Stop Using Podcast Cover Art!
My buddy Andrew Wilkinson is one of those non-stop creative types. He teaches high school (and sometimes college), plays with digital infrared photography, takes part in local art festivals and hosts the slightly spooky revival podcast Folklore, Myths and Legends. This guy is so busy, he doesn’t even have time to say “podcast cover art.” And let’s face it: if you produce a podcast, you say it a lot. So Andrew, in all his quippy British wisdom, said to me the other day, “Why not just call it a tile?”
Why “tile?” Probably because every major podcast directory (Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart, …) displays your cover art as a small square. Plus it’s easier, shorter and well, catchier. It’s agreed then: “tile” is better “podcast cover art.” Got something better? Go ahead and shoot me an email at newpodcity@gmail.com. We’re all ears over here at New Pod City. Until then, to quote Seinfeld’s George Castanza, “Tile! Tile’s the word! TILE!”
Why Your Tile Matters
Your tile is the first thing people see before they hear your real content, and a lot of times, it determines if they click the play button in the first place. It’s a visual first impression of your podcast, so it better be a good one. For example, let’s say on your tile, the show’s name is hard to read or the graphic is confusing. Guess what? Your potential listener numbers just went way down. At that point, it doesn’t even matter how good your recording was, because they skipped over your show to a different one with a more engaging tile. Keep in mind, too, that a tile at 1400 x 1400 OR 3000 x 3000 pixels in the RGB color mode is one of the requirements for becoming a featured show on Apple Podcasts.
Use Your Tile to Level Up
School’s in session, kids. Listen up. Your tile is not a passive part of your show. You can, and should be, actively using it to bring your show up to the next level by following these two key rules.
#1 — Do it right the first time. Imagine this — you start a podcast on a budget, and you need a tile for your show “just so it has a visual.” So you go through your mental rolodex and remember you have a cousin who took a two week course in graphic design. You casually forget cousin Vinny got a D in that class, and you end up paying him $20 to make you a truly sub-par tile. Fast forward a few months — your numbers are low, you can’t get on any directories, and your first podcasting attempt is basically a flop. It’s only then you decide to reach out to a professional and get a real tile made. And boom — your numbers go up, you get on Spotify and although Vinny’s sad about his failed graphic design career, he’s happy for you. It won’t surprise you to know that hiring the professional to make your tile the first time around could have saved you some money, frustration, and in this case, a small family drama.
#2 — Be consistent. That means using the same tile for every new episode drop. If you switch up your tile every episode (or worse, switch it up randomly) it’s like you’re rebranding with every episode. Think about it. When you go to the store to buy Wonder Bread, you’re not scanning the shelves for the letters w-o-n-d-e-r. No, you’re looking for the familiar blue, yellow and red dots on the white bag. Your tile should be like that — engaging, reliable and memorable.
Get That Merch Money, Too
Another huge opportunity you have with a good tile is to throw it on some show merchandise. Okay, okay — by “throw” I mean very carefully adjust the size, orientation and design of your tile to print it on coffee mugs, t-shirts, hoodies and any other conference-like swag you can think of. Actually, once you sell enough merch, your tile will pay for itself.
A quick note on this — get creative about your how to sell your branded merch. Obviously you’ll announce you’re selling merch on the show, and maybe you’ll do a quick social post featuring the items. But don’t miss out on the chance to use your merch to get listeners involved with your podcast. You could do a live recording and give away free shirts to the first five people that call in, or some podcasters host competitions on the show (like guess what Frank’s favorite band is — whoever is the closest gets a free Trenton Waves mug). These sort of interactions create life-long listeners, plus when they wear the swag around town it’s free advertising for you.
Bottom line — let’s switch out “podcast cover art” for “tile,” and if you need some advice on how to make your tile work the best for your show and your bottom line, reach out to your favorite podcast hosting and production company, which obviously is us, at NewPodCity.com.