Podcasting with Zuri Berry

Podcasts have a well known discovery problem. It's a problem that many companies and podcast platforms are working hard to solve. So when a fancy new social media network comes along, like threads did last month and successfully entices more than a hundred million users to give it a try, you have to be willing to shake the tree and see if there's anything worthwhile there, whether or not there's something that could help you grow or share your podcasts.

So that's what I've been thinking about and testing for the last month. Is Threads a worthy addition to your podcast social media strategy? Or is it too soon? So let's dive in.

Hi, my name is Zuri Berry and this is Podcasting with Zuri, a show about the craft of audio storytelling and how you can use podcasts to enhance your brand.

So what's the backstory on Threads and why does it matter for your podcast social media strategy? Threads is Meta's alleged Twitter killer. Twitter, which recently rebranded to X, has been heavily criticized by its users and advertising partners for rapid changes to its site, including modifications to its content moderation policies, Introduction of paid subscriptions and, uh, deterioration in the site stability.

But at its core, X is a text based app. When it launched, it was frequently referred to as a micro blogging site. Over the years, it expanded to include photos, videos, live streams, newsletters, and even audio in the form of voice notes. One of its most significant features is spaces, a relatively new and popular attraction for live conversations.

And that's been a welcome addition for podcasters seeking to boost their engagement on the platform. Over the years as Twitter has grown though, it's hold on cultural conversations has only ballooned. And it's given users access to real life information and commentary. But most importantly, it built significant.

And sophisticated tools for marketers, tools that allowed you to measure track and target users based on their interest. Um, it was never as robust as Facebook's tools, but with more than 300 million users and a vice grip on the internet's water cooler, it has always been a worthwhile channel to set up shop.

And especially if your campaign's focus was on brand awareness.

Unfortunately, Twitter was never great for podcasters. There's just too much friction between what Twitter wants from its users and what podcasters want from their potential listeners. So, for example, Twitter has actively encouraged users to create content specifically for its platform for some time now.

That may seem obvious, but it has huge implications for content creators who share and repurpose content from other websites. So, links to... And Instagram posts are less likely to be seen on X compared to a photo or video published on the platform.

This has created another hurdle for content creators to develop specialized content, thus adding more time to the production process. And for X, they've continued to encourage more user time spent on site. And they do that by limiting the reach of posts that could persuade users to go elsewhere.

So this behavior directly opposes the podcaster's goal of luring potential listeners away from X or Twitter to their own podcast feed or player or website. Podcasters have found themselves working around this conflict by sharing video snippets and audiograms to hopefully attract new listeners and inspire them to venture outside Twitter's confines.

Alternatively, they've relegated themselves to becoming omnipresent personalities on Twitter, hoping that a huge following... Will translate to a vast listening audience. In that use case, the success stories are few and far between.

For its part, Twitter has offered some functionality for podcasts to be played on the platform. Users can, for example, make podcasts available alongside live audio content. Think Spaces. But it's underutilized. And for this reason, Twitter has contributed, if ever so slightly, to podcasting's discovery problem.

It's still hard to search and find independent shows over there.

Now, X's vice grip has loosened. A new owner. Elon Musk has been off putting for some users. Many of its long term users have fled the site completely seeking alternatives. Anecdotally, I've seen fewer and fewer posters interested in the business of podcasts, for example, I feel as if I'm missing crucial conversations that normally would have occurred on Twitter or X about the state of podcasting.

And I know based on the prevalence and popularity of these alternatives to X now that others are having similar experiences. I've personally tried out Mastodon, Spoutible, Spill, Post, and Tribel, none of which compare favorably to X's features, design, or network size. And while each of these alternatives has their own merits, they lack significant enough users, or are aesthetically awful, or are technically complicated.

And every single one of them... Except for maybe post, which I've entirely given up on, has yet to develop tools marketers need to track, measure, and ensure they're reaching their target audience. So this is why Threads is so interesting.

As a new text based app, the product is built on the infrastructure of Instagram's two, more than two billion monthly active users. Threads has the design and feature and the aesthetics that you'd expect of a well resourced company. And it also comes with the expectations that many of the tools employed by Meta for marketing on Facebook and Instagram will eventually make their way to this new platform.

Not yet. So, Meta Chief Mark Zuckerberg and Instagram CEO Adam Mosserri have said they won't attempt to monetize Threads anytime soon. That's despite the platform soaring clearly past 120 million registered users in the past week.

And because Threads is built on Instagram, Threads users can leverage their existing audience on Instagram.

So, many influencers have parachuted onto the platform to discover they already have hundreds or thousands of followers on threads. What's more, unlike Instagram, these users can now more easily share clickable links and content, which was not available to all users on IG. So post on threads can also be more easily shared, as repost or quote posts.

So you can almost like contribute to the conversation. If your favorite celebrity posts something, just like Twitter was. So just having these simple tools already improves upon what Instagram users can do while still bringing in the design chops and all of the other things and your audience from Instagram.

So that's really good.

However, threads still lacks essential features for discovery, which is a persistent problem for podcasters. Currently there is no search functionality. No hashtags. And the platform lacks a trending or news section to highlight content from creators. You know, a for you page, if you will.

Threads also lacks the ability to publish on desktop. It's only available on the app on either your iPhone or your Android. And there are no marketing tools built yet. So you don't have the ability, for instance, to post to the platform from a third party tool or app, uh, like a social media management tool.

So is Threads worth adding to your podcast social media strategy? Based on potential, I would say yes. Because size matters, especially when it has a user base that has numbers well over a hundred million. Mosserri has hinted that some of the missing features that I've mentioned here are currently being developed.

For example, desktop publishing is expected to be made available soon and because it is a Meta product, I fully expect its marketing tools to be incorporated into the Meta Business Suite when monetization is enabled. So while some of the persistent discovery problems for podcasters remain, Threads has all the hallmarks of a growing and potentially robust distribution channel.

This new platform is also uncharacteristically kind, and that's on purpose. Mosserri and Zuckerberg have both been vocal about creating a kinder, gentler, text based social media platform. So far, Threads has delivered on that. Strong filters weed out potentially mean spirited comments, while the algorithm limits vulgarity and other problematic forms of content.

It's not all... Kittens and puppies. But there is a good helping of joyfulness with a, without the spoonful of toxicity you usually get on Twitter. That's a win in my book. The positivity is a key differentiator. Even if it is artificially produced. And you couple that with relative stability compared to X, and there's a good bet to be made that users will enjoy the experience on Threads more than they ever did on Twitter. So in summary, yes, you should check it out and you should do so knowing that desktop publishing is coming. So that's important with more features that social media users have become accustomed to.

Those are all on the way. Meta will incorporate its tools for marketing and advertisers in the future. So expect that to come. And podcasters and content creators can't expect more stability. And even a more positive experience, which I think is a huge, huge thing.

So in short, it's, it's smart to be on the platform now.

It's still growing. When I was working for a small town newspaper back in 2008, I was the online community manager and I spearheaded the launch of my news organization's Twitter account. Fast forward another almost 10 years. And I was the deputy managing editor for news and multimedia.

And I was at the forefront of launching new strategies for YouTube and Instagram and Snapchat. And I've been pretty vocal lately about podcasters needing to incorporate video as a means to promote their podcast and content marketing efforts. I'm a hundred percent sure I'm right about that. to me, Threads has all the hallmarks of a winner. I expect it to grow and have cultural staying power. It helps that it's being built by a team that knows what it's doing, in terms of supporting online communities and social networks.

I think that's an important trait here as well. And it also speaks to the long term risk of being on the platform and what you might expect out of it. Facebook has a track record, so that's a good thing. So I humbly suggest to you, dear podcaster, to get on the platform. If you haven't already, test it out, experiment with it.

You might be pleasantly surprised by the integration with your Instagram account, if you have one. And, you know, expect it to only get better for podcasters and their content marketing efforts over time.

That's it for this episode of Podcasting with Zuri. As always, I hope you found some value in it. If you did, please leave a comment either on Spotify, Goodpods, or on YouTube. If you're trying to take your podcast to the next level, get in touch with me by visiting zmcpodcasts.com.

That's zmcpodcasts.com. Thanks for listening.