Bombarded by thousands of ads and images daily, audiences are visually exhausted. It’s no wonder so many marketers are looking to audio as a way to break through.
Consider the rapid rate of adoption of home assistants (projected to be in half of American homes by 2020), the quickening pace of podcast advertising (set to become a $2.6 billion industry by 2022) and the fact that audiobooks are the fastest-growing sector of publishing.
Could we be entering a new era of brand marketing where audio content dominates?
And in this new sonic world, will your brand resound or fall silent?
Your audio content strategy is going to fall into two buckets: voice search and branded audio content. Let’s take a look at some best practices in each that you can apply right now to your content creation:
Voice search changes your optimization efforts
Simply put, your brand needs to be discoverable. After all, that’s why you have an SEO strategy. But what happens now that more and more people are searching by voice?
Voice queries are different than text queries, so you’ll need to incorporate these differences into your voice search strategy. Here are some basics:
First off, voice queries are longer and more conversational than text queries. After all, it’s a lot easier to say a bunch of things than type them in.
Next, voice searches are more likely to be question phrases (who, what, when, where, how, why). To position content for these questions, you have to consider your customers and structure content so it matches both what they’re likely to ask about and how they’ll ask it.
Finally, with much voice search being driven by smartphone use, queries are more likely to incorporate proximity. These are “near me” searches, as in “What pizza restaurants are near me?” or “What emergency dentists are open near me?” These queries have been growing exponentially in recent years. If this is applicable to your business, optimize accordingly.
Start building your own branded audio content
For many companies, the core of your audio strategy will come from producing your own audio content. There are a lot of different creative ways to engage your audience aurally, so here are some options and related best practices to consider:
Podcast ads: While the demographics of podcast listeners are broad, the audience of each unique show can be very niche, making podcasts an attractive advertising vehicle for practically any brand. Plus, per comScore, podcast ads are considered the least intrusive form of digital advertising. And they’re effective. Approximately two-thirds of listeners aged 18 to 49 have acted on ads they heard in a podcast.
Podcast content: If you’re feeling particularly bold or have the resources, you might also consider launching your own branded podcast, something done successfully by brands such as eBay, Sephora, Spotify and Basecamp. These shows offer wonderful ways to engage your audience via storytelling, as well as build intimacy with your fans that you otherwise couldn’t if you were only selling to them.
Voice assistant skills: Search isn’t the only thing that people use their voice assistants for. Skills are to voice assistants as apps are to smartphones; they’re the way users engage with voice devices to find content they’re looking for (for example: “Get me the latest advertising news.”) Skills aren’t for everyone, but if you are, say, a media company or if you have users who could benefit from a greater understanding of how to use your products or services, then building a skill might make sense.
Flash briefings: Flash briefings are like mini news briefs, released on a regular cadence, which users subscribe to so they can stay up-to-speed on newsworthy or industry-specific topics. Certainly, you’ll need an inventory of relevant content/headlines/information to power these efforts (Remember: a daily update means you have to have fresh content 365 times a year). If you do, a flash briefing could garner greater brand following.
Audio versions of blog content: This may be the lowest-hanging fruit for most brands, since you probably already have a company blog or publication. A number of online publications do this already, offering up their stories via audio player (like The New Yorker and Macleans) and some entrepreneurs (like Jenn Kutcher) have created podcast-blog hybrids. Not only are these audio versions great for increasing accessibility, but with the simple click of a play button, they can keep audiences engaged on your page.
Now is the time to take action to stay ahead of the audio curve. Even with all of the attention being given to the “audio age,” many marketers are lagging. Voices.com’s annual trends report survey polled almost 2,000 creatives and found that only 20 percent were creating a strategy to position their brand for voice search. That means 80 percent weren’t taking any action at all.
Don’t let your brand fall silent. Get started on your audio strategy.
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David Ciccarelli is the CEO of Voices.com, a leader in the voice industry. He is a thought leader on voice technology and audio branding, speaking regularly on the “voice-first era” and its meaning for and impact on businesses and brands.
