Spotify expands interactive podcast polls and Q&As to even more shows

Spotify is making podcasts on its platform more interactive. The company announced today that podcasters who create their shows in Anchor, its creation software, will be able to build interactive polls and Q&As into their programs. Listeners across 160 markets will be able to engage with them. For now, the functionality is only available to Anchor podcasters — not even for people who use Megaphone, Spotify’s podcast hosting platform — and it only works on the Spotify app.

To view a poll or Q&A, you’ll see it at the bottom of your Spotify mobile app. Once you respond to a poll, you’ll be able to see how others voted, while Q&A answers will be sent to the podcaster privately. These podcasters can then choose to pin and publicly display the Spotify username of the person who replied.

The interactive polls were first tested in September last year, and in February, Spotify brought them and Q&As to more creators. The company says podcasters have used them to get guest suggestions, hear feedback, and gamify their shows. Interestingly, Spotify has also tested interactive ads, but those seemingly have yet to launch, even for wider testing.

Of course, these new features allow Spotify to keep podcasters on the app where their listeners live. They don’t have to promote their Instagram or any other app to foster engagement, meaning they might have a better success rate in encouraging their listeners to share feedback. At the same time, it’s yet another incentive for podcasters who might be looking for a hosting provider. Anchor creators can already create shows with full, licensed music built in, and use the company’s sponsorships tool, so Spotify will seemingly keep creating functionality meant to intrigue and lure podcasters to the service.