Podcast Promotion: what are Audiograms?

In recent years, podcasts have become a fantastic commodity for listeners to learn more about their favourite brands, influencers and famous individuals.

With podcasts, it is difficult to be discovered unless you already have a following behind it. Until recently, an advert for a podcast was unheard of, and podcasts relied on word of mouth recommendations.

This is where an ‘Audiogram’ comes in.

What is an Audiogram?

An audiogram is usually a 20-second excerpt from a podcast, with an audio wave over the show’s cover art, which can be posted to a social media site as a way of a ‘preview’.

This video can then be posted to an Instagram story, a tweet, or other social channels with ease.

For example, this audiogram for The People’s Friend on Twitter is a 90-second excerpt of its first episode, showcasing interested users with a taste of what the podcast is about and which services it can be downloaded from.

In advertising, it’s a fantastic way of sharing a podcast from a business that’s looking for increased engagement.

It’s said that 95% of viewers retain a message when watched in a video format, while 10% of viewers retain a message when reading it. Using a visual medium to promote an audio podcast is a great move.

Advantages

• It gives potential listeners an immediate taste of what the show consists of.
• It’s easy to create, either from a plethora of apps from your phone, tablet or laptop.
• As it’s a video file, it can be posted as a story on the social media channel of choice.
• Some apps offer transcriptions for audiograms, which can be used as an overlay on the excerpt, to further attract a new listener.

How can an Audiogram be made?

There’s plenty of free applications and websites that can create one, which can give you the option to add your cover art and waveforms for certain points of an episode you want to push.

We recommend using three sizes for an audiogram:

• Horizontal (1280 x 720px)
• Vertical (720 x 1280px)
• Square (1080 x 1080px)

Using three of these can easily fit into a post for the right social channel.

It’s always best to have them short, between 15 and 40 seconds, featuring a transcription or an audiowave. This way, a curious browser on social media may be tempted to listen to the excerpt, and in-turn, look to download the episode out of intrigue.

You could create a multitude of content just from one episode. If a business is creating a podcast that’s based on their opinions in their specialised industry, having a series of audiograms can help the podcast share the host’s opinions across social media sites much quicker.

Podcasts are a medium that’s still growing. It’s still an untapped market that’s only being harnessed in advertising campaigns now. An audiogram can be a great introduction to someone wanting to discover a new show on their morning commute, and in-turn, can help drive subscriptions and listeners to the show in a short amount of time if done well.