Are you looking for breakthroughs in your brand marketing? Have you ever thought of marketing your brand through digital audio? It might sound a bit contrary to social media marketing because humans are visual creatures. Most of us think alluring visuals, catchy headlines, and stimulative short videos are the pillars of a good advertisement. However, smart business owners like you should constantly observe changes in how consumers behave and communicate your values via marketing channels where audiences are engaged and receptive to hearing about your brands. 

According to Datareportal, the average screen time of Americans is 7 hours 11 minutes per day. A lot of individuals definitely exceed this average screen time due to being overly exposed to social media, TV, and their laptop screens at work. Prolonged screen time is definitely the culprit of emotional stress, physical strain on our eyes and bodies, and increases one’s susceptibility to chronic health conditions, sleep disruptions, and more. 

When the majority of us are already exasperated by ads, we try to avoid them at all costs like subscribing to YouTube premium to evade ad interruptions and setting up ad blockers on our phones and browsers. No matter how good your ads are, they falter, and it is almost impossible to get past consumers’ defense mechanisms. 

On the contrary, people turn to music and podcasts throughout their daily lives, using audio to enhance their experiences. They listen to music to boost their mood and help them focus. Lots of people listen to podcasts to expand their knowledge while working on mundane routines. The US population listens to digital audio for 1.5 hours every day, 75% of them listen to digital audio every week, and 365 million Spotify users listen up to 2.5 hours a day across their devices. Some even think audio provides a nice escape from the excessive visual stimulants in the mediascape.  

Did you know that Spotify offers digital audio marketing? Business owners who include this medium in their marketing mix could establish a competitive edge by reaching a truly engaged audience.  According to Kantar’s Media Reactions Survey, Spotify ads are seen as more trustworthy than TikTok. 63% of millennials agree that audio is the most engaging form of media ads on Spotify have a 19% higher brand impact compared to all other media, and 61% of listeners claimed Spotify audio ads help them discover new brands and products. 

Have the astounding statistics gotten you hyped already? Let’s dig into 4 strategies to market your brand with Spotify digital audio.

1. Trigger brand recall with sonic branding

Have you ever heard an ad and you are thinking to yourself “Oh! This reminds me of chicken McNuggets!” Then you start craving for McDonald’s like no tomorrow?  When an audio element is present, it creates identity and recognition for your brand. But what makes your sonic branding successful is simplicity and consistency. 

A sonic brand cue can be very simple like the voiceover of Travis Scott you hear in an Oreo ad or the memorable mascot of brands like “Laughing Cow”. A good sonic logo can work magic to your consumers. Think about Netflix. When you turn on Netflix and you hear that sound. That moment when the logo comes at you, the sound prepares you to embark on an adventure watching a marathon of shows and/or movies on Netflix.

2. Establish brand guidelines

Before forming a holistic soundscape for your brand, you need to establish a clear rubric for your audio (Voiceover, sonic logo, tonality, sound effect) to maintain brand consistency across your media channels (Spotify, YouTube, TikTok, and more.) Here are a few questions for you to brainstorm what kind of soundscape you want to depict to make your brand stand out.

• What sound effects could amplify your brand’s values and messages?

• What kind of rhythm, tonality, and wording should a narrator adopt in a voiceover?

• What genre of music would resonate most with the brand’s personality and target audience?

• What kind of emotions does the voiceover aim to evoke?

  3. Connect with your audience in the right context

Since Spotify understands users based on their listening behaviors like music genres, podcast categories, and more. Moreover, the Spotify app is receiving engagement signals from users. For instance, if the user is actively scrolling on the app, Spotify can tell the users are engaged and display a video ad. If the user has been listening in the background, Spotify could detect displaying an audio ad would be right for the moment. 65% of Spotify listeners claim they like it when they feel the ads seem exclusive to them. 75% of Spotify users claim they remember ads more when the ads recognize their moment or setting. 

Business owners, it is time to think outside of the box. Instead of allocating all marketing resources to visual ads, you should really implement digital audio marketing to connect the gaps in the customer journey. When your target audiences are driving, working out, studying, or even having a social media cleanse, they are actually trying to escape from social media. These kinds of gaps create opportunities for your business to deliver a personalized 1 to 1 connection with your target audience. 

Do you want to get on this trend to gain a competitive edge over your competitors but are unsure how and where to start? We have started offering Spotify audio marketing! Send us an email at info@catalystagents.com and let our audio ad specialists help you get started.