As a podcaster, there’s nothing extra invaluable to you than a listener’s time. Each minute somebody spends together with your present is an indication you’re doing one thing proper.
We just lately printed a function exploring where podcasting fits into the current mainstream dominated by short-form, quick-dopamine-hit content material.
After I was researching the article, it turned clear from chatting with quite a lot of podcasters and trade those who, so far as they have been involved, long-form dialogue is what brings so many listeners to podcasting. Spending time with podcast hosts could be very a lot a part of the expertise of the medium.
So when the outcomes got here in final week of this yr’s Discovery Survey, it wasn’t so stunning to see that the info exhibits the tradition of podcast consumption is to spend time with a subject.
We spoke to over 150 podcast listeners about what they search for in a brand new podcast. Listed below are some key insights from the survey knowledge suggesting that podcast listeners are going in opposition to the short-form grain and spending extra time with podcasts than ever.
1. Demand for Lengthy-Type Has Grown
Contra to this idea that short-form is the one option to seize viewers consideration, our survey exhibits that demand for short-for isn’t actually there in podcasting. Not solely this, however the want for long-form has grown over the past 4 years since we final ran the identical listener survey.
Once we requested respondents what their best episode size is when in search of new exhibits, we discovered the next:
When given these 4 choices, nobody we surveyed stated they most popular shorter podcast episodes. Within the 2020 Discovery Survey, 11% stated they most popular shorter episodes.
After all, this isn’t to say that there’s no marketplace for short-form podcasts—there are many common mini podcasts on the market. However what it does say is that, given the selection, listeners choose to spend extra time immersed in an extended episode than dip their toe in one thing brief.
When you think about the truth that the most well-liked exhibits on the earth are largely 1hr+ common episodes, it’s additionally secure to imagine that the majority listeners gained’t be delay by longer content material.
2. There’s a Development in Want to Binge
One other fascinating discovering from the survey was that extra listeners now need a again catalogue to binge on.
Whereas the overwhelming majority (55%) nonetheless stated having a again catalogue doesn’t have an effect on whether or not they select to hearken to a podcast or not, this quantity was greater within the 2020 survey, when 64% stated this was the case.
4 years on, a mixed 42% of these listeners we surveyed stated they like it when a brand new present has some type of huge again catalogue of episodes they will binge on immediately. Within the 2020 survey, this number was just 32%.
The quantity of people that stated they don’t hearken to again catalogue episodes remained tremendous low, at simply 3% (4% in 2020).
3. Listeners Give New Reveals Extra Time
The period of time listeners will spend with a brand new present earlier than giving up on it has grown, too.
Whereas the highest 3 choices stay the most well-liked, those that stated they’d give new exhibits as much as quarter-hour grew from 29% to 40%.
In the meantime, those that stated they’d solely give a brand new present 5 minutes or much less dropped from 27% to 17% and there was a 6% development in those that stated they’d give a brand new present a full episode earlier than giving up.
This exhibits a basic pattern in direction of having a bit extra endurance with new exhibits. It actually goes in opposition to the thought we’re fed that our consideration spans are shrinking and that the one option to seize engagement within the present panorama is to hook in your viewers as rapidly as attainable.
Examine this to the recommendation generally given to YouTubers, although, and it’s a case of what number of seconds (not minutes or full movies) the creator has to persuade their viewer to stay round. That is positive in the event you’re demonstrating the peeling of an avocado, however not a lot in the event you’d love to do a deep dive into the idea of consciousness.
Endurance Is a Advantage of the Medium
Whereas the numbers won’t be massively stark, there’s a transparent basic pattern in direction of slowing down in listeners’ consumption habits. The Discovery Survey knowledge recommend podcast listeners have extra endurance, give extra time, and even need to spend extra time digging deep into a brand new present.
And as a facet word, endurance is one thing we all know creators worth too. In our Podcaster Census final yr, ‘endurance to play the lengthy recreation’ was cited as the number one key to success as an independent podcaster.
So whereas different content material traits could lean in direction of quick and quick-hit content material, podcasting is doing what it has at all times accomplished so effectively: resisting the hype, and going with what feels proper.
We’ve collected a complete lot extra insights on how listeners discover new exhibits to hearken to and what does and doesn’t entice them to new exhibits. Subscribe to the Podcraft Perspectives e-newsletter to get entry to the total Discovery Survey Report when it goes dwell.
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