Audio is a very powerful selling tool. Some people aren’t very good at reading, or really hate to read, but they don’t mind listening as they multi-task. Using audio on your site is a great way to capture their attention and sell to people who really can’t stand reading long sales pitches.
Audio instantly captures attention. Some people see this is a bad thing, because audio can be very startling if someone has their speakers turned up loudly and aren’t expecting a verbal pitch. This is why some marketers choose not to have their audio start automatically, but have a “play” button instead.
Other marketers say audio loses its power if it’s optional. It’s probably better to test both options on your site to see which performs better for you. Audio is also very good for selling to those with visual impairments. Many of the visually impaired use the Internet frequently. By adding audio to your sites, you’ll make it easier for them to understand your product.
You can also use audio to provide tutorials. These can be tutorials that you place on your website or allow people to download. Some people learn better when they hear instructions than when they read them. Providing your tutorials in audio format will help reach these people in a way that written tutorials might not be able to.
Audio testimonials are a very useful selling tool. By having people give you their testimonials in audio format, you help lend credibility to the content. A lot of people feel that since anyone could write a fake testimonial, they often don’t trust them as much.
But if you offer your testimonials in audio format, they’ll be more likely to believe they were provided by real people, because they’ll hear different voices in each audio file. Remember, if you’re using audio for multiple testimonials, make sure you don’t have the audios all start automatically.
It may sound obvious, but there have been cases of marketers forgetting this and ending up with several audio files all playing at once! This would definitely chase off a lot of visitors.
If you’re going to offer audio on your site, it’s important to use the best quality audio you can.
If your audio quality is poor, people probably aren’t going to want to listen to it. In fact, if the audio is bad enough, people may just hit the back button to get away from it! You don’t have to record your website audio in a professional recording studio, but you should use a decent quality microphone and minimize background noise as much as you can.
You should make sure you create your audio in a room with decent acoustics. It’s best if you make it in a room with carpeted floors and a lot of plush, soft furniture. If you create your audio in a room with hard floors and little soft furniture, there may be a hollow, echo-like quality to the sound.
You should also make sure the room isn’t full of crying babies, screaming children, and barking dogs. Any background noises can be very distracting, so close the door and turn off the television, and turn off the phone.
If done well, audio can be a remarkable tool for selling and teaching. You can even take a simple PDF file and turn it into a batch of downloadable MP3 files that your customer can take with them on the go.
Stay tuned for another marketing tip real soon, and good luck with your online marketing efforts!
To your online success,
Bill Brine
P.S. Here’s another great resource I created to help you build your business: