Contemporary companies and brands are no strangers to the increasing popularity of integrated campaigns – which can be fueled by social media, experiential design, and even environmental components working in unison. It’s now a knee-jerk reaction for a company to immediately to request a campaign that hits Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Maybe we’ll throw Pinterest into the mix, just to spice things up.
It’s not a wrong approach, by any means. Statistically, no matter what you post on social media, you’ll get some results. But usually, it takes the backing of a marketing partner’s expertly crafted message and visual to truly succeed. Often this is because this request doesn’t come from an evaluation of previous efforts or a stronger understanding of the target audience, but rather because they saw a similar campaign and want to give it a spin.
But you can go beyond that. Every single marketing effort is an opportunity to establish and reinforce the brand and brand value. With a little ingenuity and a clever marketing team, you can take advantage of existing platforms that might provide a more valuable customer reaction. Chances are, most of your marketing efforts are visual. It’s an approach that fails to acknowledge that humans are wired in the history of storytelling, and our brains continue to favor auditory information.
Audio-based marketing carries a lot of benefits – including lower production costs and inherently dynamic content. Here are two auditory formats and some ideas on how to implement them in your next marketing campaign:
Podcasts
A growing audio medium, podcasts allow you to offer relevant information in a more dynamic, freer format that lends itself to an “on-the-go” audience. This should by no means be an audiobook, but take a more conversational tone. Given the nature of the format, you’ll probably want to experiment with the tone (humor might not be fitting to every subject, for example). Utilize the podcast format to:
Build Trust In addition to factual and relevant information, dynamic voices, interesting conversations, and even guest speakers will deepen a sense of brand trust and credibility.
Quickly Provide Valuable Content Think of a podcast as a living ebook. You’ll want to provide relevant, topical information. Perhaps a service you offer is something you often get questions about? Create a podcast miniseries to dive into a particular subject.
Offer Accessibility Perhaps a significant portion of your target audience has poor eyesight. Perhaps they’re too busy to sit and read an ebook.
Solidify Your Brand Voice Due to the relatively lower production costs, podcasts are a great tool for younger brands or brands in the middle of a refresh to solidify their brand voice and tone by allowing more freedom for experimentation (and iteration).
Spotify
You’re probably no stranger to Pandora and Spotify ads, but have you considered going a bit beyond? Spotify offers more than enough formats for you to get creative.
Branded Playlist The most obvious avenue to take, a branded playlist is a custom playlist that features your logo, an easy way to establish or reinforce a brand connection. Share it on your social media, in a newsletter, or as an email blast freebie.
Locale Playlist(s) Create a soundtrack for an event your brand is a part of, or share a playlist played in a physical location (waiting room, retail location, etc.).
Make It Collaborative Spotify allows you to create a playlist and allow any number of collaborators. Maybe try a competition for the perfect playlist and offer a prize.
It’s time to add something new to your marketing. Next up: Smell-o-vision.