5 Common Audio Marketing Mistakes

Audio marketing is one of the fastest growing areas of marketing in business today. From voice-overs to on-hold messaging, the emotional pull of high-quality audio can help your business grow. But be careful - because many businesses are just discovering audio marketing - there are many common mistakes. Here are the 5 most common:

1 - Using the wrong audio for your target market

Audio needs to be targeted at your chosen market. For example, voice-overs can be used in a range of ways to inform your customers or clients about the services you provide. From on-hold messaging to web narration, voice-overs are one of the most effective ways to use audio in your marketing. But make sure you choose the right voice! An urban, contemporary, ‘fresh’ voice works great for brands appealing to a younger audience, but is unlikely to work so well for a corporate brand. Similarly, a professional sounding, rich voice is unlikely to be appropriate for a brand targeted at teenagers. The same considerations must be given to music and audio logos.

2 - Using audio in the wrong places

Like all things in life, there is a right and a wrong place for audio marketing. Be careful when using audio in an unexpected place - like the moment you click on a web page. Having audio blare out at one of your web page visitors without them realizing it is likely to startle and possibly annoy them - undermining whatever message you were trying to convey.

3 - Bad audio quality

There is nothing that reflects worse on your brand than bad audio quality. It smacks of unprofessionalism and will undermine the potentially strong message that you’re trying to send out. Very often, bad audio quality is a result of botched in-house productions in an attempt to save money. Whilst there is nothing wrong with producing your own audio, unless you have professional equipment, a trained voice-over artist or top-class editing skills, it is unlikely that you’ll produce a great piece of audio. Outsourcing your audio professionally needn’t cost the earth and will save money in the long-run by lending your brand that extra slick edge.

4 - Missing key marketing opportunities

A lot of businesses don’t realize the sheer array of audio marketing opportunities that are out there. Why not try using on-hold messaging to promote your latest products, discounts or offers? Why not use your company’s call greeting to reflect your desired brand? Or what about using professional audio for awards events, AGMs or conferences? There are endless possibilities when it comes to audio marketing - make sure you’re not missing out! 

5 - Make your audio marketing consistent

When using audio marketing - try to avoid a spray-gun approach of lots of different messages and themes. If you use music, try to use the same piece throughout all your audio marketing to develop brand recognition. Similarly, use one simple strap-line that you can repeat as part of your on-hold messaging, call greetings, web narrations etc and avoid using lots of different voice-over artists without considering the consequences for the consistency of your brand.

The above are just the most common mistakes - for more information on how to use audio correctly, or how to purchase Voice Takeaway audio - visit http://www.voicetakeaway.com