From the surface, it may seem like anyone can make audio content, and technically that’s quite true nowadays. Thanks to the web and increasingly easy availability of pro-grade recording technology, we now have access to all information, training, and digital tools needed for creating audio ads from the home office itself. That being said, it is never really easy to produce highly potent audio content for commercial promotions. As if in testament to that fact, some of the biggest companies have released embarrassingly poor audio ads in the past. Taking a cue from infamous mistakes and famous hits from within the audio marketing industry’s history, the following should help us in avoiding mistakes and identifying proven strategies.
Don’t Add Long Contact Information in the Ad
Adding website info, phone numbers, mail addresses, etc. in an audio ad is a common mistake that some people still continue with. It’s a complete waste of resources, airtime, and money. To provide you with a better picture as to why that is a mistake, we have listed the most obvious flaws of this outdated practice next:
Costly – Adding long contact information lengthens an ad’s necessary airtime, which costs the business more money to keep it on air per day.
Destruction of the Creative – In case the company cannot afford to, or they are not allowed to run an ad that long, they will cut out some portions from the creative to make room for the contact info! When a piece of creative ad content is cut down and haphazardly pieced back together to make room for web addresses, mail addresses, and phone numbers, the audio material loses all its meaning, identity, and appeal to the target audience.
By destroying the content’s natural flow, they immediately make the entire ad a useless piece that continues to cost money for the airtime, without creating any viable prospect for ROI. One cannot butcher a carefully crafted, audience-tailored ad for the sake of advertising contact info, since that essentially turns the contact information into a product that no one would be interested in, without first being engaged by the promotion.
People Don’t Remember – People do not tune into their favorite podcasts, YouTube channels, music streaming services, FM radio, etc. to hear ads. Some will listen to an ad if it is entertaining, while others may actually find it curious if they are genuinely interested in the promoted product/service. Very few people, on the other hand, will attempt to memorize addresses, email IDs, and phone numbers while listening to the ad. If anything, they are likely to not pay attention or change the channel, as soon as they start hearing long phone numbers and web addresses.
Marketers are struggling to hold the attention of the audience with high-quality content for even 10 – 15 seconds these days. At this point, no company can expect to shorten their original content in the hope that the target audience will be dutifully listening and noting down the contact information! Focus instead on creating short and engaging content with only the brand name being highlighted. As long as you have a presence on social media and the site is registered online, they will be able to find you easily. Keep the links, addresses, and long phone numbers reserved for written content.
Do Learn How to Create Your Own Professional Audio Ads
You can learn how to create professional audio ads for your own company with the help of Decibel’s complete set of professional ad creation tools. To get started, just pay a visit to https://decibelads.com/. It will take you a bit of time to get used to how things work, but everything you need to create your own audio ad is available right there on the website itself. You can even get access to professional voice actors via the site itself if needed. The AI will take care of the heavy lifting, leaving you to deal with the less technical aspects of creating audio ads. Learning how to produce your own voice/music/jingle ads can be a real money saver if you do it right.
Don’t Speed Up the Words
There is a reason why people can multitask with headphones on, and that reason is multifaceted. Nevertheless, the most important of those facets is the fact that audio content does not, or at least is not supposed to always take up the listener’s attention completely. Unlike with any other medium of delivery, people can listen to your audio ads while listening to music or the news while driving a car or riding a bike. They are only allowed to do so at low volumes because normal auditory perception is not supposed to affect the individual’s ability to operate the vehicle.
On the other hand, that barrier can be breached if the music is too loud, as then it gains the potential to dangerously overwhelm the listener’s other senses of perception as well. As a marketer, it is of the highest importance that you create content for your audio ads in such a way that it never overwhelms the listener. While a machine accelerated speech speed is not likely to cause an accident, it will cause the listener to lose focus from your content. It’s an exercise in futility if the user is unable to listen and decipher your audio message.
As a rule, never cram too many words into a short slot with/without the help of software. It sounds unnatural, the message is lost, and so is your potential for converting anyone into a sale with that pitch. In fact, it might end up creating a bad reputation for your company’s audio ads. Maintain the same relaxing tempo throughout the ad’s duration.
Do Incorporate Ads into the Content
Similar to how blogs incorporate ads into the content itself, there is even more opportunity to do so creatively when it comes to audio ads. Listen to a few podcasts or creepypastas on YouTube to get a feel of how to do it right. For example, creepypastas are extremely popular now as Halloween is almost here. Naturally, products and services centered around the theme are easier to create at this time for channels that read spooky stories. The idea is to never make your ads sound like ads, but a natural promotion of the sponsor.
We have so many audio streaming and podcasting platforms today that radio is neither the primary nor the only option for audio ads anymore. That should be of little concern to the audio content creator though, because irrespective of whether the signal is analog or digital, they are still trying to capture and hold the attention of human beings! Work within the given parameters, maintain professional-grade audio quality throughout the recording, and focus only on the target audience.
The platform becomes more relevant if the ad can establish a link between the business and the target audience via the platform directly. For example, an audio ad about a pair of new headphones on Audible could highlight the fact that the product has been optimized for vocal clarity, rather than thumping bass. Since Audible is primarily a platform for audiobooks, the platform-specific marketing strategy would be more relevant to the niche audience.
