Audio-First Marketing: What is it and Why You Should Do it.
Have you ever woken up and spent a day with a song or jingle stuck in your head? Congratulations, that means you’re one of the lucky people who got an earworm thanks to Audio-First Marketing!
You’ve probably noticed how music or sound is part of marketing, especially when it comes to commercials, movies and social media. But have you ever tried looking at it from a deeper perspective? We’re all well aware of how much music shapes and influences our daily lives. Now, having earworms and getting the last song syndrome is pretty normal. One reason is cause music is more accessible to technology now, but another is cause current trends are grounded on music and audio! Read more about it below and be one step closer to having a fully digital first approach.
The Rise of Audio-First Marketing
Thanks to technology, music is within our access with a click of a button. But it doesn’t end with that. We humans are naturally creative, so big ideas were made with this in mind: Music is also a tool that can lead to more creation and content. This led to apps like Musical.ly and TikTok to boom and go viral. Today, it continues to affect users, especially with Instagram stories and Facebook Myday now providing the option to add background music of your choice.
Audio-First Marketing Success You’d Find Familiar
TikTok
TikTok is one of the best examples that show how crucial sound is to the user experience. As an app that uses sound and music as its primary tool to create trends, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that it paved the way for the current shift audio-first marketing has taken.
Shopee
“Shopee!” Looks like you’ve got a notification. If you’re into online shopping, you’ve most definitely come across Shoppee. Well-known for its affordable and alternative offers, people who get hooked to online shopping and get used to Shoppe’s notifications’ eventually find the sound logo to entice them to shop. Sometimes the sound can condition you to do something. Yep! Psychology is connected to digital marketing too.
Reels / Stories
Surely you’ve seen how people have been riding with trends using viral songs with video edits of their fun moments, travels or day-to-day life. You can usually see these on reels or stories. That said, now, it’s not only users who do this approach but brands too! Either through ads or through the content they release.
Netflix
Who doesn’t know the iconic Netflix intro? Believe it or not, the quick “ta-dum” sound is part of a marketing strategy too. You heard it in your head when you read that, didn’t you? Exactly. That’s proof it’s working. The sound logo was composed to compel a feeling of suspense, with the message that you can expect that something exciting is about to happen once you watch Netflix.
Spotify
You’ve probably heard of Spotify wrapped. After all, audiences are crazy for shareable personalized content that helps them learn about their own taste. Not only is it a great marketing strategy, it’s also free exposure. Whenever users share their Spotify wrap, it promotes and encourages engagement from the audience too! A great strategy that hits two birds with one stone.
Podcasts
The radio of the new age that anyone can do! All you need is a crisp mic and a quiet room and you’re all set. With influencers, celebrities and other significant personalities now doing podcasts, it has also become a channel for Audio-first marketing advertisements and influencer marketing.
Audio-First Marketing isn’t New. It’s a Classic.
Although it has been catching the attention of marketers lately, thanks to trends, Audio-First Marketing has always been a common advertising strategy. It’s safe to assume that people are now more inclined to it because music is now more accessible through online streaming platforms. Unlike before, you had to buy music or physically go to the nearest shop to even buy albums or vinyls.
Commercials and Sound Logos
Pa para pa pa 🎵 love ko ‘to! Surely you know the exact melody we’re talking about. Audio-marketing has always been around us and even trails back to your childhood! This classic Mcdonald’s jingle is a classic example. Sometimes brands even add a twist in different languages, and that makes a difference too.
Radios
Up to today, radios remain to be part of our daily lives and surely you can think of a radio jingle. Classic and effective audio commercials remain to be an effective marketing strategy and proves that Audio-First Marketing has been efficiently used for decades now!
Audio-First Marketing Trends to Try
With the range of tactics to use under Audio-First Marketing, here are a few tips we think you can try! It wouldn’t hurt to do them and see if they’re effective for your business.
Use Trending Audio or Music
Digital marketing is about catching up to technological innovations and staying updated on the newest trends that businesses can use to their advantage. That’s exactly why more and more businesses are jostling into Tiktok. After all, when it comes to trends, it’s better to ride on them than to be sorry. So get on TikTok or reals and record away!
Using Audio to Humanize Your Brand
Currently, brands no longer have to try so hard to be perfect. People are now more attracted to brands that are real and relatable. Believe it or not, sound really helps humanize content! That’s why you can see so many videos out there that focus primarily on the sound that’s very similar to ASMR. For instance, frying sounds on cooking shows, the sound of opening a soda, typing sounds for keyboard brands, packaging orders, etc. Using sounds that are relatable help attract your audience, making it yet another form of Audio-First Marketing.
Audio SEO and Voice Search
Siri, Bixby, Google, Alexa and Voice Search if you’re using any of them, you’re already exposed to Audio-first marketing! Recently, new ways have been developed to incorporate voice search into site optimization. This is especially applicable to customers who use smart-assistant-enabled devices, which helps you get to know users better. Voice commands are not only for convenience but also for the inclusivity of the disabled. With this, more and more businesses are now investing in developing voice search into their websites. What was once a “near future” goal is now becoming a reality. Today, voice search continues to evolve and bring changes to SEO.
The Conclusion
As social media trends continue to evolve and gear towards using music and audio as an instrument of creativity, digital marketing grows with it. Though audio-first marketing has become popular recently, it has been a classic strategy that has continued to prove its effectiveness from back then ’til the present day. From jingles from years ago that are still used today to viral music today, the sound remains to highly influence our lives and eventually affect consumers and the way they perceive products and services.
Some brands have even been established and distinguished thanks to their sound, which has become inseparable from their identity. Try audio-first marketing yourself and see the fun behind the trend! It might be the perfect opportunity for your brand. Go Audio-First and Digital-First today.
For more information on digital marketing or where to start on the digital-first approach, click here: https://digital.emergelocal.com/get-proposal/
