Hop aboard for a trip back to the times when content marketing meant shopkeepers trying the most creative ways of calling out to their customers in the market or introducing their products. They would either use funny phrases for their articles or refer to the customers creatively through catchy lines and voice modulations.
Coming back to the present digital era, we neither have shopkeepers calling out attractive phrases nor vendors shouting in loud voices. Instead, we have a classier and more sophisticated system of content marketing. While you would agree to the fact that those days are gone, we’d like to break it to you, that the traditional audio content marketing is still alive in the form and is making a breakthrough with the revolution it’s creating.
Still unsure of what we mean by a ‘Brand Speaking’? Moreover, wondering as to why we travelled back in time, and how it was relevant to a brand speaking? To answer your questions, we would like to unfold some content marketing strategies and show what magic the voice of a brand can create.
It’s the same as you speaking-
Brands today have taken a leap from regular written content marketing to speaking out their content. With respect to the same, what comes to your mind when we talk about a brand speaking? Before you frame a definition, here’s the simplest explanation- it's just how we speak. Have you noticed how whenever we have something lengthy to say, we either resort to an audio message or a call? Why did we switch to phone calls over letters or emails? Why do we prefer watching the news on the television instead of reading the newspapers? That is because audios are quick, convenient, and expressive- and that's how brands wish to present themselves today.
Establishing a connection-
Every brand has recognised ‘connecting with the audience’ as the prime aim of marketing. To succeed in the same, brands have begun resorting to audio formats of content marketing, i.e. speaking. Hence began the era of podcasts, audiobooks, audio advertisements. Besides being able to express better, brands have realised that being audible to their audience is way more convenient than being legible. Indeed having a social media presence is still important as it is the face and persona of a brand, but having a voice adds more weightage.
Reaching out to a wider audience-
Counting the perks of brands speaking, we can also count how a voice makes them relevant to a weak-sighted audience. We mustn't forget the active participants of the rat race of the world, who hardly have the time to read to watch any kind of content; audio, in this case, becomes a convenient carrier of content marketing to them. Another spectrum of the audience reached through audio content is the one that cannot read or access social media. Having a brand’s voice takes it closer to this potential audience who are often left out while focusing only on thriving on a digital presence.
While audio-books have shown a promising growth of 28.8% year-over-year, podcasts are projected to have approximately 112 million listeners by 2021. We can hence gauge how the audio content marketing format is not only a preferred form of pushing content by brands, but also well accepted by the audience. While one can never deny the importance of written content, a brand’s voice is indeed an undeniable asset. It has taken the right shape to cater to the present audience, irrespective of segments, class, and lifestyles.