How to implement audio into your business

We’ve outlined the technology and channels you might not realise you already have.

Telephone system

It almost goes without saying, as a sound-based medium, that the telephone is a key opportunity to deploy your branded audio. We help countless brands around the world to communicate their brand to callers through their telephone system – whether that’s while they’re holding, waiting to connect, transferring, calling out of hours or reaching a voicemail.

These days, cloud technology is replacing a lot of hard-wired telephone systems of old – essentially moving telephone systems onto the internet, rather than physical, copper wires. We’ve partnered with one cloud telephony system supplier, RingCentral, to help clients with switching their system – and then making best use of their new system’s full capabilities.

Social media

If you have a smartphone, you have all the tools you need to market through social media – the question is whether your customer is there, and this will largely depend on your target demographic.

YouTube and TikTok are the most obviously ‘sound on’ platforms, and this reflects that their uses are heavy smartphone users who spend a lot of time with headphones in. In general, their average users are digital natives, so younger and perhaps less likely to be key business decision-makers. In short, they’re probably not the place to conduct B2B advertising, but are prime space for fashion, FMCG and arts/culture brands.

It’s arguable that Spotify isn’t a social channel, but we’d say that any platform where you can create an account (that’s followed by others) qualifies. Set up an account for your business and you could begin sharing playlists that communicate you get your audience’s world (we’ve created some of our own to celebrate important events), or you could even go the whole hog and launch your own podcasts or music. Spotify Ads are also a great way to get your message across to your audience, and require ear-catching audio to capture the listener’s attention.

Website and email

Most modern websites incorporate video somewhere, and if you’re to make a good impression it needs to be high quality.

No matter the efforts you go to with filming, animation or story editing, you can be let down by poor quality audio; white noise, static, stumbles – the microphone will pick it all up. It’s why it’s always a good idea to get an audio post-producer involved.

The great thing about video is that you can use it over and over again, in multiple places – not just on social media and your website, but also on promotional emails and even on screens in stores/outlets, at events or on TV! So, it could be a great one-time investment.

Just think very carefully before embedding any music tracks directly into your website; auto-playing audio that can’t be turned off is a major User Experience (UX) no-no.

You’ll notice on parts of our website that we’ve embedded audio players (so you can listen to spoken-word versions of blogs, or examples of the unique music we create) that only play when you click on them.

Smart speakers

Alexa, Google Assistant, Apple Home – whichever you choose, they can be a smart way to set the mood in smaller spaces, offices, and in homes. You could connect multiple speakers to one another in place of a proper public address system, although this does have limitations.

Instead, you can use multiple speakers playing lots of different audio – great if you want to ‘zone’ different parts of your space and create a different mood/ambience in each, like a gym might if it wanted to help people get the best possible workout.

Not only that, but it can be a new way for your customer to interact with your brand: imagine being able to book an appointment without having to pick up the phone, or creating an entire ‘skill’. Guided meditation app Headspace has created one to help users unwind without the harsh blue light of a smartphone, while you can tell your Dyson robot vacuum to switch to Quiet Mode.

Bigger brands like these are leading the way on smart speaker audio and technology, but there’s a huge opportunity for small- to medium-sized businesses to make their clients and customers’ lives easier by creating a ‘skill’.

PA systems

Often integrated into larger stores/outlets and a mainstay at large-scale events, public address systems are flexible and enable you to make timely announcements, set the tone with music, and generally communicate with your audience on a grand scale.

In short – there are loads of ways you can use audio to communicate your brand to your customer. And we can help every step of the way – including helping you figure out where audio integrates into your marketing plan for the year ahead.

To find out more or book a free demo, leave a few details and we’ll be in touch.