I love a podcast that asks for nothing but your ears. Your business may need to offer more.
I’m an audiophile. Give me good headphones, clean sound and a conversation worth listening to, and I’m happy.
Part of me would almost prefer podcasts stayed audio-only. No camera. No lighting discussion. No wondering whether the bookshelf behind you says “credible industry expert” or “please help me move.” Just the conversation.
But I produce podcasts for businesses. My personal listening preferences don’t get to be the strategy.
People watch long-form conversations now. They listen, too. Sometimes they do both during the same episode. If you’re deciding between an audio-only podcast and a show with audio and video, that’s the audience you’re making the decision for.
My recommendation: if discovery and putting a face to your expertise matter, give audio plus video serious priority. If audio best serves your audience and your ability to keep publishing, make an excellent audio show. Either way, make the choice deliberately.
My headphones have lost this argument
In its 2026 Infinite Dial study, Edison Research at SSRS found that 57% of Americans age 12 and older had both listened to and watched a podcast. That’s more than half the country, not just a handful of people watching celebrity interviews.1
Megan Lazovick, Edison Research at SSRS vice president, puts it plainly: “this is a dual-format medium now.”1
And YouTube? It belongs in the planning meeting. The company reported more than one billion monthly active viewers of podcast content as of January 2025.2
A billion people is a fairly persuasive rebuttal to “but I like listening in the car.”
For a business trying to reach people who haven’t heard of its show, I consider a thoughtful YouTube execution critical to the distribution discussion. People can encounter your expertise through a relevant search, a recommendation or a clip before they know your company’s name.
That means thinking about the title, thumbnail, opening and path to the next useful conversation. Uploading a file is the administrative part.
Video gives people more to connect with
You hear a laugh in audio. With video, you also see the guest trying to keep a straight face before it happens. You see the hesitation before a difficult answer and the enthusiasm when someone finally gets to the subject they care about.
Those details can make a conversation more engaging. And there’s evidence beyond my opinion as a producer: Spotify reported 26% higher listener retention for smaller video shows, those with 10–100 monthly consumption hours, compared with audio-only shows.3
That’s Spotify’s platform data, rather than a promise that turning on a camera will improve your results by 26%. It is a good reason to test video.
It also gives you more ways to introduce the conversation. A useful answer can become a short video someone encounters on LinkedIn or YouTube, with an invitation to watch or listen to the rest.
The key word is useful. A clip needs a point. A camera cannot rescue 45 minutes of people congratulating each other for being on a podcast.
Own It: an audio-only show with a clear purpose
Own It is one example from our client work. The show shares the experiences of women and nonbinary advertising agency owners, exploring the challenges and possibilities of ownership. Our work includes post-production and strategic advising.
Its subject gives people a reason to listen: what does it take to own an agency, and what can you learn from someone who has done it?
My view is that audio serves that premise well. The voice carries the experience. A listener can spend time with someone’s story while walking, commuting or getting through the less glamorous parts of running a business.
That’s a legitimate format decision. Every show doesn’t need to become a television production to earn its place in someone’s week.
The lesson I’d take from Own It is to get the editorial promise right. Know who the conversation serves and why they should care. Then deliver sound and pacing that respect their time.
Audio-only still needs promotion: strong episode pages, useful excerpts, guest sharing and graphics or captioned audiograms. Choosing audio changes the materials you work with. It doesn’t eliminate the work of helping people find you.
The Move In: one conversation, more ways in
The Move In Senior Living Marketing, hosted by Larry Williams, shows the opportunity with audio and video. Our work also includes post-production and strategic advising.
Here’s a concrete example. In a May 2026 conversation with Cristy Ballard, Larry explored resident satisfaction, follow-up and human connection. The episode’s archive page offers podcast listening options and links to short YouTube videos focused on individual ideas, including why follow-up matters more than speed to lead.
That gives a busy senior living marketer a manageable first step: encounter one relevant idea, then decide whether to spend more time with the conversation.
Someone who wants to see the people talking can watch. Someone heading to their next appointment can listen. A guest has a focused excerpt to share with their own network.
That’s the strategic appeal of producing both formats. You give the same expertise more opportunities to be encountered. Our Move In case study explores the broader platform Larry has built around these conversations.
Choose the workload you can keep delivering
For the budget side of this decision, see our business podcast production cost guide and audio-only and audio plus video production plans.
Video adds work. Framing, lighting, editing, captions, thumbnails and checking the finished picture all need an owner. If those jobs turn a reliable show into something that comes out whenever everyone recovers, you’ve made the production too complicated.
I’d make the decision around three questions:
- How will the right people find us? If YouTube and social video are important routes to your audience, plan for them before recording.
- What does seeing the conversation add? Personality, demonstrations and human reactions can make video worthwhile. A strong story can also stand beautifully on sound alone.
- Can we sustain the whole job? Budget for preparing, recording, editing, publishing and promoting in the formats you choose.
If you choose audio-only, give it a real discovery plan. You can also test short, separately filmed introductions or explanations without committing to filming every episode.
If you choose audio and video, protect the listening experience. Explain the chart. Describe the example. Don’t leave someone with “as you can see here” while they’re driving.
Then measure what matters: whether the right people stay, return, visit your website or start a useful business conversation. Keep platform views and podcast downloads in their own lanes; they aren’t interchangeable measures of people.
I’ll still reach for my headphones. But when a business has the capacity and a good reason to be seen, I’ll recommend turning on the camera, too.
Need help choosing the format and building a production process you can sustain? Let’s plan your business podcast.
Sources & further reading
- Edison Research at SSRS, The Infinite Dial 2026, March 12, 2026. The 57% figure covers Americans age 12+, and refers to having ever both listened to and watched podcasts; it is not a monthly viewing figure. Lazovick’s quotation is from the accompanying release.
- YouTube, “Drop the mic: Celebrating 1 billion monthly podcast users on YouTube”, February 26, 2025. More than one billion monthly active viewers of podcast content, worldwide, as of January 2025. This is a historical platform-wide figure.
- Spotify for Creators, “What is a video podcast?”, August 1, 2025, citing its Fan Study. The 26% retention comparison concerns smaller shows with 10–100 monthly consumption hours on Spotify. It is a relative comparison, not a 26-percentage-point increase or proof that video alone caused the difference.
Client references: Own It’s official show page; The Move In’s May 27, 2026 episode archive; The Move In’s YouTube channel; Falls+Partners’ production credits. The May episode page is a historical Unlock Health archive; Larry now owns and controls The Move In. Examples illustrate format and distribution choices, without attributing comparative performance or revenue to either format.
Lead image: AI-generated editorial illustration. Client cover artwork supplied from the existing show assets.