Janice on Instagram who showed me this because I had never seen this before. And my prediction is that we're going to see more of this, we're going to see more podcast hosts allowing you to put your video and then push it out to other listening apps. So kind of tune one here, I think we're going to see that ability on podcast host. And then I think we're going to see that feature on actual listening apps, however, like the big but here is I just have to say I still don't get it like I would never go. If I'm listening to a podcast on Spotify. I want to listen to the podcast. I don't, I don't know that it will fully stick. I think that video podcasting still really belongs on YouTube. Not so much on a listening app. But we'll see. I'm curious to see how that will advance this year.

    Lauren Wrighton 32:48

    Yeah, I would agree with you that if I were to start a video podcast today, I would be much more inclined to use YouTube, over keeping it on Spotify, I probably do both. But YouTube has such a great way to monetize their influencers. So why not use YouTube? That makes a lot of sense to me. But also, just to if you're wondering, I listening to this thinking, Oh, wait, do I need to start producing video with my podcast to you know, be competitive or whatever. I just do not think so either. Because once again speaking to like the fact that there's these big influencers coming into podcasting, maybe they have a very visual brand on Instagram. And so then doing video, a video podcast makes a lot of sense. But I think there's always going to be I always say always, I think there's always going to be room for just strictly audio for you know, kind of just the regular podcast not regular as in like not making a big impact. But for someone who just isn't inclined to do video all the time. I think there will always be a space for that person.

    Sara Whittaker 34:01

    Yeah, 100% I think if you especially like if you are somebody who's already handling all of your podcasts by yourself, feeling like you have to also do a video podcasts on top of that, that is a lot of work. It's a lot of work to do both. So I'm whether you are and I do not think that it's like a must in any capacity. And I think that what would be cooler to see, instead of like pushing out video to places like Spotify would be the ability for people who do have a video podcast to be able to upload your video to captivate or whoever your host is, and then put it on push it out automatically onto YouTube as the video and only use the audio for you know, the regular podcasting apps like that makes sense to me. Right now you can do that. But it's audio only that you can like set up so it automatically gets put on YouTube but it's not video so right Yeah, we'll see.

    Lauren Wrighton 35:01

    Yeah, that would be nice to streamline it that way. And yeah, I think, you know, just for me in my podcast, I thought about like, oh, you know, I've gotten that edge, like, maybe I should do, you know, like, because I want to play around with YouTube more. So I'm like, Ooh, maybe I shouldn't. And I'm like, You know what, we also have to remind ourselves, like, if you do have a podcast that has like sponsorship and stuff, then this could make a lot of sense. But if you're using it as a lead magnet at the top of your funnel, as a business owner, then sticking with the, you know, the standard podcast is going to do the job. You don't need to like, kind of add on all of these bells and whistles. If it's not going to make a big difference to like your bottom line or the impact that you're having. So if you are kind of inclined to like make things harder for no reason, then this could be a way to make it harder. And for not a great reason.

    Sara Whittaker 35:53

    Yes, yes, totally. I know. I feel like because I have also gotten that itch for the first time this year, I had never had that issue before. And I would really want for me, I feel like putting my podcasts on YouTube, I would really want to have a very clear understanding of like, how SEO works on YouTube, because that is kind of like where I think it could be beneficial. But I'm not there yet. Yeah, could get like an extra 15 hours a week somehow that might be nice. Right? Yeah.

    Lauren Wrighton 36:25

    Instead of trying to like find 15 hours a week or more in our week. Let's actually just like take two hours. More off of our plate.

    Sara Whittaker 36:34

    Yes. I love going the opposite direction. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. That's my mantra for 2023. Love our whitespace Yeah. And okay, I'm looking at my list. And I actually do have one more. Okay, I really did want to talk about I didn't realize I had for this will be quick. But this was speaking of pod news that we talked about the beginning. This was on pod news. And I think it's really cool. And I'm super curious about it. But it is very mysterious at the same time. So I don't know if you saw this. But pod news sent out that Apple is now supposedly, you know, it's all very like traditional mysterious Apple podcast. Supposedly, they are auto tagging episodes with topics. Okay, so that was like the headline caught my eye. Hold on. Let me go to the article. So I, and I will link this article in the show notes. But yeah, so it says, Apple is quietly tagging podcast episodes by topic. However, they're not releasing, like how they're doing this, which is, you know, of course, frustrating. But and, interestingly enough, because I was thinking, Okay, well, this must be coming from like the metadata. But supposedly, it's not. From what this article has gathered, they're saying that their best guess is that they are actually pulling the topics from the actual audio, and doing using like a machine generated transcript to pull out these topics. And the purpose of this is to improve search on Apple podcasts, which I am all for, I think this is amazing if this is really what's happening. And I really want to learn more about it. Because this was one of the things that we had hoped for last year is that search does become a little bit better within these listening apps. So I think this is really cool. I wish we had more information on it. But I think that that will probably be coming soon.

    Lauren Wrighton 38:34

    Yeah. And I had heard, you know, maybe a year ago or more that they were going to start doing this not that they were going to tag but that they were going to you were going to be able to search the audio, which seemed crazy, like how do you search audio. But it makes sense that this is would be how they would be doing it. So yeah, it'll be interesting to see if like, we actually notice a difference in search. And I would love to know from those of you that are listening, if you are using the search, like Apple podcast search, or if you use Spotify, if you are searching for shows, because I saw that there was an increase in people finding podcasts through search, but that's not how I find my podcasts. I go more off of like word of mouth and, you know, maybe seeing it, you know, on social media or something. So I would love to know, from those of you that are listening, when you find a new show, how is it? Are you searching keywords? Are you being recommended podcasts that you then go try out? What is you know, what, what is that for you?

    Sara Whittaker 39:36

    Yeah, I would love to know that too, because I am actually somebody who does go into the listening apps and I'll search for terms. And it's frustrating because, like in Apple podcasts, at least the only things that are searchable are episode titles, show title and author tag. And so I might search like I was searching for like an email marketing podcast and some Sometimes they'll pop up and it especially if like that phrase is in the actual podcast title. But then sometimes he'll get this list of podcasts who, like have an episode on that topic that's in the title somewhere. But then what you have to like sift through all of these episodes until you find that. So I'm hoping that this tagging system could kind of simplify well, on one hand simplify but also like make it a more thorough search engine. So you really could just go in and and it would almost be like a Google where you're getting more straight results.

    Lauren Wrighton 40:36

    Yeah, I agree, like making it more thorough, because what I noticed about some, like topics that you see things tagged as is like, they're so broad. So it's like, oh, is this lifestyle? Is this music? And it's like, that's so broad. So hopefully, like the tagging system is detailed without making it. I don't know, impossible. So yeah, we'll have we'll definitely have to be tracking that. And 2023.

    Sara Whittaker 41:01

    Yes. And like, kind of along that same topic. Hopefully, that might also give you some better, like, you might also enjoy this show results. Because still, I get results for shows that aren't even active anymore. Can we like maybe put a time limit on this podcast hasn't released an episode in a year? Yeah, I don't need to see it.

    Lauren Wrighton 41:25

    That's a good point. That's a good point.

    Sara Whittaker 41:28

    All right. Well, there we have it. Lots of good podcasts predictions. I'm excited to see what happens this year.

    Lauren Wrighton 41:37

    Yeah, me too. I'm really excited to see what we're not predicting what's gonna be the thing. Let's just assume there's gonna be something that that is implemented in 2023, that we're like, wow, we could have not even predicted that we wanted this so badly. And yet, here it is, and it's making our life so much easier, or making our shows, you know, grow at a faster rate. I'm ready for that thing. Bring it on. I like the sound. Well, this has been so fun to chat about these podcasting trends and podcasting predictions. I can't wait to see what happens and what doesn't happen, I suppose. But let us know what you guys would love to see happen in the next couple of months. I would love to hear that from you. And Sarah, it's been so fun chatting.

    Sara Whittaker 42:24

    It's been so much fun. Thanks so much, Lauren. And yes, please let us know what your podcast predictions are over on Instagram. Thanks so much for listening to today's episode. To keep this conversation going connect with me on Instagram at podcasting for educators. I'm always looking for an excuse to talk about podcasting. If you're looking for support and launching, managing or growing your podcast, check out my online course the podcasting for educators prep school at podcasting for educators.com/prep school. I'll see you here next time.

More about Podcasting for Educators:

Podcasting for Educators is the podcast for TpT authors and other online educators. It's a show that will help you get your podcast in front of those who need it most - teachers, counselors, literacy specialists, SLPs, parents, and more! Each week, Sara Whittaker and her guests will share top tips and actionable strategies that you will need in order to launch, manage, and grow your podcast. You’ll learn how to leverage your show to build long-lasting relationships with your audience and promote your TpT resources, courses, and memberships, all while providing valuable and accessible content!

Some links on this page are affiliate links. This helps to support this podcast at no additional cost to you.

 
Sara Whittaker