In June, Facebook released an update that launched live audio rooms as well as the new in-app podcasting experience.
Live audio rooms will prove to be an effective way to have online conversations, but Facebook podcasting is more exciting for any avid podcast listeners or producers.
For the most part, Facebook has been emphasizing the live audio rooms. We hope to focus more on the new podcasting system to show how it can ease your publishing process and help your podcast grow.
Because this is a new component to Facebook, connecting your podcast to your Facebook page can be confusing. We will include a step-by-step process at the end of this article.
Benefits of Podcasting through Facebook
The new update will allow you to post and edit podcast episodes through Facebook. This offers a few different benefits.
First of all, after connecting your podcast’s RSS feed to Facebook and iTunes, any episode you publish on iTunes will automatically post on Facebook. For now, Facebook only has this connection with iTunes, but the automated posting means it takes hardly any work to maintain.
Another benefit is that Facebook already has great infrastructure for interacting with your audience. You can have conversations with listeners, look through comments for criticism and suggestions, or just sit back and enjoy the likes on your episode.
Finally, the platform has been steadily adding audio editing software in preparation for this launch. For the company, the hope is that Facebook can one day be an all-in-one podcast publishing service.
Currently, they offer a sound collection feature that allows a producer to:
1. Mix different audio tracks together
2. Create voice effects
3. Add filters
They have also expressed interest in adding these features in the future:
1. Text-to-Speech
2. Voice morphing
3. Back-end audio creation tool
With all these audio features, Facebook is going to become a valid place to produce your podcast as well as post.
How to Add your Podcast to your Facebook Page
Before you can start posting to Facebook, you need to set up an iTunes account. For the time being, Facebook only allows you to post podcasts published through iTunes.
If you already have an iTunes account and have been publishing there, then you can skip this process and immediately connect your podcast to your Facebook page.
How to Post your Podcast on iTunes
1. Record an episode.
2. Download iTunes and create an account.
3. Complete your podcast details.
This includes giving your podcast a category, name, description, and logo to avoid being invalidated by iTunes.
4. Choose a podcast host.
The goal of this is to create an RSS feed for your podcast. There are many hosting services to choose from like Buzzsprout, Soundcloud, Libsyn, and others.
5. Retrieve your RSS feed from the hosting platform.
6. Submit your podcast to Podcasts Connect.
Log in to Podcasts Connect with an Apple ID. Click the “+” button to submit a new podcast feed. Validate and submit.
7. Wait between 24 hours and two weeks to receive an approval email from Apple.
How to Connect your Podcast to your Facebook Page
1. Set up a Facebook business page.
This includes a page name, content category, short description, banner photo and profile picture. If you optimize your page, you are likely to receive more traffic.
2. Log in to your podcast host and share your RSS feed with Facebook.
Each hosting service has a different process to do this. Most will post a tutorial on their website or YouTube.
3. Confirm your RSS feed and publish through Facebook.
For a more detailed description of how to do this, here is Facebook’s walk-through.
4. Continue to publish through iTunes.
Each episode uploaded on iTunes will now automatically post on Facebook too. Going forward, look for Facebook to branch out and add other platforms to connect.
Into the Future of Facebook Podcasting
With this update, Facebook has shown its hand.
The company plans to expand into the audio market, and integrating podcasts and live audio rooms is just the first step. As time goes on, expect Facebook to continue to change and improve its podcasting services.
For now, go ahead and connect your podcast to your Facebook page. It takes a few minutes, offers benefits and will post automatically.
This provides a great opportunity for free exposure. Capitalize on it.
