“But often, and this is fairly universal when I talk to people, whether they’re individuals or businesses, is, on one hand, anyone with an iPhone can pick up and start a podcast. There's a very low barrier to entry, which is fantastic. And, like most things when you get into it, it’s a little more complicated than you originally thought.” -- Jenn Dudley

For those of you that may not know, I host regular weekly Clubhouse rooms on Wednesdays at 2 PM Eastern Time. If you’re interested, you can check the schedule in my club, The Power of Sound, to see what’s coming up. We talk about all sorts of things related to sound, including voice overs, public speaking, podcasting, music, audio branding, voice AI, sound in social media, and of course, digital audio. This particular discussion (and everyone here knew that the room was being recorded so I do have permission), was called Easy Options for Marketing with Digital Audio, since we talk a lot about marketing and advertising through sound.

My fellow panelists in this episode are Ahmed Bouzid of Witlingo, who has been interviewed on this podcast before, and the highly knowledgeable Jenn Dudley of Dante32.  We asked a lot of questions, including “what is digital audio” so we had our baseline understanding of what we meant, “why should I care about digital audio,” and “what actions can I take to begin engaging through digital audio?”  They share ten specific facts about the rapid rise of digital audio along with ten specific things that we can do to incorporate it into our engagement mix.  It’s a really interesting discussion, so settle back and listen in. I think you’ll learn a thing or two: I know I did!

As always, if you have questions for my guests, you’re welcome to reach out through the links in the show notes.  And if you have questions for me, visit www.audiobrandingpodcast.com where you’ll find a lot of ways to get in touch. Plus, subscribing to the newsletter will let you know when the new podcasts are available. And if you’d consider it, I’d love to hear what you think of the podcast! You can leave a review (that I’d love to feature on future podcasts!), either in written or in voice format from the podcast’s main page.

Giving Them the Facts

As the Clubhouse chat begins, we talk about the definition of digital audio and its presence in every aspect of our modern lives, from podcasts and music apps to teleconferences and user interfaces. “Media in general is such a shift,” Jenn says. “You see the patterns kind of across the space with streaming versus cable and I think you see similar patterns in the audio world.” Ahmed shares ten facts about the rise of digital audio, and how valuable they are in explaining the importance of audio branding and strategies in the corporate world. “What do you need to do to convince your CMO or CEO to give you a budget?” he explains. “First, you need to give them facts.”

The Way We Live

The chat continues with a look at the growing numbers of online listeners, and just how widespread the audience has become over the past few years. "Seventy percent of the population have listened to online audio for the past month," Ahmed tells us. "It's on the rise and it's substantial." Jenn agrees and adds that "we're just starting to see all of the different use cases for how audio is really embedded in the way that we live and the way that we interact with the world around us."

Doing Things Mobile

The internet's come a long way since its early days, and Ahmed talks about how mobile technology has transformed the way we think about it and use it. "The shift that mobile brought," he says, "is you're able to do things in a lot more places than simply in your home, in the lab if you're at the university, or in the office. Those were the three places where you could do things that had to do with the internet, right? With mobile, you could do them anywhere." We talk about how smartphones let us take our work anywhere, and how efficient sound can be as an interface. "Since we human beings are greedy," he jokes, "we just want to be able to do things in as many situations as possible."

The Benefits of Audio

Sound also possesses an emotional component, a human element and authenticity that visuals alone still can’t match. “It just brings the humanity to life,” Ahmed notes, “when you hear someone talk.” We discuss his top ten list of things that makes audio more compelling than video, and Jenn adds that there are some important differences when it comes to audio branding versus other forms of marketing. “There’s a low barrier to entry,” she says, “but in order to maximize the benefits of audio, it’s really having to think about the message, and how you're delivering it a little bit differently.”

Episode Summary

• What digital audio really means and how it fits into our everyday lives
• Ahmed’s top ten facts about the rise of digital audio
• How much digital audio’s audience has grown over the past year alone
• The mobile age and its transformation of how we use online services
• Ahmed’s list of ten things that make audio more compelling than video

Tune in next week as we talk about earworms and audio jingles, the emerging potential of AI when it comes to sound, and how sound can connect us with our most essential selves.

Connect with the Guests:

Dante32 Website: https://dante32.com

Witlingo Website: https://witlingo.com/digitalaudio/

Ahmed Bouzid’s The Elements of Voice First Style: A Practical Guide to Voice User Interface Design: https://www.amazon.com/Elements-Voice-First-Style-Practical/dp/1098119592

Connect with Ahmed Bouzid on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ahmedbouzid

Follow Ahmed Bouzid on Twitter: https://twitter.com/didou/

Connect with Jenn Dudley on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenndudley

Follow Jenn Dudley on Twitter: https://twitter.com/JennADudley

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Editing/Production by Humberto Franco - https://humbertofranco.com/