Survey Says: What is a Podcast?
As the producer of a podcast (Success Charger Podcast with Scott Cooksey), the IdeaCharger team thought it would be helpful to gather some general information regarding this rapidly-growing format by posting a call for responses to a number of social media platforms and the weekly email from our own marketing list. We asked respondents to share with us about 63-seconds of their time.
Well, after a couple of weeks gathering survey results, it’s time to share bit about what we learned. For ease of reading, some of the percentages were rounded up or down without materially impacting the outcome, so totals may not exactly be 100% for each topic.
What is a Podcast?
What’s your “Type”?
Next we asked the question, “Which podcast format works for you?“, allowing respondents to choose as many as they found appropriate. We received a total of 165 selections, from 87 total respondents to this question. The percentages below are reflective of the percentage of respondents who selected each of the 6 options.
Most popular responses, with 49% & 52% respectively, were “Interviews relevant to the podcast’s main topic” and “One person (host/expert) sharing ideas”. The next two popular responses were “Live, recorded events/speeches/panel discussions” (32%) and “Actual radio programs downloaded via podcast”(29%). The option “Variety show (mix of segment types)” gathered nearly 22%, with the remaining selection of “Other” rounding out the last 6%.
Most of the “other” responses contained added notations of “no preference/don’t listen to podcasts”, with one asking for advice on “feeding cattle with a broken foot” [Sorry…We have nothing to add for that request but wish for your speedy recovery!]. Interestingly, one offered they were format agnostic as long as “(the podcast itself) works with the iPhone Podcast app” – a hint of brand loyalty to Apple, who no doubt highly influenced the development of this format of programming in the first place with the creation of the iPod (hence: POD-casting….see what they did there?).
How Long Do I Need to Stay On The Charger?
My daughter loves to consume media on her tablet. I know, she’s but a toddler at this point, but she is an avid consumer of toy-unboxing videos on YouTube and re-runs of Alf and I Love Lucy on Netflix. (Thank you, dude at the Verizon store, for handing her a tablet while my wife was upgrading to an iPhone 6. Well executed strategy to sell an add-on device AND a larger data plan. Well played!) The challenge, though, was explaining the device needed to be charged up in recovery of her commute to/from daycare each day [Living in Houston, one must cope with a commute. Hers can be over an hour each way, on a bad traffic day, and I’m talking about a toddler!]
When I travel, my iPhone is always loaded up with podcasts before hopping on a flight or heading out for the drive to my client’s office, be it across town or across the country. That said, I found out I preferred a variety in show length offered a chance to break up the trip. To find out what YOU thought, we asked “What’s your preference for show length of a podcast?” Here’s what we learned:
- 63%, by far the largest response, asked for episodes to be less than 30 minutes
- 20% were looking for a quick hit lasting only 10 minutes or less
- 10% preferred under an hour, while
- the remainder was okay with “as long as it takes (presuming the information is useful and relevant)”
While I can’t promise we will always keep our episodes under 30-minutes, I will promise they will always be chock full of value…and that we’ll mix up the show length from time-to-time. Be sure to let us know how we are doing, anytime, by emailing the show at podcast@ideacharger.com!
And, finally, for a chance to REALLY change the score…
We concluded our survey with one final (open-ended) question which proved to be, perhaps, the greatest gold in our research.
What is your SINGLE BIGGEST BUSINESS CHALLENGE which, if a podcast helped you solve it, you would easily tell EVERYONE YOU KNOW about that show?
We received about 60 answers to the above question. We had a few that unnecessarily offered apologies for not being helpful – to which I say I don’t accept your apology. The fact that you provided us with responses to further this research and respond with something useful to Idea Chargers like you means we should be thanking YOU!
For the rest, we could break these down into topics we at the show promise to leverage in upcoming episodes. Why? Because we want you to shout from the rooftops about the value the Success Charger Podcast gives you FOR FREE each and every week, by CHARGING UP YOUR BUSINESS!
We received suggestions from you that you want to know how to (1) GET MORE out of each and every day- without burning out; (2) BUILD AND RETAIN A TEAM of top talent around you and everything your business stands for [which your clients deserve, too!]; (3) Proven techniques to GROW AND SUSTAIN SALES IN ANY MARKET CONDITION; (4) smother your business with the SECRET SAUCE OF SUSTAINED ENERGY IN, FROM & FOR YOUR BUSINESS; and most of all, (5) shared stories, wisdom, and connection from people who are willing to share HOW TO GET YOUR BUSINESS TO THE NEXT LEVEL while ENJOYING THE RIDE!
The IdeaCharger Team cannot say thank you enough to those who took the 63-seconds to respond. As part of our continued promise to you (and the request many of you voiced in the replies), the Success Charger Podcast with Scott Cooksey will ALWAYS REMAIN FREE and we will strive to meet your expectations with EVERY EPISODE. If you haven’t already given it a listen, please check out the show, download or stream a couple of episodes and if you like it, the greatest compliment is when you share an episode with someone else!
If you’d like to know more about having Scott work with you individually or with your organization, let’s schedule a no obligation call to discuss your situation! CLICK HERE for details.
