Do you have a Social Audio Strategy?
Post-COVID multimedia strategies are taking a seat front and centre, bringing a new opportunity for connection. Podcasts in particular have exploded in recent years. As of late 2020, Spotify was hosting 2.2 million podcasts, and around 25% of its monthly active users engaged with podcast content in the fourth quarter of last year. People seem to love the connection that comes with audio, and they also love the ability to multitask while listening or interacting. There’s more to marketing than paid ads, written content, and social media. But where to start?
Why Audio?
People tend to pay attention to written marketing strategies (hey, SEO - we see you!) but audio is a great way to personalize your brand and really connect with your audience on a deeper level. Plus, today people are on the go 24/7 and when we as the brand give them the option to take us with them during their busy days it is more likely they will stay engaged for longer. Spotify’s Culture Next report shares a few compelling stats along with its top 3 reasons why audio should be a top priority for marketers:
More engagement. Digital audio lets people personalize what they're listening to, so it's a direct match to their interests and listening environments. In fact, listeners have around 34% more engagement on Spotify compared to traditional radio (and 9% more engagement compared to other forms of digital audio).
Increased brand impact. More engagement with Spotify's audio content translates directly into more ad engagement. Our research found, for example, that ads experience 19% higher brand impact on Spotify when compared to all other forms of media, including TV, digital video, and social media.
Reach younger audiences with niche interests. When it comes to reaching the millennial and Gen Z markets, audio marketing is a must. For millennials struggling with work-life balance, audio has emerged as a go-to self-care resource. In fact, 83% of millennials use audio to reduce their stress levels, and 77% see audio as a mental health resource.
Building your audio strategy.
As you continue to build out your marketing strategy for 2023/2024, here are a few questions to consider:
Who is your target audience? Examine your customer base and narrow in on the centra group by identifying their demographic and psychographic details - that is, their behaviours, interests, age, geographic location, etc.
What audio formats do they listen to and how? Podcasts, radio, streaming services… and on what device?
Where do they listen? Are they listening at home while cooking, in the car commuting, or out while on a run? Once you know how and where they consume content you can begin to build out relevant messages that speak to their behaviours and needs.
What does success look like? This is a big one for me because so many people launch new marketing initiatives without being able to define what the goal is, what success looks like at the end of the day. Your audio marketing strategy can have several objectives, from brand awareness to increased website traffic to better conversions. Knowing what you're trying to achieve enables you to determine the key metrics you'll need to track like subscribers, downloads, etc.
What Now?
Before you launch into any additional projects in your marketing strategy, take a step back to identify what you are looking to achieve and who your targeting audience is. From there you can start to dive into what audio tools and projects sit with your brand and strategy. Another key consideration: resources. Do you have the time, equipment and human power to execute? Once these questions have been addressed you can start to identify objectives and get things into motion.