“Video is still the top medium to drive engagement,” said Eunice Shin, a partner at consultancy Prophet. “Spotify wants to own and control engagement on their platform – which drives numbers for this revenue model.” Users this week were able to see the videos when they pressed “play” on the podcast episode.

Rachel Lindsay, co-host of Higher Learning; a podcast that discusses black culture, politics and sports; said her fans have been craving this feature.

Higher Learning, is produced by The Ringer, which is owned by Spotify. In the past, the show would be uploaded to The Ringer’s YouTube channel, which has 284,000 subscribers, but now the video version will also be available on Spotify.

“There’s so much that gets lost sometimes when you don’t capture it in video form,” Lindsay said. Her co-host, Van Lathan, agreed. “When you put the video content out there, it’s a better way for people who are outside your immediate listening sphere to be like, ‘Oh, what are they talking about over there?’ and get into it,” he said. “I think it’s gonna help grow our audience.”

Spotify has more than 286 million monthly users on its platform. The company started out as a music streaming service but has been steadily making more investments in the podcast space.

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Last year, it bought several podcast-related companies including New York-based Gimlet Media for around US$230 million. Upcoming exclusive podcasts such as one led by former US first lady Michelle Obama later this month.

Spotify uses videos on the music streaming side of its platform. But some of its efforts, such as a series called Deconstructed in 2016, didn’t perform well because it was hard to compete with YouTube and Vevo with music videos, Shin said.

Spotify tested videos with the Zane and Heath: Unfiltered podcast in May and saw strong results, paving the way for Tuesday’s roll- out.

“The goal we hope will be deeper engagement with the podcasts, so people [will be] spending more time individually with the podcasts, as well as an ability to bring new users to the shows themselves,” said Lauren Jarvis, head of content partnerships for Spotify.

As Spotify adds more exclusive podcasts, video could play a key role. “Now that we do have this product and market, we can discuss both content types when we think about doing an exclusive deal,” Jarvis said.

Some podcast shows reach larger audiences by video than audio, especially those with a younger audience, or have large followings through a pre-existing video business on YouTube, said Ben Davis, a partner for digital media at the WME talent agency. WME represents Fantasy Footballers, The Morning Toast and Rooster Teeth Podcast.

“It is a popular format that punches above its weight with audience engagement and watch time, given the cost,” Davis said.

Jay Shetty, host of the wisdom sharing podcast On Purpose With Jay Shetty, said many people discover his programme through videos he posts on platforms such as YouTube or Facebook. And he’s seen an increase in his video podcast views as more people shelter at home.

“Video is such a phenomenal way of engaging with an audience that may not naturally listen to a podcast,” Shetty said, “but gives everyone an opportunity to see how powerful the content can be.”