How can you use different episode artwork to enhance your podcast narrative?

Episode artwork appears in your episode lists and on playlists in various podcast apps and websites. You can use episode artwork to describe the topic of each episode visually.

Think about your podcast as a product on a grocery store shelf - your packaging NEEDS to stand out to drive new folks to try your product. The same goes for your artwork - it needs to be unique, memorable & clearly communicate what your value proposition is

So, I'm going to buck the question here - ONLY use individual episode art if you can make it AMAZING and ensure that it clearly shows what show is being listened to and who the guest is. Otherwise, stick with the standard cover art. You want your listener to know what the show is they're listening to at a glance. Take a look at how many podcasts DON"T use individual episode cover art. There's a reason. It doesn't add lift to the show. It's a nice to have if you can do it right, but it takes more effort than the lift it provides. Don't let this AI generated question steer you the wrong way about individual cover art, it's a bell/whistle. Focus on making the best audio or video content for your show. The rest will come.

Different episode artworks are useful to showcase the topic of the episode visually. For example, A financial podcast may discuss investing in gold in one episode and buying real estate in another. Use an image of gold bars on the first one and a house or apartment building on another. Make the artwork relevant to the episode. If you do an interview-based show, your guest's photo works great on episode artwork.

It helps quickly show what the episode is about - I think there is a critical balance here. You need a "breadcrumb" that has continuity across episodes, but also something that changes each time to showcase what this specific episode is about

With any show I manage/produce, I always have a cover art template and an episode art template and both serve their own purpose. The cover art is like your hero/show imagery and should be easy to understand, uncluttered and clean - this is where your brand story starts for the podcast. Episode artwork tells you in a glance what this episode is all about and if there is a guest, a photo and details of the topic of the content covered. They also serve like a bookcase on display when laid out in Spotify or Apple Podcasts, so eye-catching artwork without clutter is pretty critical.

Episodic artwork works if: - You are releasing a mini-series/spinoff in the main podcast feed. - You are doing an episode swap with another podcast. Although I would not reccomend changing the artwork for every guest, I think it works IF you have a very savvy designer that understands branding. The artwork has to remain consistent and keep in mind that these images are quite small and typically viewed on your phone.

Two words: UNIQUE & MEMORABLE ... Your artwork is your brand - it needs to stand out amongst the massive crowd of podcasts. It needs to answer the following questions: "Why should someone listen to your show > someone elses?"

This is very important. Make sure your episode artworks follow a common template, and make them relatable to your podcast cover artwork. If your podcast cover artwork is red and yellow, ensure your episode artwork is also red and yellow. You want people to instantly know what podcast the episode belongs to when they see episode artwork. Otherwise, you may confuse them. It may be a good idea to consult with a professional designer who can create a good template for your show.

The best way to create episode artwork is with templates. Use a tool such as Photoshop or Canva and create a base/master template with which you will start each episode's artwork. Your template should have two or three sections that are changed with each episode. 1) The episode title 2) The episode number 3) Image (optional) In some instances, the overall colour can change as long as you stick to a small colour pallet and reuse the colours. Colour changes only work if your template/layout is well established. The idea is that regardless of the changes, the episode artwork needs to be recognizable as being part of your podcast.

I have found it particularly effective to use alternative podcast art when sharing micro content from long form interviews. This is very effective for sharing to platforms such as tiktok, instagram, Youtube etc.

Consistency is the most important aspect when it comes to artwork. If you choose to create episode art, make sure it is in the style of your series branding. Episodic art should compliment the series artwork and be a natural extension of the series.

Episode artwork is nice to have but isn't required. Most podcasts do not use episode artwork. If you have the time and the means to create new artwork for each episode and would like to do so, go for it. However, no statistics or metrics show that episode artwork affects engagement with your podcast. Your time may be better spent on improving other aspects of your show.