At Merrimack Digital, we have discussed at length just how powerful video and imagery are in digital marketing for businesses. While colors, moving pictures, and sound certainly trigger diverse responses in human senses, what about audio itself?
When you think of audio advertising, what comes to mind? If you grew up with analog radio, can you almost hear a narrator imploring you to visit a specific used car dealer while tuning to your favorite station? Or do you imagine the paid ads you hear on the free iterations of music streaming services like Spotify?
Audio advertisements are becoming tremendously influential, especially given the popularity of podcasts and other strictly audio-based entertainment media. And now, they are about to be turbocharged with a technology known as social audio slowly being rolled out by Facebook and other platforms.
Social Audio Defined
If you envision audio advertising as a thirty-second composition featuring a catchy jingle and some cute dialogue, the term ‘social audio’ may seem like a Facebook or Instagram-based version of that vision. However, there is a key difference between traditional audio ads and social audio: interactivity.
An easy way to understand social audio is by picturing a meeting via Zoom and Microsoft Teams; a business spokesperson or sales professional for a company uses an App, such as Clubhouse or Spaces on Twitter, to communicate to customers about a specific product or service, and those customers listen in live.
This is transformative for human nature in digital marketing efforts. People who listen to and participate in these social audio pieces are showing to respond much more positively than if they were to hear a short, static audio spot on their streaming service, likely because they feel part of what is being discussed.
Don’t Sleep On Traditional Audio Ads
Social audio is expected to grow tremendously; however, that certainly does not mean you should disregard traditional audio media in your digital marketing and advertising efforts. Merrimack Digital has found that as social audio starts to dominate, repurposing traditional audio ads involves where you place them.
For instance, Google-owned YouTube is known for showing video and animated ads on its video platform. It makes sense, right? They specialize in video, so what other type of multimedia could they possibly offer?
As of recently, YouTube is going the way of Spotify and other music streaming services; they are capitalizing on running ads that are strictly audio with a still graphic on-screen during it. Users of YouTube are changing, and the content they view is making audio advertising more common.
Do Audio The Right Way!
Merrimack Digital stays current with ever-evolving digital marketing technology by implementing social audio efforts and more for each client. Their experienced team of digital marketing experts pays meticulous attention to a client’s acquisition and customer retention when strategizing how to utilize audio advertising in their plan.
Make sure your digital marketing is done the right way! Contact Merrimack Digital today to start your journey!
