“You should spend as much time marketing your podcast as you do producing it.” - Matt Cundill, The Sound Off Media Company My colleague Matt, who I’ve anointed The Podcast King of Canada, is one of the smartest people I know in podcasting. When he said those words, though, my heart sank. Producing a high-quality podcast is time consuming. If it’s not your full-time job, and you don’t have a team working on you show, you probably don’t have the same amount of time to market it. Let’s use my podcast, The JAG Show, as an example. It’s a 5 minute, weekly podcast - or at least, it tries to be. I probably spend a good hour or two on production. That includes writing a Substack, recording the audio and video in Riverside, and exporting to Adobe. After my final edits there, I post the audio to Simplecast, which then goes out to Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music, and more. I then post the video to YouTube, LinkedIn, X, Instagram, Facebook, Threads, and maybe another platform or two I’m forgetting. As for that last part, why not just post to YouTube and share that link everywhere? Well, I’m not monetizing this show, and I think each platform’s algorithm favors video native to its own site. Am I 100% sure on that? No. But for me, it’s worth an extra 10 minutes to take that chance. But overall, between client work and life itself, I don’t have multiple hours to spend marketing it every week. How To Podcasts on Instagram LiveNow most podcasts are 30-60 minutes, which exponentially adds time to all of the above. There are two ways to post your podcast “live.” The first is to stream it as you’re recording, which of course leaves no room for errors, or editing. And I’d be remiss if I didn’t share the Internet-Hall-of-Fame worthy clip of Bill O’Reilly’s “We’ll Do It Live!” The second option is to record your podcast, edit it, then use a service like Riverside, StreamYard, OBS Studio, or others, to stream the pre-edited video to YouTube, X, LinkedIn, or now Instagram Live. The Pros of Instagram Live:Because this is a new push from Meta, they will likely prioritize live streams in users’ feeds. So a “live” show may increase your audience, or at least your exposure. And even if someone only stops the scroll for only a few minutes, you’ve made an impression with them. And if they really like your content, you may get them over to your actual podcast feed on YouTube, Apple, or Spotify. Is Instagram Live Worth It?Australian Podcast strategist Laura McRae wrote a great piece on this topic. She raises some thought-provoking questions. Instagram is testing this feature; will it stick around forever? And social media has put such a priority on short form content - is it realistic to expect someone to stay on a single Instagram post for 30, 40 minutes, or more? The platform simply isn’t designed for long-form consumption like YouTube, Apple, or Spotify. Conclusion: Try It Only If You Have the BandwidthIf you have the time, or the staff, to wade into the pool of Instagram Live, go for it. You have nothing to lose by posting and trying to capture listeners in another place. But if you don’t have the resources (most podcasters don’t) - spend your time focused on creating quality content that will resonate with your audience, and get them to share your show. Find jag on social media @JAGPodcastProductions or online at JAGPodcastProductions.com Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
