- After years of consulting with some of the world's top entrepreneurs and businesses,
I can tell you one thing for certain.
They all pretty much want the same thing.
More traffic.
And who wouldn't, right?
I mean, more traffic tends to mean more clicks, more calls, more sales, and more revenue for
your business.
Which is why on today's episode, we're talking about five incredibly underrated and highly
effective audio marketing channels so you can drive more traffic to your business.
As a side bonus, these are channels your competitors are probably not using yet, leaving the door
wide open for you.
Alright, let's get to 'em.
Hey there, my name is Adam Erhart, Modern Marketing Strategist and welcome to the Modern
Marketing Show where we help you make marketing that matters.
So if you're interested in the latest and greatest marketing strategies, tools, tips,
tricks, and tactics, you may wanna consider subscribing and hitting that little notification
bell so you'll be the first to know when new content gets posted.
Alright, let's talk traffic and how to get more of it, lots more.
Now one of the first things we need to talk about when it comes to traffic is that you
want to avoid the busy roads.
Or the traffic jams, to say.
This doesn't mean you can't use a more popular traffic platform like Facebook or Facebook
ads, after all, it's an incredibly effective platform.
But if you're looking for an initial boost quickly and very effectively, you may wanna
consider taking some of the side roads, or the back roads that your competitors probably
aren't as active on, leaving the door wide open for you.
Giving you access to an untapped audience and first mover advantage if and when these
platforms really take off in the future.
And that's why I'm excited to share with you these five top sources of underrated, highly
effective audio marketing channels that are really not being leveraged as well as they
could be in the marketplace today.
What this means is there's an incredible opportunity for those that get in early and really kinda
stake their flag in the ground and claim this as their territory.
When you do that, it's gonna give you more traffic a lot quicker and a lot more effectively
and probably a lot cheaper than using many of the other platforms available that are
already pretty saturated.
Now, they may not all work great for your business but that's okay because you don't
need all five to work great.
You probably only need to hit it out of the park with one, or maybe even two.
So let's run through them now and you can pick and choose which one you think will be
best for your business and then it's probably worth giving it a test because it will be
much cheaper and much more cost effective rather than those saturated channels like
Facebook or YouTube, or Google Adwords, or anything like that.
Alright, let's dive in.
Traffic channel number one is Spotify ads.
At the time of this recording, Spotify is just starting to roll out its advertising
platform to a few beta users.
And as an early access member, I can tell you it's a pretty cool platform to get to
play around with.
The best way to think about Spotify ads is probably as an alternative to more traditional
radio ads.
In this sense, my recommendation with Spotify ads is it's probably going to be most effective
if you either have a massive budget and you're going for brand awareness or if you're a smaller,
locally contained business serving kind of a smaller, local geographic area and you wanna
start with a smaller budget.
You see, unlike Facebook ads, where you can start with about five bucks a day, Spotify
ads require you to put in about $250 to start.
It's not a huge amount but it's no small amount either, specially if you're just testing the
waters.
Now one of the cool features of Spotify ads is that not only does it give you kinda the
traditional targeting options like demographic details, like age and gender, and geographic
details, like where they're located, where they live, but it also gives you some pretty
interesting targeting options in relation to the music genre that you wanna target.
This means you can target people based on the music genre that they like, whether it
be rock, or heavy metal, or country, or pop, or whatever.
Now this may or may not be useful to you, but if you happen to know for one way or another,
what kind of music your target market likes to listen to, they could be a helpful targeting
option.
So let me ask you a question.
Are you a Spotify listener?
And if so, do you tend to listen more on your desktop or on your phone?
Let me know in the comment section below, which one you prefer by writing phone or writing
desktop.
Alright, moving right along to traffic channel number two, Anchor.
Anchor is a free app that you can get on your phone which allows you to pretty much create
a podcast from start to finish.
All you really need to do is sign up, hit record and then hit publish and your podcast
goes live to the world on the Anchor app.
Now the benefits of this, obviously speak for themselves being that it is incredibly
easy to use, it's very fast, and it's a social network, meaning that you're going to be able
to collaborate and do interact and engage with other Anchor members and listeners.
If you've been hesitant to start a podcast and you've kinda been slow to enter because
of the barriers to entry, Anchor may be a really great point to get into the waters.
Part of the pun.
Now there are some downsides of Anchor.
Namely, that it kinda lacks the polish and professionalism of a more highly produced
podcast.
Also, you don't get the same kind of distribution because your podcast is gonna be hosted right
there on the Anchor platform.
But if you're looking for another way to leverage your content, leverage your thoughts, and
leverage your ideas, well, Anchor is a great, fast, free, and easy way to do it.
And that brings us to traffic channel number three, Audible.
If you've ever listened to an audio book, then you know that audiobooks are a fantastic
way to consume information really quickly.
This is why, if you've got a lot of content or you've got a lot to say, an Audiobook may
be a really good and really effective way to drive more traffic to your business.
Now if you already have a book published, that's fantastic.
All you need to do is record an audio version of it and you're pretty much good to go.
But if you don't already have a book published, that's fine too.
After all, you can create a new one.
Maybe compiled of previous blog posts, maybe made out from a speech that you've given,
or a presentation, or a slideshow, or anything like that.
All you really need is the audio component of that.
So a speech can work just fine, a presentation can work just fine, and a collection of blog
posts that you narrate can work just fine as well.
Now obviously creating a book is no easy task.
So this may not be something you wanna pursue first, but it's definitely something worth
considering because again, getting that access to a listener for hours and hours on end with
your message is an incredibly powerful traffic source.
Now the key to driving traffic from an Audible book is making sure to include a number of
calls-to-action throughout the book, directing people to relevant and valuable resources
that they can get more information on.
Otherwise, they're pretty much just gonna stay in Audible, listen to the book, and I
mean it's gonna be good for your brand and for your business and all that stuff, but
you're not gonna drive the traffic that you would by not offering those lead magnets,
or opt-ins, or bribes, or basically giving them somewhere to go to get more information.
Alright, moving right along to traffic source number four, Alexa.
Th beauty of Alexa is that Alexa Skills are growing in popularity.
And voice search is becoming more and more prevalent across all sorts of different markets.
Now there are a couple different players in this voice search game and in the smart home
game, including obviously the Amazing Echo which has Alexa, Google Home, and Apple HomePod.
Now it's still pretty early in the game so we can't declare a winner just yet.
But those that go in and get involved with one will have first mover advantage when a
winner is decided.
If a winner is ever decided.
Now when it comes to having an Alexa Skill designed for your business, there are some
obvious barriers to entry.
Specifically, getting one designed is gonna require developer and some coding to get it
all set up right.
But I'd like to argue that barriers to entry and obstacles are actually kind of a good
thing because again, they separate the amateurs from the pros and make those who are really
serious about leveraging this technology.
Well, it gives them a significant advantage.
Now the beauty of having an Alexa Skill designed and set up for your business is that it's
gonna give you a main line directly from your business into your customers home or office.
When it comes to traffic, this is literally like building a freeway directly into their
front door by allowing you to get your message right into their homes and becoming a part
of their everyday lives.
You can use this information to deliver highlights, or updates, or tips, or tricks, or any other
piece of useful content that will help to benefit them.
Now of course, you can keep the focus on delivering as much valuable information as possible and
that's fantastic.
But you can also leverage this by giving them other areas to get more information and directing
them to different social media channels, or different websites, or different offers you
have.
Thereby, giving you one more amazing traffic channel.
Alright, let's talk about traffic channel number five, podcasting.
I'm sure I don't need to tell you that podcasting is booming in popularity, both in creation
and in consumption.
After all, most of us have a smartphone and pretty much all of these smartphones come
equipped with a podcasting app built directly into it which again, gives you direct access
right to your customer's ears.
In regards to driving traffic, podcasting is gonna work very similar to an audiobook
which means you wanna make sure to include a number of relevant calls-to-action giving
people places that they can get more information or more free resources from your business.
Now if you're wondering if you should start a podcast, well, I created a video right here
which highlights everything you need to know about why you may wanna start a podcast.
So make sure to check it out.
Alright, so there you have it.
Spotify ads, Anchor, Audible, Alexa, and podcasts.
All amazing audio marketing tools that can really help to drive more traffic and more
brand awareness to your business.
So let me ask you, which one of these sounds the most interesting or the most valuable
to you?
Let me know in the comment section below.
I'd love to hear it.
Also, are you currently using and leveraging any of these in your business right now or
do you plan on using one of them in the future?
If so, which one?
Let me know in the comment section below.
Alright, so thanks so much for watching.
I hope you enjoyed the episode.
If so, make sure to give it a thumbs up.
Subscribe to the channel, hit that notification bell.
Also, for even more great marketing strategies, tools, tips, tricks, and tactics, make sure
to head over to adamerhart.com which is packed with more videos, podcasts, articles, and
all sorts of resources to really help take your business and your marketing to the next
level and way beyond that.
So thanks so much for watching.
And I'll catch you next time on the Modern Marketing Show.