Stefanie D’aulizio presents this week’s Content & Coffee with Brafton. She explores some key takeaways from Heartbeat’s book Sounds Like Branding. Marketers often think about how their brands come across on computer screens, publishing dynamic media that educates, convinces and converts prospects. However, brands may be appealing to the wrong senses in advertising, as sound may be the most persuasive way to grab customers’ attention.
We hear a lot about how written content is king, blog marketing is the next big thing and people just can’t get enough media on their phones. But the new book Sounds Like Branding, by international branding agency Heartbeat, suggests that what consumers hear during a brand experience is key to forming a positive opinion about the company.
Brands spend countless hours developing strategies to elicit the right emotion from their prospects. But have they focused too closely on the wrong aspects of their campaigns? Sound Advice found that sixty percent of companies have not identified how they sound to their customers, while studies show that of all the senses, hearing is the one linked most strongly with emotion.
If content marketing is about storytelling, and words strike up powerful emotions, it’s clear companies can’t operate on a single plane any longer. Brands need dynamic marketing strategies that include high-quality writing and compelling sound.
Marketers have already heard a lot about video marketing. Industry experts say it’s the Next Big Thing. But video content creation requires more than informational scripts – it demands brands think about how they sound and make sure the impression they’re making matches how they want to be perceived by prospects. So marketers can’t solely focus on the words scrolling down the teleprompter – they must consider their inflection, pitch and tone, too.
How does your brand sound? Think about it – are you coming off the way you want to online? Maybe it’s time you voice your opinion and not just blog about it on your website.
Catch you next week and happy content marketing.
