I recently attended the "Video Podcasts to the Front" a panel hosted by the Jemma Rose Brown (Signal Awards) and featuring Steve McLendon (YouTube), Daniel Carissimi (Headspace), and Deison Afualo (Co-Host, Two Idiot Girls), and the questions from those in the audience are ones we're all struggling with.

Note from the editors: this article was originally published on LinkedIn by Greg Wasserman, and has been republished with his permission.

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Video is clearly powerful,
But so is knowing when and how to use it.

๐—›๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐Ÿฒ ๐—พ๐˜‚๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป๐˜€ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฝ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐—น ๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ธ๐—น๐—ฒ๐—ฑ, ๐˜„๐—ถ๐˜๐—ต ๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—ฎ๐—ฑ๐˜ƒ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ:

1๏ธโƒฃ ๐—ฆ๐—ต๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—น๐—ฑ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ ๐—ฝ๐—ผ๐—ฑ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐˜€๐˜ ๐—ด๐—ผ ๐˜ƒ๐—ถ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ผ?
Ask not just ๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜บ, but ๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜บ ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ๐˜ต. If thereโ€™s no strong editorial, budgetary, or branding reason to ๐˜ข๐˜ท๐˜ฐ๐˜ช๐˜ฅ videoโ€”try it. Visual authenticity matters more than slick production.

2๏ธโƒฃ ๐——๐—ผ ๐—ฌ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ง๐˜‚๐—ฏ๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ถ๐˜๐—น๐—ฒ๐˜€/๐˜๐—ต๐˜‚๐—บ๐—ฏ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐—ถ๐—น๐˜€ ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ ๐—ฐ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ธ๐—ฏ๐—ฎ๐—ถ๐˜?
Nope. Be on-brand and authentic, but thumbnails are ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ-๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜จ๐˜ฐ๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ข๐˜ฃ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ. Even DIY ones boost clicks.

3๏ธโƒฃ ๐—›๐—ผ๐˜„ ๐—บ๐˜‚๐—ฐ๐—ต ๐—ฑ๐—ผ๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ๐—น๐—ด๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐˜๐—ต๐—บ ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—ป๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—น ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐˜€๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ฏ๐—ถ๐—น๐—ถ๐˜๐˜†?
A lot. YouTube favors behaviorโ€”watch time, clicks, etc. So create for ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ณ audience, not the algorithm.

4๏ธโƒฃ ๐——๐—ผ๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐—ง๐—ถ๐—ธ๐—ง๐—ผ๐—ธ/๐—œ๐—ป๐˜€๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ด๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—บ ๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ผ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐—ฑ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ ๐—ฌ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ง๐˜‚๐—ฏ๐—ฒ ๐—ด๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐˜„๐˜๐—ต?
Sometimes. Cliffhanger clips + smart linking (bio, stories, Linktrees) help, but conversion is never seamless.

5๏ธโƒฃ ๐—–๐—ฎ๐—ป ๐—ฆ๐—ต๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐˜๐˜€/๐—ง๐—ถ๐—ธ๐—ง๐—ผ๐—ธ๐˜€ ๐—ฏ๐—ผ๐—ผ๐˜€๐˜ ๐—น๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ด-๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—บ ๐˜ƒ๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐˜„๐˜€?
Yesโ€”but treat them as entry points. Hook viewers with value and link directly to full episodes.

6๏ธโƒฃ ๐—ช๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐˜„๐—ถ๐—ป๐˜€: ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—ป๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜ ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—ฑ๐˜‚๐—ฐ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐—พ๐˜‚๐—ฎ๐—น๐—ถ๐˜๐˜†?
Always content. Personality and substance beat a perfect set every time.

๐Ÿ”‘ ๐— ๐˜† ๐—ง๐—ฎ๐—ธ๐—ฒ: Audio podcasting still holds unmatched power. Itโ€™s intimate, accessible, and often easier to produce consistently. But video can ๐˜ข๐˜ฎ๐˜ฑ๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜ง๐˜บ your reach ๐˜ช๐˜ง used intentionally. Start with a strong show, then ask: where else can this story live?

๐Ÿ‘‰ ๐—œ๐—ณ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚โ€™๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ด๐—ฎ๐—บ๐—ฒ: ๐—ต๐—ผ๐˜„ ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚ ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐—ถ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐˜„๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ต๐—ผ๐˜„ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ ๐—ฝ๐—ผ๐—ฑ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐˜€๐˜ ๐˜€๐—ต๐—ผ๐˜„๐˜€ ๐˜‚๐—ฝ?
Or if you’re just getting started, whatโ€™s holding you back from hitting record?

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Greg Wasserman is the Head of Relationships for rss.com.

Event photography courtesy of Dane Cardiel and Off The Record.