How sound can help you reach more people and grow your brand.
Whether you work in-house at a marketing agency, provide freelance marketing services, or represent your own brand, you simply can’t neglect the impact of audio marketing. To effectively reach an audience with a message, you need to use every tool at your disposal, and sound is one of the most powerful ways to do it. This article will explore what audio marketing is, why it matters, and how to use it to your advantage.
Audio Marketing at a Glance
“Audio marketing” is a fairly simple term to define – literally marketing with audio – but it’s a surprisingly broad category that includes everything from the sounds you hear in radio and TV commercials to social media content, branded podcasts, audiobook ads, and much more.
Basically, any time you hear a sound related to a product, service, or brand, that’s audio marketing at work. Audio marketing appears in short- and long-form content, on its own or with visuals, on your devices and out in the world. Audio marketing can reach almost anyone, anywhere, and that’s what makes it so powerful.
Why is Audio so Important in Marketing?
Sound can reach people when visuals and other forms of advertising can’t: while they’re in the room next to the TV, switching browser tabs while an ad plays, in the car on the way to work, or out shopping. Audio marketing provides a direct link to your audience, even when their other senses are focused on other tasks like cooking, work, or hobbies.
Audio advertising also affects people differently than visual media. Compared to processing all of the visual information in a commercial or digital ad, hearing a sound can provoke a much more direct response in your audience. The sound of food sizzling on a grill can instantly make you hungry, just like the ominous soundscape of a political attack ad can make you fearful or angry and want to take action. Here are some of the main roles audio can play in marketing.
Getting Attention
In a world where everything seems to be vying for our attention all the time, simply getting people to take notice can be one of the biggest challenges of a marketing campaign. But, as we discussed above, sound gives you a powerful and direct method of grabbing your audience’s attention so that you can deliver your message. Like a flashy picture on a billboard that draws your attention to the text, the right sound in the right context can instantly shift someone’s attention to your message.
Establishing a Tone or Feeling
Of course, sound can be just as effective when used subtly. For example, in radio commercials, a background of calm nature sounds, busy crowds, or abstract ambient tones can help establish the right tone to support your message. The notification sounds on Apple, Windows, and Android devices are specifically crafted by sound designers to convey a feeling of high-tech sophistication while alerting you to new messages, low battery levels, and so on. Even the signature growl of a Harley-Davidson motorcycle is a form of audio marketing.
Conveying Your Brand Through Sound
Brands are multifaceted identities conveyed through many aspects: company names, slogans, logos, colors, and – you guessed it – even sounds. Whether you realize it or not, many of the sounds you hear every day are part of audio marketing. From the hammer percussion in the famous Home Depot Beat to the guitar-based sound effects of JBL’s Bluetooth speakers, these sounds are crafted to reflect the identity of a brand and subtly influence your decision-making. For our favorite example of branded sound design, check out the PSE splash screen at the start of our YouTube videos.
Branded podcasts are a rapidly growing form of audio marketing and an effective way to reach new audiences.
Types of Audio Marketing
Audio marketing comes in many forms. The most obvious examples are TV and radio commercials, social media ads, and sonic branding—the quick and snappy stuff that gets the point across quickly. But audio marketing exists in other places, too. There are long-format branded podcasts, audio ads that play on free streaming services, and even some of the sounds that certain products make can serve a marketing purpose. Here’s a quick guide to a few of the main types of audio marketing, along with some examples.
Audio Ads
Audio-only ads can pop up in many contexts: between songs on the radio, during a sponsor break in a podcast, or even while listening to audiobooks on an ad-supported platform. According to a study by Edison Research, 78% of monthly streaming audio listeners are reached by ad-supported content and 60% say these audio ads get more of their attention than other types of media. If you can reach the right audience (with effective sound design, of course!), a short audio ad can deliver impressive results.
Branded Podcasts
Podcasts have grown steadily in popularity over the last 20 years, and today, they’ve become a powerful marketing tool in their own right. A branded podcast can take the form of a recurring show like eBay’s Open For Business or a limited run such as McDonald’s three-part series The Sauce. This type of long-format audio marketing allows you to make full use of sound to seize the listener’s attention, hold their interest, and establish the appropriate tone to convey your message.
Sonic Branding
In a previous article, we covered how audio can be used to great effect in “sound logos” or “idents”: short snippets of punchy sound design that accompany a logo or slogan to make it more memorable. But that’s not the only way you can use sonic branding to your advantage. If your product or service has any signature sounds associated with it, such as the pop of a beer can or the “fasten seatbelts” sound on an airline, be sure to make use of them often. When you identify strongly enough with a sound, that sound can become almost synonymous with your brand. Is anyone else suddenly craving Pringles?
Audio Marketing Inspiration
We’ve mentioned a few examples already, but the best way to understand effective audio marketing is to hear it in all its different forms. Check out some of these examples to hear what a successful audio marketing campaign sounds like:
- Jimmy John’s “Speeding” audio ad
- Tide’s “Pass Me the Intercom Thingy” audio ad
- Headspace’s “Sleepcasts”
- Red Bull Racing’s "Talking Bull Podcast"
- Jaguar F-Type V8 Sound Preserved in British Library
- Jaguar I-Pace sound design by Richard Devine
Creating Effective Audio Ads
Hopefully, this article has inspired you to take advantage of all the possibilities that sound presents. To learn more, check out our blog for more insights on sonic storytelling, connecting with your audience using sound, and common audio advertising mistakes to avoid.
When you’re ready to try your hand at audio marketing, dive into the Pro Sound Effects Platform to find all the sounds you need to take your campaign to the next level. Search and download specific sounds or libraries right from your browser, download SoundQ to manage your collection and speed up your editing workflow, or explore our flexible Teams Plans to empower your organization.
