Sound – the new frontier for marketing

When it comes to media today, people today have a multiplicity of choice. From the internet and social media to traditional TV, catch-up services and the likes of Netflix the range feels literally endless. No wonder that marketers find it increasingly difficult to reach and engage with audiences as they are scattered across different platforms and devices.

Yet, amidst all this disruption one medium – radio – is actually growing its audience. According to Ofcom nearly nine in ten people (89.6%) listen to the radio at least once a week, and average listening time increased by six minutes per week in the year to November 2017.

And given that these figures don’t include the likes of podcasts, I think the figure is actually higher. Essentially it is part of a wider trend – as humans we are programmed to respond to sound going back to our hunter-gatherer days. Add in the fact that it is easy to access audio through smartphones and you can see why listening is increasing.

Sound is also playing a greater part in how we interact with technology, thanks to the likes of Alexa and Siri. They may be a long way from perfect, and unable to offer a real conversation (and prone to laughing uncontrollably in the middle of the night), but they provide a new way of controlling our increasingly smart homes. Devices that include Audio Analytic’s technology can even recognise the noise of breaking glass or smoke alarms going off and warn homeowners.

Given the importance of sound, it is still amazing how few marketers are using it to engage with consumers. Viewers frequently say that the music is the best thing about ads, and we all know how hearing a particular tune can bring memories flooding back.

Look (or rather listen to) the impact that the Intel Inside ‘bong’ had on creating a major consumer brand out of a technical chip supplier – memorable audio branding is proven to increase name recognition and connect with target markets. And when I talk about marketing with sound, I don’t mean annoying radio ads or jingles, but simple melodies that somehow encapsulate and sum up your brand. Companies already invest heavily in ensuring that they use the right colours and images to attract their target audiences – I think it is time that they extended this to cover sound. You know what your brand is seen – but how is it heard?

Making marketing mobile

Everyone knows that consumer media habits are changing, but sometimes it feels that marketers aren’t making the connection between how people now access news and information, and how they are trying to reach them. For example, smartphone browsing has now overtaken internet access on laptops/desktops for the first time, with the average Briton spending two hours per day surfing on their mobile, according to eMarketer. At the same time Ofcom reports 51.4% of web traffic now comes from mobiles. That means it is more than likely that you are reading this on a smartphone, whether on the move, at home or in the office.

So what does this actually mean for marketers? There are five areas to consider:

1. Make it mobile-first
It still amazes me that there are sites out there that are not mobile-optimised, meaning users need to move around the screen to get to the information they need. It doesn’t matter what sort of organisation you are, people will be accessing your site via a smartphone, so make it easy for them. Also, use the facilities that a smartphone provides, such as location, to deliver relevant content, such as your nearest branch or shop.

2. Personalisation
Smartphones and Big Data provide marketers with unprecedented information about consumers. And at the same time consumers say they want personal service from brands, based on their needs. So why don’t we get this? One worry for marketers is the fear of a consumer backlash if customers complain that their privacy is being impinged upon, and there is a threat that using data badly will annoy and upset people. We’ve all looked at buying a present online, and then been followed around the web by adverts for it for the next week. So the rule should be to embrace personalisation but not be creepy – if in doubt, ask consumers where they think the boundaries should be.

3. Video, video, video
As someone who experienced the slow speed of dial-up access to the internet, it has taken me a while to fully embrace video. But for the majority of people today video is the primary type of mobile internet content they choose, whether on YouTube, news sites or streaming media. Therefore, ensure you offer this on your site, and use the medium to get your message out. Video doesn’t have to be expensive – you can even shoot it on your smartphone.

4. Speed is king
People won’t wait. And, with the competition just a click away, why should they? Ensure that everything you do online is geared to speed, particularly on mobile devices, so that consumers get a seamless experience. It may not be traditional marketing, but check how fast your site loads on specific devices and work with technical teams to continually improve it.

5. Social dominates
As the fake news scandals around the US election demonstrate, social media is now the primary source of news and information for many consumers. And mobile is overwhelmingly how the likes of Facebook and Twitter are accessed. Obviously, brands understand this and have invested in their social media presences, but it is vital to use these networks to their full potential. For example, Facebook’s deep demographic information enables you to learn more about your customers, target similar ones, and directly change perceptions and drive sales.

Finally, a word of warning. We are in a mobile-first world, but don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater. People still watch TV and listen to radio – whether online or on old-fashioned TV sets and radios, so don’t neglect them. You need a co-ordinated approach to marketing your brand across channels if you are to rise above the noise and actually engage and build a long-term relationship with consumers.

Image By Chris F./tcawireless.com. (Nokia X2 Android) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)%5D, via Wikimedia Commons

Where are your customers?

Looking through Ofcom’s latest report on media use demonstrates the transformation that has occurred in the past ten years when it comes to how and where we find information, communicate with friends, families and companies, and which sources we trust.

For every company, no matter what size, it should act as a wakeup call and be used to drive their marketing so that they are reaching the right people, in the right way, at the right time. You can download the 200+ page report here, but I want to pick out five key points for businesses and marketers alike:

1. Everyone is online
90% of adults use the internet, showing that whatever demographic you are targeting, they are now online. Adults currently spend an average of 21.6 hours per week on the internet. Interestingly time spent has not changed since the last report in 2014, showing that it has become a set part of our routines. So, whatever you are selling, your customers are online and your marketing needs to reflect that.

2. Search is the gateway
92% of adults say they use search engines when looking for information online, but more importantly many believe simply being high ranking in search results is a guarantee of quality. 18% say that if a website is listed in search results it must be providing accurate and unbiased information. 55% couldn’t identify or tell the difference between organic search results and paid for adverts, with 23% thinking they were the best/most relevant results. Clearly this will be music to Google’s ears as it shows that paid search has a major impact on buying decisions. It also demonstrates the importance of good content on your website – the more focused and useful your website is for your key terms, the higher it will rank on Google.

3. Moving to walled gardens
Aside from search, adults are now more likely to use apps or sites that they are familiar with. Just one in five (21%) – down from 25% in 2014 – say they use apps/sites that they’ve not used before each week. Clearly, audiences are becoming set in their routines and the sites that they trust. This means that brands need to be visible on these gatekeepers if they are to reach their target markets. Essentially, building a website and hoping that audiences will come is not a smart strategy – if it ever was.

4. Don’t forget email
It may have been around for 30 years, but email is still the most popular online communication medium. 93% of people send and receive email on a weekly basis, ahead of 78% who use instant messaging and 76% who look at social media. So marketers mustn’t drop email from their strategy – it still reaches the right audiences despite the rise of other channels.

5. Content isn’t just words
It is no surprise that smartphones are increasingly the device of choice to access the internet – previous Ofcom research found that we spend more time online on our phones than PCs. However what we consume has got much more varied since 2014. 48% watch video clips at least weekly (up 9% since 2014), and 47% listen to radio stations online. So, if you want to attract people to your site, don’t just rely on words, but engage them through all of their senses.

Given the findings of the report, every organisation should take a look at its marketing, advertising and communication strategy. How does it affect your particular demographics? Are you embracing the right channels to engage with them, and is your budget being spent in the most productive way? Use the Ofcom findings as a wake-up call and time to spring clean your strategy and approach.

The end of old media?

Ofcom’s annual study into the UK’s viewing, listening, internet and communications habits is always worth a read. This year’s tome is no different, with a headline finding that we now spend an average of 20 minutes more every day using technology devices than sleeping. Apparently the average night’s sleep is 8 hours and 21 minutes – which seems an incredibly long time to me, but then I’ve got three kids and a noisy cat.

A landline telephone (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

There is positive news on broadband – there are now 6.1 million superfast connections across the country, making up over a quarter of broadband subscriptions. Given the huge amount of money invested by the taxpayer to push superfast broadband to rural areas, this is promising, but the UK still lags behind other countries on targets and speeds. For example, Finland defines superfast as 100 Mbps, while the UK target is just 24 Mbps. And my new shiny rural fibre broadband doesn’t even achieve that, measuring just 21.6 Mbps according to my ISP (when working).

TV viewing is less than 4 hours a day for the first time since 2010, at 3hr 52 minutes. But before broadcasters start panicking, bear in mind that this is more than the combined time spent on mobiles, landlines and the internet. The vast majority of programmes are still watched live, despite the rise of catch-up services.

As always the Ofcom findings are being used to predict the death of various communication channels by analysing the behaviour of 12-15 year olds and making assumptions for the future. For example, only 8% of this group said they used email and 3% communicated through landline phones, leading to experts to point out the imminent demise of these channels. I can think of three reasons why this is tosh:

1. Demographics
People are living longer, so we actually have a growing proportion of silver surfers (complete with landlines), balancing out the younger generation. If they were cutting the cord and just communicating using WhatsApp things would be different, but no sign of that yet.

2. Why would a 12 year old use email?
In many ways email is a horrible communication channel – complex, clunky and not real-time. The reason most people use it is essentially for work or to do with boring stuff like complaining at utilities/banks. So, unsurprisingly, most 12 year olds aren’t spending their time slaving at the corporate coalface or moaning at companies.

3. Privacy
One thing teenagers have always valued is privacy. I remember having to shoo away parents and siblings when making landline telephone calls at that age – now lucky kids don’t need to as they can just use their mobiles. So, again, why would they use landlines when they can call from their bedrooms?

So, taken altogether the Ofcom findings show that there isn’t radical change happening in how we communicate – a third of people had sent a personal letter in the last month for example. The only sector to worry should be physical newspapers and magazines, with just 2% saying they’d feel their absence. And even then, this seems a little difficult to believe seeing the number of free papers handed out in London for example.

For entrepreneurs looking to set up a business or marketers aiming to launch a new product, the lesson is don’t neglect the old channels in favour of the shiny new ones. Think laterally and improve the experience and you might well be onto a winner.

BT’s Premier League own goal?

Image via Wikipedia

Despite a high profile advertising blitz, BT’s plans to sign up customers for its new Premier League TV channels are apparently not delivering, according to one analyst at least. The £30 million spend is predicted to only add 60,000 customers to the BT Vision service by the end of September.

OFCOM forced Sky to offer its rivals wholesale cheap access to its sports channels, allowing BT to move into sports broadcasting.

Obviously the figures are conjecture, but here’s the top 5 reasons I think BT Vision may not be pulling in the punters:

1. Sky’s marketing muscle
Sky’s marketing response has been powerful and emphasised how little you get from BT Vision compared to the ‘full’ Sky Sports package. A case study in defensive marketing.

2. Satellite TV isn’t just football anymore
Sky may have been founded on football but the market has matured. People now sign up for a whole range and package of channels – Sky has realised that and changed its marketing to target the higher revenue family market.

3. BT Vision is difficult to explain
People understand how Sky, Virgin Media and terrestrial TV work, and how they sign up. To get cheap football you need BT broadband and line rental as well. Why go to the hassle of changing everything, particularly as telecoms companies aren’t renowned for getting service spot on.

4. The adverts themselves
I know there was a World Cup on so recognisable footballers were thin on the ground, but little Michael Owen is hardly A list anymore. And the inability to use team strips makes the adverts look like he’s playing for Bolton Wanderers.

5. BT is not a media brand
Convergence of networks and content has been talked about ad nauseum and people understand they can bolt on broadband to lots of other services, like TV. But the brand they trust is the media one – Sky is simply stronger than BT when it comes to delivering content.

We’re obviously less than a week into the new football season and jumping to conclusions is a favourite media tactic –Blackpool for the Champions League anyone? Come November, when BT announces subscriber numbers things may have changed, but time for BT to strike back if it wants to score with football.

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• Sky wrongfoots rival BT by raising prices (guardian.co.uk)
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