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Top 3 Reasons Audio is the Next Big Thing for Digital Marketing. Top 3 Reasons Audio is the Next Big Thing for Digital Marketing Did you know that by 2016, more than 76% of Americans are going to listen to audio through their digital devices? Or that Pandora tops its competitors in digital advertising revenue and registered users? Insights like these are comforting for digital marketers who want to know how, when, and where users are interacting with media.

Audio is the future, and we are listening. The following are the top three takeaways from The Daily Egg's infographic, "Is Audio is the Next Big Thing for Digital Marketing? ": 1. The average American's commute to work is 26.4 minutes, all of which can be filled with audio content. 2. That's a lot of people who are listening to audio content. 3. This is accompanied with a $120 million increase in advertising revenue - most users of these "Freemium" services are not signing up for paid accounts, which means they periodically hear advertisements. What do you think? 5 Reasons to Control The Overhead Music In your Store. 5 Reasons to Control The Overhead Music In your Store Many background music solutions for stores are playlist-focused. These same business music services lock you into pre-built playlists (not to mention long-term contracts) that you can't review or edit before playing in your store.

While this "plug and play" method may make the systems easy to use, it also presents many potential issues for businesses using the programming. Instead of playing overhead music that helps boost sales, you end up playing the wrong track at the wrong time and shoppers end up leaving your store before making a purchase. Can you say "Major Bummer"? The key here is control. If you aren't in control of the music playing in your store, there's a good chance it's not quite right. 1. Numerous studie s have concluded that the music played in a store affects the way shoppers act. 2. Different age groups and buyer personas are attracted to different types of music. 3. 4.

You stop at a coffee shop on your way to work. 6 Ways Professional On Hold Messages Help Improve Your Image. 6 Ways Professional On Hold Messages Help Improve Your Image Adding a professional Message On Hold program to your phone system is an easy way to improve the image of your business. It helps you make a great first impression and helps your customers get valuable sales and service information. Here are 6 ways a professional on hold message can help improve your image: 1. Improve Customer Service One of the most valuable benefits of a Message On Hold program is its ability to help your customer service representatives. Another opportunity to improve customer service is to provide customers with self-service information. 2. If you're not actively planning content for your on hold program, and, say, play the radio on hold, you're not controlling what you're playing on hold.

Not to mention it's completely illegal to play the radio to callers on hold. 3. 4. Do you care about the experience customers have in your store or facility? 5. 6. Pimp My Phone System: How to Make Your Phone Work Like an Employee. Pimp My Phone System: How to Make Your Phone Work Like an Employee Do you remember that MTV show, Pimp My Ride? The basic premise was taking old, beat up cars and transforming them into beautiful, technology-infused, high-performance machines. They were some seriously “tricked out” cars. But what does that have to do with your business’s phone system? Easy: thanks to new technology, today’s phone systems can do almost anything. The “system” for the phone has evolved into something much bigger than a way to make and receive calls. Vanity 800 numbers: A vanity phone number is a number that…does not contain numbers. When I need to call a business, I find it easier to call a vanity toll-free number than a “regular” number.

Intelligent IVR systems IVR, or Interactive Voice Response, systems allow callers to interact with a database to obtain or input information. In addition to these traditional uses of IVR, there are also Intelligent IVR systems. On Hold Messages. How To Write a Message On Hold Program Script. How To Write a Message On Hold Program Script Are you afraid to "get your hands dirty" and write your own Message On Hold program? Are you wondering where to start when crafting your Message On Hold script? A lot of our clients struggle with writing their Message On Hold program. Do your homework. You want your on hold programming to be appealing to your callers, not overwhelming them or presenting irrelevant information. Define your average caller and offer the content they're most likely to ask for, whether that means pointing them to the video tutorials on your website or explaining how they can request a custom quote online.

Decide how long your program will be. If callers typically wait on hold for 2 minutes at a time, at least two minutes of programming should be your goal, but a program that’s a bit longer than this will be better, so clients won’t hear repeated messages every time they call. List the topics you’ll discuss in your program. Write the content for your first topic. 5 Grammatical Errors to Avoid In Your Audio Script Writing. 5 Grammatical Errors to Avoid In Your Audio Script Writing Writing a script can be harder than it looks, because by definition a script is intended to be read out loud.

When scripting your own Message On Hold program, virtual tour narration, or podcast, simple grammatical errors can confuse voice over talent reading the script and your listeners. There are many misconceptions about proper grammar, word-usage, and sentence structure that plague English speakers. English is not an easy language, and there are many intricacies to remember. In addition to providing copywriting services for our clients, the Holdcom Script Department also reviews client-submitted scripts, and each day we find some of the same errors. 1.

When working with professional voice over talent, we write out URLs as they’re spoken. 2. In English, many possessive and plural nouns sound the same when we say them out loud, which leads us to write them incorrectly. 3. 4. 5. Customer Service Tips For a Successful 2013. Customer Service Tips For a Successful 2013 We're a month into the new year, which is the perfect time for some quick tips for providing excellent customer service. No matter what business or industry you're in - from freelancer to enterprise - there's always room to improve customer service strategies. Here are our tips for ensuring great service as the year progresses: Keep Your Word If you tell a client or prospect that you will send an email within 24 hours, send the email within 24 hours. If you promise to call back after 5, call back after 5. It's not a difficult concept, but it can be hard to pull off.

Don't Be a Robot No two people are alike and no two customer service situations are the same, either. Get Personal While you're busy not being a robot, take a minute to get to know your customer. Take Your Time to Get it Right If you rush to solve a customer's problem, it might not get solved correctly. Be Accessible. How to Take Advantage of Prezi's New Audio and Voice Capabilities.

How to Take Advantage of Prezi's New Audio and Voice Capabilities When Holdcom started using Prezi about a year ago, we were very excited about the site's ability to incorporate audio into online presentations. But then, we tried to do it. And we were very, very disappointed. After all, we know that a good presentation becomes great when you add professional voices and licensed, royalty-free music. So imagine my surprise when earlier this week I got the Prezi newsletter with a big subject line that read, "Turn Up The Volume: Add Music & Voiceovers To Your Prezis".

As someone who spends a good deal of her time writing and talking about ways for businesses to use audio for marketing and customer service, this might be the most exciting subject line to hit my inbox in a few months. In short, Prezi is incorporating audio in two ways: Add background music to your entire PreziAdd a voice over for a single "slide" of your Prezi First, background music. Second, incorporating voice. Why Should I Color Correct My Online Marketing Videos?

Why Should I Color Correct My Online Marketing Videos? Have you ever wondered why movies and TV shows look so different from videos you shoot yourself? Back in the day the reason would be that they were shot on 2 totally different formats. While your personal videos were shot on VHS video tapes, movies and your favorite TV programs were shot on film. Film holds a much wider range on the color spectrum than video.

It can also be altered and tinkered with in the developing process. But today, things have changed. How To Color Correct Your Videos What's White Balance, anyway? When you are ready to give color correction a try, the first thing you want to do is color balance the image. Other Considerations Video has a tendency to look flat and the colors overly saturated. Now this is where a professional editor or colorist would go in and color grade the video. The Impact Below is an still image from one of Holdcom's video, showing how it looked before and after color correction:

9 Ways to Enhance the Image of your Small Business. 9 Ways to Enhance the Image of your Small Business Being a "small business" doesn't mean you can't dream--or sound--big. Often, a few easy, affordable updates can revamp and improve your image dramatically. Being small is often an asset. Small business owners are more available and approachable than their corporate counterparts, and these businesses are integral parts of their community. But these localized businesses can also have broader reach and appeal.

Use a human voice to communicate your brand. In writing, always use an authentic voice. How To Inform Your Customers of Business Hours. How To Inform Your Customers of Business Hours With Thanksgiving just over a few weeks away and the December holidays right around the corner, the Holiday Season is truly upon us. Yes, it's the season for cheer and thoughtfulness and warm-fuzzy-feelings, but it's also the season of Frequently changing business hours. Leading up to a holidays, do you have extended hours? Are you closed the day after Thanksgiving or the week between Christmas and New Year's? Make an email announcement One of my favorite local shops always has holiday hours. Update your Social Media Profiles and Business Directories Did you know that you can feature your business hours on your Facebook page?

Make a special notice on your website Adding notifications to your website is a fast, easy way to get important news out to your customers. Update Your Phone System Your phone system is your first line of defense for customers and clients looking for more information about your business. Post Hours at your Physical Location. 7 Audio eGreeting Cards You Can Send Year-Round.

7 Audio eGreeting Cards You Can Send Year-Round Traditionally, businesses send out greeting cards or eGreeting cards during the holiday season. While this is a great approach, you shouldn't wait around for the winter holidays to tell let your clients know you're thinking of them! Keeping in touch with your clients throughout the year is a crucial way to build brand awareness and client loyalty. Since customers are key to every business, here are seven ideas for eGreeting cards that you can send out year-round: Birthdays. Instead of sending the same tired postcard to your clients, try an audio greeting card with a special birthday song and offer. You can send these to your customers or your staff. Audio greeting cards are easy to make, easy to send, and greatly appreciated. When do you send out special messages to your customers? 15 Voice Prompt Blunders To Avoid in your IVR System. 15 Places to Use Audio on Your Website. 15 Places to Use Audio on Your Website Using images on the internet is easy.

Using sound for websites, on the other hand, is less obvious. However, internet audio is a powerful tool that you should use to enhance your website and your image. Here are 15 ways to incorporate audio on your website: Transcript: 1. How to make your website more engaging,interactive, and sticky with sound and multimedia. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17.