In a society where image and video prevail as the protagonists of entertainment and advertising, audio is thought of as a resource of little use. Nothing is further from reality!
Since the start of the pandemic, we have witnessed changes in the way audiences consume content on digital media, applications, and social media.
Among these changes is Audio Marketing, which could be defined as a technique that takes advantage of audio and music to enhance brands and which has gained Last Database ( https://www.lastdatabase.com/ )prominence in recent years, strengthening in 2020 and so far in 2021.
An irrefutable example of this boom is the gigantic growth of the podcast as a resource to grow brands (commercial and personal).
A study by Kantar Media predicted at the end of 2019 that 63% of advertisers planned to invest in podcasts during 2020.
For its part, according to Chartable, a total of 885,262 new podcasts were launched in the world in 2020, almost triple the 318,517 published in 2019.
At the same time, Spotify saw its community grow exponentially last year, ending 2020 with 155 million paid subscribers and 345 million total active monthly users, mostly thanks to podcasting.
Another key sign is the arrival of the Clubhouse. Anyone who has been keeping an eye on trends in recent weeks knows what I'm talking about.
This new platform is the star of the moment. Clubhouse is a social network focused on audio, leaving aside video and image (something unthinkable for many experts and consumers in digital content).
According to Adweek, the app already has 2.4 million downloads and registers between 11 and 20 hours of weekly use.
But why is Clubhouse being so successful? For many relevant factors.
In this social network, users - who can only enter by invitation - have a range of rooms with multiple conversation topics that suit many interests. A strong point, since being able to converse is a direct attraction of social networks.
Another immediate attraction is the ability to create chat rooms and be able to converse with thousands of experts on different topics, in moderation and respect. Free of "hate" (at least for now).
The potential of this application, undoubtedly glimpses the power of audio to enhance brands and their content.
What is the potential of audio?
Audiences are mutating in the consumption of advertising and brand content, valuing the diversity of formats, the message and the ability to connect and interact with relevant industry players and other user-consumers.
Users on social networks are hungry for knowledge and also for the opportunity to expose what they know or what they are passionate about with others; but they do not always want to be seen or exposed through video or image, so audio plays an essential role, generating the opportunity to communicate and connect through a different and easy-to-consume format.
In the same way, with brands. A latent challenge for them is to find a way to communicate and connect with their audiences on digital platforms, from different perspectives, approaches, messages and of course, formats.
Audio, in this case, is presented as an excellent ally.
Focus on the listening experience
I do not think that these applications or social networks will displace the rest where video and image predominate, but they will definitely transform the usability and consumption of content into digital, so brands must be aware of and pose new related challenges to the listening experience.