Below are answers to some of the most common questions regarding running an audience survey.
Can I preview the survey beforehand?
Absolutely, a sample of the audience survey is available for your reference here. Your survey will be customized with your show's name and image.
Can I add my own questions to the survey?
Getting listeners to answer the same, standard set of questions is the best way we can build a picture of your audience to help attract advertisers. We need to be able to use the data in a reliable, aggregated way, but it does mean we can’t add bespoke or custom questions to the survey on your behalf.
Otherwise, podcast platforms such as Spotify do let you run short polls of your audience for stand-alone questions.
Why does it increase monetization opportunities?
Sponsors and advertisers want to know that their message is reaching the right audience. They’ve already decided that they want to spend their advertising budget on podcasts - either by getting in touch with the Acast sales team, or using our self-serve platform - and now they want to find the right show to match them up with the listeners they want to reach.
Being able to show potential sponsors more information about your audience, Acast can give them the confidence that your show is valuable to their brand. It helps them understand, beyond the content of your show, who is listening and their interests.
Whilst we cannot guarantee that running an audience survey will translate to increased earnings, it’s one of the key ways you can make your show more attractive to smart advertisers. To learn more about what it takes to win sponsors, read here.
How does it help grow my show?
There are two, equally important parts to growing the audience of a podcast: promoting the show to find new listeners, and making sure the show is the best it can be to keep people subscribed.
As part of running an audience survey, you will receive a summarized report of the feedback listeners gave about the content of your show. This can be a goldmine of insights on what you’re doing right, and what can be better.
The feedback you receive can:
Help you find out what your most loyal fans love about your show, focusing your energies on promoting the best parts of your podcast to new audiences.
Teach you about things listeners want to hear more of, or what they don’t like so much. It will help you target improvements to the show to make sure you keep hold of listeners long term
Inspire you to keep your show’s content fresh and engaging, either by reinforcing what’s great about it or changing up the format
Let your audience know you’re listening to them and want to hear from them, just another way to keep loyal fans feeling engaged and invested in the show. Let them know you’re grateful for their time and feedback!
You can read more tips for how to grow your audience here.
What about my listeners’ data, how will it be used?
We don’t ask your listeners to fill out anything like name or e-mail address, and we don’t collect any other personal identifiable information - the results are anonymous.
The data will be used in aggregate to build a profile of your audience, which will be shared along with other key information about your show with potential sponsors. The data may also be used to match brands more accurately across the Acast Marketplace as a whole, allowing for more targeted and relevant adverts on your show.
Can I see a detailed breakdown of all the survey responses?
Even though all information collected is anonymous, we do not share detailed responses. This ensures we are protecting data privacy, means listeners can give feedback honestly and gives you the best overview of how your audience actually views your show.
Engaging with your audience on social media is a great way to get feedback from your community, from those who want to reach out to you directly.
What if my listeners’ ask questions about the survey?
From our experience, most listeners will be happy to go ahead and complete the survey. However, you might get some questions such as how their data will be used or about the questions, in which case you can send them this useful Listener FAQ which should answer their most common questions.
If you receive questions that the Listener FAQ doesn’t answer and they still want to know more, you can direct them to email support@acast.com and our support team will endeavour to help them.