The bCast Blog

So you’ve created a podcast - that’s great!

You’ve probably chosen a hosting service (ideally bCast!), submitted your show to all the major directories, and created social media profiles. Heck, you may even have a website devoted to your show, but now it’s time to find new listeners and turn them into subscribers. 

Unfortunately, your podcast audio alone isn’t a convenient or attractive solution for promoting your podcast on social media. You need something eye-catching and engaging that grabs the attention of someone while they’re scrolling through their feed.‍

Enter the audiogram...

What’s An Audiogram?‍

An audiogram (sometimes called a waveform video) is a visual representation of an audio clip. These short videos are the perfect snippet of content created to catch a potential listener’s attention on social media. Using graphics, waveforms, captions, images, and audio together create a perfect marketing tool for your podcast.

Here’s an example from none other than Dame Julie Andrews:

There are many options for audiograms.

Let’s break down a few of the most important aspects of creating successful videos for social media using Headliner (don’t worry, there’s a free version!)...

Waveforms‍

Waveforms are one of the essential aspects of audiogram videos. They immediately signal to the user that audio is playing. It’s the literal graph of the audio snippet. Waveforms convey that audio is happening without having to say “sound on” or “volume up.”

This fantastic visual essay from The Pudding will teach you everything you could ever possibly want to know about waveforms, but here’s their conclusive definition:

“An audio wave is the vibration of air molecules, which is how sound travels. A waveform describes a wave by graphing how an air molecule is displaced, over time.”

Here’s a great example of a waveform in action from the show Smartless with Sean Hayes, Jason Bateman, and Will Arnett. Headliner currently has 13 different waveform patterns to choose from, and they’re fully customizable, including colour, placement, and size. 

‍Captions‍

Captions do a couple of important things for the person watching a video (and potential listeners).

• First, they increase your content’s accessibility and comprehension (especially for those who may not speak the same language).
  
  
• Second, people just like them. Verizon Media & Publicis Media found that 80% of respondents said they were more likely to watch an entire video when captions are available.
  
  
• Third, the majority of video is watched without sound. The same study found that 69% of users viewed videos without sound in public places, and even 25% viewed videos without sound in private.
  
  
• Fourth, it’s important to make your videos effective when sound is off, and if you don’t, it could negatively affect your brand. Facebook research found that when feed-based mobile video ads play loudly when people aren’t expecting it, 80% react negatively, both toward the platform and the advertiser.
  

Learn more about creating, editing, and adding captions to your videos using Headliner... which is also integrated into the bCast dashboard. With one click you can build out an audiogram from an episode.

Faces (Yours and Your Guests)‍

Your podcast listeners potentially spend a lot of time with you. Think about the shows you listen to regularly--doesn’t it feel like you start to get to know them? You begin to feel like you connect with them and the content they produce. Well, nothing strengthens your connection with the listener more than showing them who they’re listening to.

“People buy from people, so show your people" - Sticky Branding‍

You are selling yourself when you’re selling your podcast. And while you may not be comfortable being on camera (one significant advantage of a podcast), you can certainly find or take a photo of yourself to use as your cover art of image for your audiogram. ‍

Branding‍

Audiograms are an extension and reinforcement of your podcast brand. Nearly every aspect of your audiogram made with Headliner is customizable. Using your brand colors, fonts, cover art, theme music, and voice in your videos they will become an instant cue to your listeners that a new episode is out and catch the attention of new listeners. 

Keeping things consistent is an essential part of brand recognition. Luckily, Headliner helps you keep things consistent by allowing you to save your designs as templates to quickly create a new video when you release a new episode..

When you put all of these components together in your audiogram--it provides a ton of marketing bang for your buck so to speak. Optimizing your videos for every platform is super straightforward, thanks to Headliner’s aspect ratio selection tool. 

In a matter of minutes, you can create videos perfectly sized for all your social platforms. And, the more consistently and widely you share your audiograms, the more impact they will have.

You can also share your audiograms with podcast guests and encourage them to share... exploding your exposure :)

Didn’t your grandma always tell you, “Consistency is key?” Well, was she ever wrong? ;) ‍

Audiograms Make Podcast Marketing Fun ‍

Audiograms add creativity and fun to your podcast promotion.

They offer a way to grab the attention of potential listeners and continue to strengthen your brand with your fans.

And with that... we agree with Headliner when they say that Audiograms are the most engaging way to promote audio online.