How Long Should A Podcast Episode Be?
The podcast industry is gaining much popularity day by day. A study conducted in 2021 revealed that more than 387 million people prefer podcast content worldwide, which may increase in the coming years. Due to high competition, podcasters strive hard to create more engaging and concise content.
Many podcasters ponder how long a podcast should be. You might observe different podcasts have different lengths even in the same industry or niche. A few podcasts may run only for 10-15 minutes, but some run for an hour. So how can you perfectly determine the ideal length of your podcast episodes?
You can't find a specific rule or parameter to determine the ideal length for your podcast episodes. It mainly depends on certain factors, such as the format you're following for your podcast and the subject you're discussing.
If you're starting a podcast but unsure what podcast length is right for your content, read below for a precise answer.
Things to Consider when Choosing the Length of Your Podcast Episodes
The ideal length of your podcast episodes determines the ideal length of the content you're delivering. Your podcast length is not one-size-fits-all as it may vary based on the following factors.
The Content You're Delivering
The value you provide to your audience through podcasting is the most crucial factor determining the podcast length. The podcast length does not matter until you stay on topic, get to the point, provide value and keep your audience engaged. Podcasting doesn't have certain parameters or restrictions for determining the length of your episodes. You can make your podcast episode five minutes, 40 minutes, or an hour-long; providing great content to your audience is the only thing that matters.
If you can deliver the right content and serve your audience within 20 minutes, then why put a roadblock by stretching your podcast to an hour? But if you're covering a complex topic that needs in-depth detail, you can take more time to do justice to your subject. When determining the length of your podcast episodes, ensure not to drag it so long once you've delivered the main content.
Listening Habits of your Audience
In the era of technology and information overwhelm, you must prioritize your audience's listening habits to make your podcasting successful. Your audience can move quickly to other podcasting if they feel your content is hard to consume or doesn't deliver the main purpose.
If your content is unnecessarily dragging on, your audience will get bored and move on to something else. Understanding your audience's listening habits is key to keeping them interested. You can take reviews and feedback from your audience to know their preference, such as when they listen to your podcasts and how they consume your content.
You can easily find the ideal length for your podcast episodes if you understand the preference of your ideal listeners. A survey conducted in 2019 shows that one-fourth of podcast listeners prefer consuming your content while driving. So if your episodes are designed for travelers, you can make your podcasts for 1 or 2 hours long. But, if you're targeting working mums through your content, you should prefer to keep the length of your episodes short.
The Time You're Spending in Making Your Podcast Episodes
Podcasting is not as simple as it looks. It requires a lot of time and effort to complete. You often have to spend hours finding engaging content, meeting with guests, producing, recording, and advertising your podcast episodes. The length of your podcast episodes significantly depends on how much time you have in your day.
If you've enough time and a podcast management team, you can aim to release an hour-long podcast episode weekly. It would be best to consistently release your podcasts because consistency can make them successful. Before determining the length of your podcasts, carefully consider how much time you have to make an interesting podcast while avoiding burnout in the quality of your podcast episodes.
You can make your episodes longer if you have a supportive management team who can handle the time-consuming tasks of making show notes, editing, and advertising your episodes. But if you think you've limited time to record a podcast of only 10-15 minutes, this is the ideal length for your podcast episodes.
Find the Perfect Length for Your Podcast Episodes
The US Census Bureau reveals that the average commute time for podcast content is 26.9 minutes each way (about 53.8 minutes per day). It means you need to limit your podcast content to 50 minutes. But if you want a more accurate and precise idea of the length of your podcast, you can use the following key factors.
Design a Structure for your Podcast Episode
As discussed earlier, podcasting has no specific parameters or restrictions for determining the length of your episodes. To find the ideal length of your podcast episodes, prefer to know the expectations of your audience and then design an episode structure. Making a rough structure for your episodes helps you get a roadmap and keep consistency in your podcasts' length. An episode structure provides a framework to understand your listeners' preferences and create content more effectively.
Schedule a Specific time for your Podcasts
Scheduling a specific time for podcast episodes helps you determine the perfect length and bring clarity to your episodes. You can bring consistency to your podcasting by scheduling your podcast time which can make your podcasts successful.
Poll your Listeners
If you're unsure about the preferences and expectations of your audience, you can poll your audience to get a clear idea. For example, you can add Google Forms or other survey tools in your show notes to ask specific questions to your audience.
You can ask your listeners to give feedback on your episodes and let you know about their preferences, such as;
Whether you should use more sound effects in your episodes?
What would they like to hear next?
How they're consuming your content?
Once you have the idea of these insights, you can bring clearer, engaging, and subject-oriented podcasts that can help you connect with your audience.
A podcast discoverability and listening habits survey conducted in 2020 reveals that 32% of the podcast listeners don't care about the length, while 18.8% prefer short podcast episodes. So, it is clear that you can go with both long and short podcast content ensuring that you're providing quality and engaging content.
Advantages of Shorter Podcasts
Shorter podcasts fit well with work commutes, daily activities
Shorter podcasts help you keep your listeners engaged and interested.
Shorter podcasts allow you to be more consistent
Consistent podcasts help you get more subscribers.
Advantages of Longer Podcasts
Longer podcasts help you to give an in-depth overview of complex subjects. You can get the following benefits from longer podcast episodes;
Educate and entertain your listeners when they're travelling or performing mindless chores around their gardens.
Get a chance to cover the subject in more detail.
Get an opportunity to interview special guests.
Cover multiple topics per episode.
Frequently Asked Questions about the Length of Podcast Episodes
Can I vary the lengths of my podcast episodes?
Consistent length is the key to making your podcasts successful. Your listeners will expect to have your podcasts within a certain length range. Changing your podcast length from episode to episode will give a bad impression to your listeners, ultimately kicking you out of the race.
Is there any specific rule to determine the average length of my podcast episodes?
Podcasting does not put any specific restrictions on determining the average length of your podcasts. The podcast length mainly depends upon the subject you're covering, the time you're spending, and your audience's preferences. Once you've determined these factors, you can easily create a clear and engaging podcast episode that can help you grow your subscriber list.
Which factors determine the length of my podcast episodes?
The length of your podcast episodes mainly depends upon the following factors:
The nature of the subject you're delivering
The preferences and expectations of your audience
How much value you're providing to your listeners
How much time can you spend making a high-quality podcast episode?
Adode Media- A Professional Approach to Podcast Services
The length of the podcast episodes may vary based on your audience's preference and the nature of your content. You can go with shorter and longer podcasts, but always ensure to provide your audience with quality content so they can wish for more.
We hope our detailed guide will help you to find the answer to how long a podcast episode should be. If you need further clarification about the length of your podcasts, you can contact us. Adode Media has creative podcast studios to give our clients a comprehensive experience.
