4 Reasons You Should Use Audio-First Online Communities

Over the past few years, audio has gained momentum to the point where brands are strategizing to capitalize on its growing popularity. It is indeed an opportunity for brands to entice new audiences and offer them something new and exciting.

According to research, around 70% of US adults tuned in to digital audio content at least once every month in 2020. This validates that audio content can be a game-changer for organizations.

But how should brands use audio content to gain a competitive advantage?

The answer is – through online communities.

With audio in your communities, you can offer your community members a more personalized and intimate experience. Let’s dig into the 101 of audio-first online communities and the reasons to use them.

The Rise of Audio Online Communities

After the drastic shift from offline to online, we saw the rise of all things virtual. Brands started making use of online communities to stay connected with their customers and deliver the same old traditional experience of doing business digitally.

Not just this, brands focused more on making their communities more resilient and dynamic by adding a mix of audio in the communities.

And it’s not all talk, several stats highlight the popularity of communities and audio. According to a report, 88% of community professionals state that a community is critical to a company’s mission. Another research highlights that on average in an advanced community, an organization investing $153 of value per year, receives a whopping $682 per year. In fact, on average overall communities see 4,530% ROI.

And when we talk about audio, according to research, it is expected that by 2022, the average time spent listening should rise to 1 hour and 37 minutes per day.

For brands trying to build a connection with customers and to amplify their stories are turning to audio-based communities. Why, you ask? It’s because audio is the most appealing media format that triggers memorability, trust, and connection.

Audio-based communities are all about taking engagement up a notch. Imagine reading a technical article. It’s expected that you’d lose interest in it but when you have the option to listen to experts where they discuss the content in real-time or hear opinions recorded from your trusted circle, you are bound to keep coming back for more.

Reasons to Use Audio in Your Community

Delighting your customers is a proven way to build their interest in your products and services and encourage repeat sales. An online community is a preferred channel for users to seek instant support, resolve queries, and engage. Incorporating audio content in your online community will not only increase engagement but will also keep your customers hooked.

So, for brands that haven’t yet incorporated a dash of audio in their community, we’ve got some pretty good reasons as to why being audio-first is the next big thing in the community space.

Here are 4 reasons to make audio content a vital part of your online community:

1. Deliver Instant Customer Support: When facing any technical issue, customers can voice their complaints and seek support. Brands can leave support material in the form of audio files for community users to access as and when required. This technique will not only reduce support costs but will also improve CSAT and save time for both the end-users as well as brands.

2. Increase Marketing ROI With Audio Branding: Your ‘voice’ or ‘audio’ can become your identity and help you to boost your branding and marketing efforts. After all, most brands use sensory marketing to bolster their identity. And you can do it too via your community. Audio branding can play a critical part in your online communication as well. You can plan a series of podcasts with your community leaders, active members, or industry leaders to not only build trust but encourage members to contribute more. When you invite users to be a part of an audio experience, they feel special about becoming part of something bigger and that shared experience makes people feel more connected to your brand.

3. Boost Event Promotion: Audio can play a great role in promoting your events in a unique way. You can create audiograms with crisp relevant information that encourages people to attend the event fairly quickly on your community platform. It’s a twist from your usual advertisement tactics where you don’t even have to pay to promote it and you don’t necessarily need a call to action. And the best part, you can even get your members to contribute their take or ideas for what they’d like to see in the event.

4. Improve Brand Recognition: Incorporating audio content in online communities brings forth opportunities for brands to improve brand recognition and awareness. Through audio branding, brands can craft a unique market identity for themselves that connects the abstract elements of the brand with the customers. With music, voice, and sound that personifies your brand, you can explain your core values, practices, and more to your audience in a more elaborate and engaging way.

The need to build authentic and relatable interactions among people is what helps to build human connections. And in this increasingly competitive world, you can use the power of audio in your community to give your customers a unique experience in a space that they are comfortable and familiar with.

Wish to add the power of audio to your online community? Talk to us!