Digital Audio for Community Engagement

Links mentionsed in the video:

• The Edina Station
• The Product Walkthrough Video
• Pricing
• The Book
• The Presentation Deck
• Audio Tour

1. What is Digital Audio?

In our context, we are using the term "Digital Audio" to refer to audio delivered on smartphone as podcasts, microcasts, radio and music, as well as audio delivered via smart speakers and earbuds/AirPods, voice assistants, audio delivered on Social Audio platforms such as Clubhouse and Twitter Spaces, and audio embedded in web pages, whether recorded audio or audio generated by Text to Speech software.

2. What evidence is there that a Marketer should take Digital Audio seriously?

Here are some statistics that indicate that digital audio is a growing content category:

1. 73% of the U.S. 12+ population have listened to online audio in the last month, up from 68% in 2021.
2. 25%t of those in the U.S. 12+ now own a smart speaker.
3. 45% of Americans age 12+ have listened to an audiobook.
4. 62% of Americans 18+ use a voice assistant on any device.
5. More than 70% of teens own AirPods.

3. Why is Digital Audio on the rise?

There are many reasons why people are turning to digital audio.

First is screen fatigue.  Even before the Pandemic, people have become increasingly tired of spending several hours a day in front of a screen.

At the same time. people don't want to disconnect totaly from the grid.  So, the way they can continue to engage is through digital audio.  In a nutshell, they love audio because:

1. It's eyes free: You listen instead of watching or reading.
2. It's hands free: You speak instead of typing or writing.
3. They can consume or create content content with minimal effort: just speak/listen.
4. Compared to text and for the effort, the content is rich: audio is more than just the words, but personality, gender, age, personality.
5. Audio engages the mind: Unlike video, it gives room to the imagination.

4. What specific value can Digital Audio deliver to a Marketer?

As a Marketer who is always looking for ways to engage your audience, ask yourself this: When was the last time an image or a piece of text got stuck in your head? Jingles, on the other hand, are very sticky.

Audio is also a very easy way to collect user generated content (UGC): all that users need to do is to speak.   Compare that to answering a question by writing?  One has to sit and compose, and that is not as easy to do as writing.  Same thing with video: it requires more effort than just speaking.  You have to be comfortable with your look, the lighting needs to be just right, your position needs to be adjusted, and the resolution of the camera needs to be high enough to deliver a good video.

Also: People stay longer on pages that have audio embedded in them -- and that's also good for your SEO.

Moreover, Audio packs a lot of emotion and personality: this creates intimacy and enables brand to get closer to customer.

And one more thing that is often overlooked: With Audio, there are virtually no form factor constrains on the content.  Unlike text, images, and video, your audio can be created and delivered on any smartphone, any tablet, any smart speaker.  You can even create or deliver it on a plain old telephone.

5. What concrete actions can a Marketer take to begin taking advantage of Digital Audio?

other than launching a podcast or a microcast, here are five concrete things you can do to start incorporating Digital Audio in your Engagement Marketing Mix:

1. Solicit audio feedback from your prospects, customers, and community members.  For an example, go here.
2. Add Audio testimonials to your website.  For an example, go here.
3. Add Audio Bios to your website.  For an example, go here.
4. Add audio to your pages and articles.  For an example, go here.
5. Add links to audio to your newsletters and text messages.

6. How much does it cost to use Witlingo's products?

For our pricing, please go here.

7. What is the next step?

Contact us by filling out the form at the bottom of this page.