Here is the latest template for our DIY listener survey! We do not require any registration or email address to use this, but if you would like to keep up with the latest information from Edison Research, we would love it if you would subscribe to our (infrequent) email updates here.

The goal of this template is to give you a starting point to survey your own podcast listeners. You will need to source a platform to collect the responses, and you will certainly want to customize this to suit your needs. See something you would change? Change it! It’s yours to use as you see fit. If you have found value in this template, we hope you’ll link to it or share it with your fellow podcasters!

A few more notes before you download the template:

  • Ultimately you are going to be asking your listeners for a favor. Make the survey EASY to take, available at an easy-to-remember URL, and consider what you could give your listeners in return for their time. Some suggestions include exclusive content, podcast swag, donations to a cause, or even a copy of the results!
  • You are going to want to talk about the survey in your show and ask people to visit your URL to take it. Make these mentions count–put as much effort and engagement into these “asks” as you do your show. The level of engagement the host shows towards taking the survey is THE most important variable in your response rate.
  • When the results are in, make sure you talk about the survey before AND after you field it! Let your listeners know that you value their input. When you introduce new things to the show, or reinforce old favorites, tell your listeners that these things are borne of their feedback.
  • The two most frequently asked questions we get: how many surveys is “enough?” and “how long should I run the survey?” For the latter, we would recommend talking about the survey for at least three episodes. Depending on the level of engagement of your audience, this should be sufficient to make most people aware that you are looking for their feedback!
  • As far as the sample size is concerned, we typically don’t look at anything under 100 persons, and of course more is better! More important, however, is the relationship between that sample and the size of your downloads. If your show gets 1000 downloads per episode, a 100 person sample would be pretty great. If your show gets 50,000 downloads per episode, however, 100 persons would not be a great response rate, and a sign that you might need to go back to the drawing board to revamp your solicitation.
  • While 100 persons is sufficient to look at the total, if you want to examine demographic groups (e.g. Men 25-54) the sample will need to be larger to enable that level of scrutiny.

There are many more tips to successfully execute a listener survey in this article from Edison Research SVP Tom Webster.

And that’s it! Here is the template for your own use, without restriction. Again, if you find value in this, we’d love a link. And if you’d rather Edison handle all of these details for you, visit our Managed Listener Survey page here. Otherwise–good luck!

Download the Edison Research Listener Survey Template here