We are going to run you through the general process of creating digital audio ads yourself. While it seems straight forward there are a number of details you’ll need to consider carefully when you’re putting an audio ad together, which we will discuss below.
When coming up with a concept for your audio ads, it must be relevant and on message. Stick to one thing. Don’t go rattling off a million reasons why your business is the right choice. Choosing one good one is enough.
If you can, think of an angle that will either make the ad emotive, or comical. This will help to make it more impactful on the listener, and therefore more effective and memorable.
When writing the script for your audio ads, you’ll need to keep it concise, and to the point, while also making it catchy and reflective of your brand voice.
Don’t lose sight of your goal. If your goal is brand awareness the message can be broader, but if your goal is to convert listeners into customers keep a tight grip on your messaging. Informing listeners of a time-sensitive deal may encourage them to buy from you quickly, but whatever you do, don’t forget to include a clear call to action.
Make sure you time your script before it comes time to record it. If you are only given a 30-second slot and your running over time you’ll need to cut it down, and you don’t want to leave that to the last minute.
We recommend giving yourself as many ad options as possible before you get into the recording studio. If you intend to place your ad on various platforms, you may be allocated various slot lengths, a minute here, 30 seconds there, so make sure you have written scripts that accommodate those times.
You may also want to tailor your messaging for different audiences, or time slots. If you’re advertising on the local radio station, remember that the listeners will, generally speaking, reside in the local area. Different stations may be home to different demographics of listeners that are of a certain age, or stage in their life which is important to consider before purchasing an ad slot on that station. The same goes for digital audio advertising platforms.
When it comes time to record your ad, you’ll need to consider the following. Who will be reading the script and where the audio will be recorded?
If you haven’t already chosen to use an audio advertising agency to manage the process for you, then you’ll need to hire out a recording studio.
To ensure the audio is produced to a professional standard, we recommend hiring a professional audio engineer or producer and using an experienced voice actor to convey your marketing message.
Think carefully about your brand and target market before choosing a voice actor.
The voice you use should reflect your target audience and your brand. If you are looking to attract both men and women, think about the age range or accent of the voice actor you choose. You should also consider who your audience is more likely to trust to talk about the kind of product or service you’re offering.
If your brand and products are specific to Scotland, you may want to choose someone with a local accent, whereas if your company operates across the whole of the UK, you may opt for a more neutral one.
Details like this may seem trivial but they will have an impact on how your ad is perceived by the target audience and whether or not they will relate to and trust your message.
Knowing where to place your ad can sometimes be a struggle. This may have been the first thing you thought of, in which case, you’ve probably already spoken to the relevant people who can help you get your message in front of the right audience at the right time.
Audio advertising through traditional radio is fairly straightforward. You will need to set up a call with their advertising team to discuss rates, time slots, and in some cases, the station will even help you record your radio ads. They won’t feature anything that’s less than professionally produced, so if they can hear your cats meowing in the background, forget it.
Digital audio advertising, on the other hand, is a more hands-on approach. You’ll need to do your market research to find out which platform is best for reaching your target audience and set up a business account on your chosen platform. You’ll then need to upload your audio and set up the advertising yourself. You may want to consult your digital advertising team who will be able to conduct the necessary market research in advance.
Programmatic audio advertising has made delivering ads through multiple platforms a lot easier to manage. Through enhanced targeting capabilities, brands are able to serve different ads to specific target audiences depending on data points such as demographics, listener’s location, interests and past purchase behaviour through most platforms. You can set this up to run automatically before publishing your ads.
If you want to feature on a specific podcast and gain product endorsements from the podcast host you’ll need to deal with them directly. Rates for this will vary depending on their reach and influence and how much they like your products. They may ask for a freebee to try it out for themselves. They may ask you for an audio clip to play, a script to follow so they can discuss the product themselves or they may go off book and talk about the features they liked the most. Podcast advertising is often a mix of audio meets influencer marketing.