What is a Crosscast for Podcasters?

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The Definition of a Crosscast for Podcasters

If you Google the word “crosscast”, you’ll find a bunch of resources on fishing rods and reels. That’s obviously not what we’re talking about here today, but I wanted to bring that up because I feel like I’m legitimizing this word for podcasting officially here today. (In other words, I’m adding words to my own podcast dictionary.)

A crosscast, by my definition, is using one piece of audio content for more than one podcast.

In other words, it’s a conversation between two or more podcasters that will be aired on multiple podcasts. Now, let’s break down the pros and cons of why you would want to go this route and if it’s something you should consider adding to your content calendar.

Pros of a Crosscast for Podcasters

There are two main benefits of doing a crosscast: 1) more audience exposure for both (or all) podcasters involved and 2) only create one piece of content to be used across multiple podcasts.

Now, let’s break these down further…

1. More Exposure

The idea behind a crosscast is to leverage both (or all) podcasters’ audience at the same time. So while the content may be recorded with one or more audiences in mind, it will be aired to multiple audiences.

This gives the podcasters recording the content more exposure to not only their audience but the guest’s audience simultaneously. Essentially, you’re airing your show in front of more people at one time.

2. One Piece of Content

What I love about a crosscast is that it gives you the ability to get your content out in front of more people without having to create even more content. You’re simply recording one conversation and airing it in front of more people.

This simplified approach to creating content helps with your content calendar strategy.

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Cons of a Crosscast for Podcasters

There are a few cons to creating a crosscast for your show: 1) you and your guest’s audiences don’t align and 2) the content works really well for one show and not the other.

1. Audiences Don’t Align

The easiest mistake podcasters looking to create a crosscast can make is to just assume that all audiences are created equal. “My audience would love your message. We should do a crosscast!” Please don’t let that be the conversation you have with your potential crosscast mate. You want to do your due diligence.

If it makes sense for you to do a crosscast with someone else in your industry, go for it! But where things get a little bit trickier is when two audiences that are not even remotely similar do a crosscast.

“So a perfect example is if I were to go on a fishing podcast…this would not make a lot of sense. If I were to talk about podcasting, then they would be like, “Wait, we don’t care about that. We want to know about the best bass fishing spots in Texas. We don’t care about your podcasting stuff that you’re talking about. Can you just go back to talking about fishing?” And I would say, “Oh, I’m not the person you want to interview for your show then…we’re not a good match.” – Krystal

2. Content Works Well for One and Not the Other

I’ve seen this happen many times as a podcast listener. Two industry leaders have a conversation about a certain topic in their niche. They are good friends. They believe it’ll translate across both shows. It, in fact, does not.

You can’t assume just because you want an episode to work really well across two podcasts that it will happen. I could record an episode with a friend of mine in the industry, but if we don’t do some prep work and steer the conversation in a direction both of our audiences want…

There’s a good chance it would be a total flop.

Make sure that you prepare before your crosscast to make it as good as possible for both (or all) audiences that’ll listen to the show.

At the end of the day, I believe a crosscast is an amazing way for podcasters to create new content. But there should definitely be some considerations in place before you jump in headfirst.

Stay tuned for future episodes showing you the mechanics behind creating and formatting a crosscast between two or more podcasters.

What is a Crosscast for Podcasters?

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