Visualising conversation: How to retain audience attention for long format podcasts.
Picture this: it's 1981, and Queen have just released their new single, Under Pressure. The term "podcast" is 23 years in the future (coined by Ben Hammersley in 2004 as a mix of 'iPod' and 'broadcast'). Instead, radio talk shows and news broadcasting still prevail - but not for long.
The innovation of video being used alongside audio began just a few months before Queen's legendary drag-inspired housewives Music Video. MTV had just launched their 24-hour music video broadcast; this transformed the music industry from a purely auditory one to a space where musicians were pushed to create a visual world for their music as well as the tunes themselves. It launched the music video wave of the 90s and 2000's. Simply releasing music ceased to be enough for artists ; the public's consumption of music began to be largely focusing around TVs and artists had to adapt.
The science of attention
The use of video to capture and retain consumer attention is hence not a new one. Think of Carly Rae Jepson's Call Me Maybe - a staple of many a Gen-Z's childhood memories. The song, although catchy, would arguably have faded from pop culture much sooner had it not been for the iconic car-washing, lawn-mowing extravaganza of an MV.
Scientifically speaking, 55% of human messaging is achieved through body language and visual mediums. When listening to a podcast, you are only receiving 38% of the intended message: tone of voice and words. So, it's no surprise that our brains lock onto video formats the way they do; we are hard wired to engage with visual input in a way that audio struggles to attain.
Commercialising conversation
Large platforms like Spotify and YouTube have already caught on, and are heavily promoting video format podcasting. The undivided attention of listeners, or in this case watchers, is also a bonus for advertisers. Chris Williamson, for example, uses almost exclusively video hooks for the paid sponsorships dotted throughout his inrerview-style episodes, something our video podcast setup provides you the opportunity to do.
Madeline Argy is another interesting case; her episodes are often filmed alone in her car, a format not necessarily conducive to video engagement. However, it is precisely the simplicity of her setup, the relatability of her messy garage, bad posture and expressive body language that makes the short clips she extracts and posts on her social media so effective. Madeline, despite having modeled for brands such as Calvin Klein, Rabanne and Coach, keeps her podcasts very real and openly speaks about her insecurities and struggles with self-worth. Often including post-recording images of an experience or photos relevant to the topic, a level of experience accessible only to the viewer. She blends visual and auditory media in a way that creates almost a FOMO quality for those who uniquely listen. This incentivises the listeners to instead consume the visual content on platforms like YouTube, which are more easily monetisable.
Not only is video format podcasting essential for advertising and monetisation, it can also be a key factor in promoting the podcast itself. Posting 30-second excerpts can massively help direct audiences towards your content (See our editing services to create promotional material for your podcast)
Conclusion
In summary, the podcast scene is currently going through the same transformation that the music industry experienced in the early 80s. Many podcasts are struggling to adapt: typical "fireside chat" formats, recorded at home, require significant expense to remodel and redesign for videography. Andy, on Podcastgym.com mentions the potential insecurities that come with filming an episode too: the visual element adds a layer of technical complexity that some creators might shy away from. This is why we recommend using pre-existing podcast studios, like Voices Studio. We're fully set up for 4K videography, we can provide engineers and even do the edit for you. Leave the difficult parts to us, and creation is yours.
