You could be sitting on a goldmine and not even know it…
Especially if you already have a handful of case studies under your belt. You may think you’ve squeezed every ounce of marketing juice out of those studies, but there’s a byproduct of the creation process that you probably haven’t tapped.
I’m talking about the audio files of your customer interviews.
These files are chock full of persuasive content and quotes that are just begging to be used—and you can repurpose this valuable content in a new and surprising way via audiograms.
Introducing the audiogram
Many marketers aren’t familiar with audiograms, even if they’ve seen them out in the wild. After all, they’re a fairly new type of marketing asset; one that’s mostly (so far) been used to promote podcasts.
The concept is simple: An audiogram is just a snippet of audio that overlays a still image.
Usually, a waveform (the visual depiction of the audio wave) helps people clue into the fact that someone is talking—and often, captions help tell the story so the laziest viewers don’t even have to click “unmute.”
The audio can be as long as an entire podcast episode or as short as a single quote, depending on your goals. For marketing purposes, most are in the 30 second range.
Usually, they’re used at the tippity-top of the funnel where awareness levels are low—so they stay short by design to avoid losing a customers’ attention.
What makes audiograms so powerful?
Unfortunately, we live in an increasingly skeptical world. Overcoming that skepticism isn’t easy, especially when it comes to case studies. On some level, prospects take success stories with a grain of salt.
The default setting of a prospect is to doubt what’s being shared—or at the very least assume you’re exaggerating.
But imagine if your leads could literally “push play” and hear someone just like them talk about why they love working with you—in their own words and voice!
When the words come straight from your customers’ lips in a way that’s undeniably real, it adds a layer of proof that your case study isn’t doctored or biased.
It’s the kind of credibility that obliterates skepticism, hesitations, anxieties and objections.
Where can you deploy them?
We’re seeing clients use case study audiograms in a variety of ways:
Top of funnel, audiograms are being shared on social networks and in advertising. They’re also being embedded on websites to complement case studies and add immediate credibility. Sometimes, individual callout quotes are tied to a “play” button, so leads can read AND hear what was said.
And for lower funnel marketing, audiograms are easily embedded in outreach emails. They’re a highly flexible marketing asset, which is part of what makes them so attractive.
An alternative (or complement to) video
When you start talking about multimedia formats, many marketers immediately think of video—and ONLY video.
And undoubtedly, video is a great medium for marketing. But at the same time, producing a good quality video is surprisingly expensive and complex.
Even if you’re going for the raw, authentic iPhone feel, you still need clear audio and good lighting—you don’t want a grainy camera pointed up someone’s nose, or a cluttered living room with questionable posters falling off the walls.
If this Zoom era has taught us anything, it’s that presenting ourselves well on camera is harder than we think!
And while most people are happy to get on a call, not everyone is comfortable on video. Being in front of a camera makes many people nervous (to say the least.)
So if you really want good quality video, you need to bring in professionals. Which comes with some MAJOR ROI… but isn’t cheap.
Audiograms, in comparison, are much less expensive to produce—yet they check many of the same boxes. They’re interactive and highly engaging.
And if you already have an audio recording you can use, such as a customer interview, then the task of creating an audiogram is even less daunting. The raw material is sitting right there!
Put that audio to work
This isn’t to suggest that audiograms are completely effortless to create..
You still need to select the right quotes, clean up the audio, transcribe (and then correct the transcription), and design the assets. This takes some doing; it’s not automatic.
But once you have an audiogram, you have a valuable asset you can deploy in multiple ways.
Why not take that sadly underused case study byproduct and fashion it into something new?
Because you already went through the hard work of creating a case study: don’t let any part of it go to waste!
Let’s talk about audiograms.
Contact us to start the conversation.