How to Use Audiograms for Podcast Promotion

by Megan Schneider | Jul 11, 2022 | Podcasting

A podcast audiogram is a powerful tool that can help generate more attention for your show. Audiograms are typically short excerpts from a podcast that combine visual arts, audio tracks, sound waves, and text to create a shareable marketing asset. Learn more about why you should use audiograms in marketing your podcast, as well as some best practices for creating them!

Why You Should Use Audiograms

Audiograms are an effective way to promote individual podcast episodes on a variety of platforms. Here are a few reasons why audiograms are a great podcast promotion tactic!

Extend Reach to a Wider Audience

Sharing audiograms online can help your podcast reach a bigger audience. Since viewers retain 95% of video messages, creating an audiogram with brief audio clips showcasing highlights from your podcast episodes can help your posts stand out in a listener’s social media feed. In fact, podcast creators who utilize audiograms on Twitter and Facebook have seen post engagement 8x higher and 5x higher than the average, respectively, meaning audiograms can reach potential audience members outside a show’s avid podcast listeners.

Easy to Consume

Since podcast audiograms are typically short—usually ranging up to 90 seconds in length—they don’t require a big time commitment from consumers. This means that audiograms can receive immediate engagement as people encounter them on their social media feeds. Podcasters can capitalize on this by showcasing engaging snippets of a podcast episode, which can encourage viewers to listen to the show’s entire episode.

Quick to Create & Share

Many audiograms can be created in 10 minutes or less, and there are a variety of free or affordable tools—like Wavve, Audiogram, and Headliner—that make creating them easy! These platforms allow you to upload an audio clip and visual file of your choosing before customizing additional elements like text, waveforms, interactive graphics, and more. After creating an audiogram, you can share this media asset across social media platforms.

Best Practices When Using Audiograms

When creating audiograms to promote your podcast, there are a few best practices you should follow. Learn more about elements to include and things to try when creating a podcast audiogram below.

Keep Audiograms Short & Simple

Podcast audiograms should be short enough to keep the attention of your listeners as they scroll through their social media feeds. Use audio clips that offer a preview of your podcast episode without giving away too much of the show. You can pull clips directly from your podcast or use separately-recorded episode summaries that are engaging so audiogram viewers are encouraged to tune into your full episode!

Incorporate Engaging Images

As viewers scroll through social media feeds, an eye-catching image on your audiogram can grab their attention and stop the scroll! When creating an audiogram, select an image that will convey part of your podcast’s message, such as a guest on your show or exclusive behind-the-scenes photos. For example, if you have a food podcast, you can share an image of a chef you interviewed or a food dish that you talked about in the episode.

Use Animated Elements

The most common animated element that creators can use for a podcast audiogram is waveform, also known as sound waves. This element will clarify to your listeners that you’re sharing an audio clip from a podcast and not just a still photo or image. You can also get creative with how animated text appears on the screen, which may keep your audience more engaged than simple slideshow-like text. Play around with different waveform styles, fonts, and colors to help push your viewers to connect with your audiogram and podcast episode as a whole.

Try Catchy Headlines

Captivating headlines like guest quotes, statistics, or your show’s catchphrase can help capture a viewer’s attention. If your viewer has turned off their autoplay options, your headline is what can encourage them to listen to your podcast audiogram. You can also include a subheading around the image on an audiogram to further pique the interest of podcast listeners.

Add Transcriptions to Your Audiogram

Because users tend to watch video content on-the-go and in silent mode, adding transcriptions, captions, or subtitles to your audiogram will help make your audio more accessible for all viewers—just as podcast transcriptions make your full episodes more accessible. In fact, videos with subtitles receive more than 40% more engagement than ones without video, and adding a text transcription is the best practice for ADA compliance, which allows for an even greater level of engagement when using audiograms to promote a podcast.

Optimize for Each Social Media Platform

Audiograms are one of the best ways and easiest ways to promote your podcast on social media. When creating an audiogram to share on social media platforms, it’s important to be mindful of the ideal lengths for social media video content—less than 3 minutes or more than 10 minutes for YouTube, less than 1 minute for Facebook, 45 seconds for Twitter, and between 7-15 seconds for TikTok. When posting podcast audiograms to Instagram, posts should be around 30 seconds, Instagram reels should be between 15-20 seconds, and Stories should be close to 15 seconds.

You’ll also want to consider dimensions. The recommended dimensions for configuring your podcast audiogram on social media channels are:

  • 1080px by 1080px – the standard size for a square audiogram that can be posted on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram
  • 1080px by 1920px – the ideal size for a vertical audiogram used on Instagram stories, IGTV, and TikTok
  • 1280px by 720px – the minimum size for an audiogram for YouTube

Include a Call to Action

Since an audiogram is ultimately a promotional tool, make sure to include a call to action to direct people to your full podcast! This can be in the soundbite itself or in the accompanying caption or text when you post your audiogram on social media. You can even include a direct link to the full episode of your podcast, making it easier for viewers to follow through.

Experiment to See What Works

Testing out different types of audiograms can help you discover what kinds of clips and visuals work well for your podcast promotion. Experimenting with different length limits, G/PG or explicit content, various kinds of imagery, and utilizing A/B testing can give you an idea of what type of audiograms your listeners respond to best! All of this can vary based on your target audience, the type of social media platform you’re sharing your audiograms to, and the focus of your podcast.

Need help creating and promoting a podcast? Hurrdat Media offers professional podcasting services, including hosting and production. Contact us today to learn more!