I’m positive we’re all agreed on the concept first impressions matter. Not simply while you’re strolling right into a job interview or assembly your new accomplice’s dad and mom for the primary time. It issues while you’re creating content material too.
Give it some thought: The primary web page of a brand new guide, the opening shot of a movie, the intro paragraph to… an article about podcast intros (!). These openings all carry a number of weight in figuring out whether or not you’ll preserve consuming a bit of content material or not.
Nonetheless with me?
Good. As a result of first impressions matter in podcasting too.
In this year’s discovery survey, we realized that 40% of podcast listeners will give a brand new podcast lower than quarter-hour earlier than deciding whether or not to maintain listening or ditch the present for good. 17% stated they might give it lower than 5 minutes.
There’s a number of strain on these first jiffy to maintain common listeners tuning in and get new listeners hooked.
However how are you aware should you’re approaching your podcast intro proper? As an experiment, I spent a while analysing the intros of the highest 20 exhibits within the US Apple Podcast Charts to see what they’ll inform us concerning the excellent intro formulation.
And what did I be taught? Properly, that there isn’t a very excellent formulation, I’m afraid. However whereas this in all probability isn’t the short reply you had been on the lookout for, my analysis did convey to the fore some fascinating observations that could possibly be helpful when desirous about your personal podcast openings.
Listed below are some observations from my evaluation and work out your excellent podcast formulation to your listeners.
4 Observations on the High 20 Podcast Intros
1. Shorter intros are trending
Solely 7 of the 20 high podcasts had intros of greater than 30 seconds. When you think about the truth that 30 seconds is considered the ‘sweet spot’ for retaining of us’ consideration (in promoting, at the very least), this isn’t so stunning.
However what did come as a shock was {that a} truthful few of essentially the most well-liked podcasts within the charts proper now don’t have intros in any respect.
6 of the highest 20 had nothing however a 3-second jingle and a ‘Welcome to the [podacast name] present’ at most. A definite jingle was current in each podcast within the chart – even people who had no intro – so that is actually one thing that issues, whether or not you embody an intro or not.
2. Advertisements in intros are extra widespread than you assume
Sticking an advert in your intro will appear dangerous to most. Everyone knows promoting is important, however putting an advert in your present’s opening when you have to be working onerous to maintain them listening can be thought-about fairly daring.
So I used to be stunned to see a good quantity of promo occurring within the intros of the highest 20. These exhibits that included third-party/sponsorship adverts did appear to maintain their intros quick (15-30 secs), however when a bunch is selling their very own present/tour/merch these appear to be fairly lengthy.
Podcast calls to action (CTAs) usually work finest within the center or close to the top of your content material. So, though these exhibits are clearly doing effectively, this in all probability isn’t one thing you need to mimic.
3. Extremely-long chatty intros have had their heyday
Keep in mind the times when many of the well-liked co-hosted exhibits would open with a pleasant chit-chat that bore no relevance to the subject, however we didn’t thoughts as a result of we beloved to be in on the jokes? Properly, it looks as if these days are gone now.
Morbid is the one podcast within the high 20 that has a protracted intro (5-10 minutes) of host chat at the beginning, and other people actually hate on the intro within the evaluations. In our Podcast Discovery survey, we additionally obtained a number of feedback from listeners about how these types of intros really put them off. As Lindsay says within the article, “small discuss is simply enjoyable for the folks having it”.
4. There’s no connection between intro and episode size
One slight sample I seen defied logic (in my thoughts, at the very least). Particularly, the size of a present didn’t impression the size of the intro. The 2 shortest episodes within the checklist (10 minutes and 20 minutes) each had intros of 1 minute, which was longer than many of the different podcasts within the charts. There was no rush to skip via the intro to get to the meat, regardless of having a brief window to cowl the present matter.
The longest exhibits within the charts, then again, (e.g. Joe Rogan Expertise and The Shawn Ryan Present, which run at 2-3 hours lengthy) haven’t any intro, leaping straight into the content material inside a second or two of listeners hitting that play button.
How To Work Out the Good Intro Formulation For Your Podcast
So we all know there’s no industry-wide ‘excellent podcast intro formulation’. However that’s to not say there’s no excellent formulation to your present.
For those who’re seeking to optimize your intro to offer the folks what they need, strive the next:
- Take a look at your drop-off knowledge. Yow will discover a superb pattern measurement of drop-off knowledge in Apple Podcasts Join. For those who’re shedding listeners at the beginning, have a take into consideration how one can enhance your intro. For those who have a tendency to modify issues up from one episode to the subsequent, you need to use the info to see if drop-offs are larger when your intros are longer, or while you embody promotion, for instance.
- Assume like a listener. For those who love your area of interest sufficient to make a podcast about it, you are your audience. Take into consideration what you want in intros (and what you don’t like!) and attempt to give your listeners what you anticipate out of your favorite exhibits.
- Ask your listeners what they need. There’s no higher solution to cater to your viewers than to ask them immediately what they need to hear. A easy survey embedded in your subsequent e mail publication would do the trick.
Like podcasts extra usually, there’s no excellent formulation for getting your intro proper.
From chilly opens to outsourcing your jingles, there’s a tonne of various intro-related parts you may take a look at out till you discover a formulation that works to your present. We may also help you nail it in our podcast intro guide, which can enable you to optimise these very important opening jiffy of your subsequent episode and past.
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