Blogging has become a favorite way to connect with and engage people online. Corporations, marketers, and content creators use blogs to reach out to a global audience daily.
With the constant deluge of new online content, audioblogging is a novel way to impact and influence your audience. The surge in the popularity of audiobooks shows that consumers are happy to listen — and may prefer it — because it’s less all-consuming than having to sit down and read something.
According to Statista, by 2020, there will be 31.7 million bloggers in the US alone. But while almost every internet user is familiar with written blogs, audioblogging may come across as a new term. Here’s a look why audioblogging can do great things for your business.
What is audioblogging?
Essentially, an audioblog is just like a written blog. You’re communicating with your audience, and discussing your products and services. The difference is that with audioblogs, content is recorded in audio format and typically narrated by a voice actor. The advantage is that you can make the content wonderfully compelling if you use a talented professional.
Your audioblog should offer different audio formats such as MP3 or AAC to accommodate your listeners’ preferences and the devices they’re using. AAC is of a higher quality than MP3, but will take more bandwidth to stream, so keep that in mind. Nothing puts a listener off sooner than audio dropouts or constant buffering.
The difference between podcasting and audioblogging, you ask?
When the audio is available in a syndicated format and published accordingly, it’s a podcast. A podcast is perhaps a more ‘formal’ form of audioblogging. Some podcasts are also conducted and streamed live, whereas audioblogs are not.
Consequently, because audioblogs are always prepared content, you can get very creative by adding elements of true storytelling. You can also edit audioblogs well.
That said, there’s no reason — given the equipment available for recording podcasts today — why you can’t record your audioblog yourself. There is a proviso, however: even though you may love being able to address your customers yourself, if you can’t do it well, rather get a pro voice actor to do it on your behalf. This can all become part of your sonic branding.
Who does it, and why do they do it?
Obviously, anyone who has an idea, story, opinion, or thought can take up audioblogging. In the case of your business, audioblogging can grow your customer base and boost sales.
Over the last ten years, the number of podcast listeners (and therefore potential audioblog listeners) has been growing steadily.
According to Pew Research Center, in 2018, the average weekly listeners who download popular podcasts rose to 7.1 million from 5.4 million the previous year. Data from Public Radio International (PRI) showed that there were 500,000 unique users every week in the same year.
Other research suggests that a majority (64%) of Americans are familiar with podcasts. While one-third of the U.S. population in the age group between 25 and 54 listen to podcasts on a monthly basis, the number of podcast listeners in the U.S. will grow to 132 million by 2022. Yes: you read that right!
In short, there are a lot of podcast listeners, so audioblogging really is an ideal way to reach out to and influence people.
Why it’s a good idea
In a sense, podcasting and audioblogging empower consumers. They get the content they want and the flexibility to listen to that content at a convenient time. Compared to other forms of marketing, audioblogging is in fact the least intrusive way to engage, connect, or influence a target audience.
While audioblogging is relatively inexpensive as a marketing tool compared to videos, films, or animation, consumers can gain useful information with minimal effort. They can listen to your audioblog while getting their housework done, on their way to work, or while exercising at the gym.
One of the key reasons behind the growing popularity of audioblogging has been the dramatic shift to mobile-based content consumption. Consumers are using their smartphones far more often than desktops or even laptops.
Search engines are also modifying their algorithms to make the content mobile-friendly. With people relying heavily on smartphones, they find it easier than ever to listen to, access or download podcasts at any time and from any location.
Another reason why podcasts are so popular is lack of time. People just don’t have the time to sit down and watch a commercial without there being some distraction. Because consumers prefer multitasking, podcasts allow them to gain instant access to the content they like.
What audioblogging can do for your business
Audioblogging is a smart marketing tool when you’re looking to reach out to a particular demographic or niche audience. Keep in mind that each week, podcast consumers listen to, on average, seven podcast shows. Close to 76% of listeners tune in to podcasts for seven hours a week.
Audioblogging doesn’t need the level of effort that writing or other media require. Your audioblogs can also trigger ongoing conversation and build brand recognition, trust, and authority among consumers.
With a growing number of audiences, audioblogging offers a unique opportunity to generate conversations and build brand credibility.
Consumers prefer content that is relevant to their needs, entertaining, or educational. While it takes some planning to produce high-quality content, selecting the right platform, the right voice actor, and a well-written script can go a long way towards building a substantial, very loyal listenership and user base for your product or service.
So, go on: get audioblogging!