Make Some Noise: 7 Tips For Using Sound In Marketing

Marketing isn’t always solely about visuals. In certain types of marketing, sound can be just as important – if not more important. Examples include video marketing, event marketing, radio advertising and audio ads on streaming platforms. 

Knowing how to use sound correctly is important. Poor use of sound could put people off, while good use of sound will get people engaging and entice people to buy your product. Below are 7 tips on how to use sound in marketing. 

Invest in a high quality microphone

When it comes to DIY videos or podcasts, it’s essential that you invest in a high quality microphone to give your marketing a professional tone. There are microphones marketed at vloggers and podcasts that cancel out background noise and guarantee the utmost clarity. Experiment with microphone placement to get the best quality sound. 

Create the right tone with the right background music

Music should not be overlooked within advertising and events. Certain songs can be used to grab people’s attention or make a product memorable. Music can also have an impact on people’s mood and could affect how they emotionally engage in your advertising. For example, loud and uptempo music can make something seem exciting and increase impulsivity, while soft and slow music can encourage relaxation and build trust. Make sure to set the right tone by choosing the right style of music.

Consider creating your own jingle

A jingle is the audial equivalent of a logo. It’s a unique catchy melody that gets in people’s heads and that people learn to associate with your brand. A jingle could contain singing (sometimes a company slogan is sung to a melody) or it could just be instrumental. There are musicians who specialise in creating jingles that you can work with. Jingles are common in radio adverts and in some video adverts too. 

Liven up adverts with sound effects

Sound effects can also be used to grab people’s attention and make an advert more memorable. In radio advertising in which there is no visuals, sound effects are sometimes essential for setting a scene. This could be anything from  a car engine starting up when advertising a car dealership to the sound of wine being poured to advertise a restaurant. Just make sure that any sound effects you use are clearly identifiable without being overused (be careful of using generic stock sound effects that could make your advert feel cheap). 

Know when to outsource a speaker

Not all of us are articulate and engaging speakers. Sometimes it can be worth hiring someone to speak on our company’s behalf to help our message get across better. For example, it’s common to hire professional voice actors when doing commentaries for radio adverts or video adverts. If you’re hosting an event such as a conference, you could similarly consider hiring a speaker to do a presentation for you if public speaking is not your forte. It all depends on whether you want to remain the voice of your brand. You can find voice actors and speakers online to outsource. 

Provide subtitles for those who can’t hear

In video marketing, you cannot always rely on sound to get your message across. A lot of people have videos on social media automatically muted. There is also a large section of the population who have hearing issues. You could fail to grab these consumers if you’re relying on a voice commentary to grab people – that is unless you provide subtitles. Some platforms now have automatic captioning technology to provide subtitles on videos with commentaries. While such captioning technology has come a long way, it is not always entirely accurate, so you may still want to provide your own subtitles. You can do this by creating and uploading your own SRT file. Proof-read subtitles before publishing to make sure there are no errors.

Don’t overlook licensing and permission

When it comes to using music and sound effects, it’s important to remember that certain audio may be copyrighted or may be subject to royalties. If you want to use a popular song in your advertising, you will likely have to get permission and pay royalties. An alternative solution is to hunt for DMCA-safe royalty-free music – there are many online libraries that you can download such music and sound effects from. Alternatively, you can make your own music and sound effects to use within your marketing. There are radio advertising companies that can compose music, create sound effects, write jingles, hire voice actors and even write a script for you.