Audio Branding For Business Success

I am all about the video, right? However, what you might not know is that I also pay pretty close attention to audio, and there's very good reason why that is, because it is imperative that you understand audio branding. So we've got the perfect guest with us today. David Ciccarelli is here from Voices, and that is the number one marketplace for voiceover work that you could hire, or even if you're talent, you can even join their marketplace. But Voices is an amazing resource for you. He is the co-founder and CEO of Voices. He is here today to talk about audio branding. So David, so great to have you here. Audio branding is something that may be a new term for people to understand. I'd love for you to start with an explanation of what audio branding is.

Absolutely. First of all, great to be here. Thanks for the opportunity to, you know, I think, you know, educate and share and inform people, marketers around the world, you know, about this concept of audio branding. So much of our time is spent around the visual element, and there's— we've almost developed this lexicon of familiar concepts like shape and space and color. But when it comes to sound, we almost lack the words to even describe what it is that we want it to sound like. Sounds professional. Okay. What is that? The quality of the content? But so, you know, the more we can, you know, raise awareness around this concept of audio branding, which I would define as being, you know, the unique soundscape that drives home the tone and the personality of your brand. It could be a collection of sounds, maybe musical qualities. It could be the embedded, you know, voice itself, maybe some kind of synthetic vocalization or both. Now sometimes it's kind of just boiled down to the sonic logo, which might be familiar. Maybe when you boot up Netflix, you turn it on, there's like that chime at the beginning.

Yeah.

Or perhaps, you know, when you turn on a Mac computer or there's this welcoming greeting almost. I mean, that's a start. But I think the overall brand is when people hear sounds at all of the different touchpoints. We can get into some of those use cases when they hear your brand. Who's speaking? What is it sounding like? What's the tone? What's the feeling? Could be music as well. All of that is encompassed in this concept of an audio brand.

Well, so much of that has to do with strategy. And really, I think it has to do a lot with understanding how you want to position yourself first and foremost out in the marketplace so that you can then determine what is the tone, what is the personality. And I think a lot of people struggle with that because they, they don't have that nailed down. Do they have to have that 100% nailed down before they start moving into audio branding, or is it the kind of thing that's like, well, If you even have an 80% idea of the tone that you're after, you can still achieve something with audio branding.

I think inherently people know what it should sound like, what their company should sound like. And here's what we've learned through research. People like to buy from people and organizations that sound like them. So let me simplify. People like to buy from people that sound like them. So if there is a voiceover for a commercial and your audience are working professionals or your audience are nurses and doctors or you're trying to reach people on the dealership, at a dealership that might be considering a new truck, then maybe that's a certain persona of— So I would suggest start with your audience. Who we all know, we should know who we're trying to reach. And then imagine if they walked into a room, what do they look like? What do they sound like? What kind of music would they listen to? These are all elements. Are there any other ambient sounds like, you know, sound effects that might be appropriate for that? And these are the elements that you might consider weaving into the overall audio brand itself. Now, if it's just, you know, if it's— so I think that's a great place to start. Imagine who your audience is and then imagine they walk into a room and what is this, you know, sonic landscape, to reuse that term, like? And that's going to give you enough inspiration to kind of get started. And also consider what are they listening to beyond music and kind of ambient sound effects? Are they listening to podcasts? Well, then maybe you should be on podcasts. Are they calling up your phone system all the time because there's a lot of customer service inquiries and they need support? Maybe consider what that experience is like when they call. Is there a warm welcoming greeting? Have you updated your voicemail and on-hold messaging in the last 10 years? If not, then maybe that might be a time to kind of refresh what is this audio experience that we have. It's a great opportunity for first impressions.

And you just gave a few use cases there. I'd love to dive in a little deeper on that, especially for the Cashing On Camera audience. I mean, Cashing On Camera is really about how do you grow your business and expand your authority in the marketplace by being visible and by putting yourself out there and marketing in the way that works for today. And audio is obviously a huge part of the podcasting experience. It's one of the things I teach as well. So let's kind of dive in, if we could, on the podcasting route first, from an audio perspective. There is obviously so— there are so many different areas in which you could use audio branding from a podcast perspective. So let's start with what are some ways that we could start to produce pieces that would really help augment a podcast experience?

I love it. You know, entrepreneurs, marketers, you know, um, coaches, you know, thought leaders, experts in their own right. I think a lot of people are recognizing audio presents an opportunity to tell a story in a deeper, more meaningful way. Namely through podcasts. I mean, you can share your message authentically, educate, inform, and entertain an audience through the power of the human voice. Audio, and as you said, specifically podcasts, they can, you know, better than sometimes the kind of the short-form 6-second video where how much really can you pack into that? Maybe it's entertaining, but are you really able to communicate and demonstrate your expertise? I would probably challenge that unless it was part of a bigger series. The podcasting avenue or channel, I really do think gives the opportunity for someone to demonstrate the expertise, call it over 20 to 30 minutes. Now, why 20 minutes? There's actually some, again, some science behind this. It's the ideal length between this kind of 20 and 30 minutes for a podcast because it's the average commute in most metropolitan areas in North America. It's also the average length of walking your dog or the daily dose of exercise. And a lot of people are listening to podcasts while they're doing other things. You know, it's, it's almost providing— it's like this concept from way back that Brian Tracy had, like this education, this university on wheels. You're kind of constantly being educated, hearing new ideas. So there's a desire to do that. And then likewise, I think, as I say, presents an opportunity for those people who have an important story to tell. To either be on other people's podcasts and/or create your own. And that's probably— and probably both, frankly, would be, you know, to pursue. But think about that. You don't necessarily have to create your own. You could start by being on others and get familiar with your own voice and your own topics. And then once you have that confidence and content backlog, you might consider starting your own and then reaching out and expanding your network.

That way. So let's, let's dive in, because I, I do believe that in order to be successful today, you want to have a platform of your own, whether that be your own podcast or your own YouTube channel or whatever that's going to be. But it's a platform that you create, that you control, but that you supplement that by also being on other people's, uh, shows as well, just like you're on mine and I'm on others. It— I think it's a really key piece. So let's start and talk about when you're on you're trying to pitch yourself to other people to be on their shows. Does audio branding come into play at all? I'm just sort of thinking about, I don't know, maybe sizzle reels or something along that line.

Absolutely. You know, just like you would have a tear sheet for, you know, maybe pitching to be into a journalist, you know, a one-page bio of maybe some other stories you've written. Likewise, you can have, you know, a 30-second demo reel, if you will, or a demo of your voice being on other people's podcasts. If you're really comfortable also being on camera, you can edit that down, um, of, you know, getting on to a number. Now, that, that being said, that means that you already got on a few podcasts. So the hardest part is kind of getting on the first one. Now, there's lots of tools out there, um, you know, Podcast Guest List, which is a great way that shows twofold people who are putting themselves as experts, and then also people who are looking for guests to appear on their shows. So you can kind of go out and both pitch yourself as well as hopefully be contacted out of the blue by someone who might be looking for you. So there's a number of kind of directory-style sites that are out there that are like that. Help a Reporter Out also is another public relations type tool where I see a number of times people looking for guests on their show. So you just reply with, you know, hey, I'd love to be a guest on your show. Here's other, you know, here's why, what I think would be a great topic, you know, point, point, point. And then for, to get a feel for my conversational style, you can listen to my previous episodes here, here, and here, and just add a couple of links.

And it adds a multi-dimensional and also multimedia aspect to what is otherwise typically an email or a textual type of relationship that you have with somebody on email.

Just takes—

Exactly. Makes you stand out from others.

For sure. And it makes you, you know, and then it builds credibility. You're real. This isn't someone else, you know, pitching on your behalf perhaps. It's real. People can kind of see and hear before they're making a time commitment of actually bringing you on their show. So I think that's a great place to start. And then eventually leading to the point, you know, and then, well, let me, if I may close this off around when you get that booking, you wanna become, you know, be as prepared as possible. If there's questions ahead of time, you type out some answers. If you don't have questions ahead of time, you still have a perspective. You know, you're a thought leader, you're an opinion holder. So what is that key message that you wanna get out there and try to boil that down so that you are in a position to be able to rind that off kind of seemingly like it's a top of mind, but because you've prepared ahead of time, that makes a big difference. I wouldn't sweat so much about having great equipment. I mean, all that can come with time, having great equipment and microphone and headphones and so forth. I think you can, when you become more comfortable and you're really making this an important channel that you wanna appear on other people's podcasts, certainly you can invest in a standalone microphone, maybe a standalone camera as well too, that the cost is, you know, a couple hundred dollars. It's not like this costs you $5,000 or $10,000.

It's not like it was 20 years ago.

No, exactly. Um, and you're not going into a studio, right? That's really between Restream or Zoom or a number of the other software platforms— Riverside is another one we use— um, that are out there. You'll realize that you got to get comfortable with navigating around the software, but once you're Once you're there, really, it's all about the conversation and just feeling comfortable in that moment. So I think that's, that's what I would say about appearing and making great content for other people's shows.

So then the reverse side of that is you're launching your own platform where you were using podcasting as the example here, but you can imagine that it could be any platform, right? There's lots of different— you could have trailers for YouTube and for all different ways of putting yourself out there, but we're talking about podcasting as this example since it is so audio-centric. You know, what are some elements that could be produced for a podcast that would really help to elevate it? Obviously, I know a few of them, but I want to hear from, from you first, or maybe some, some that I'm not familiar with.

Well, starting your own show, you know, you need some, some basic things right off the bat. You know, what's the title of the show? What's the concept? Start with that like one-line description that is eventually going to show up on Spotify or Google Podcasts or Apple Podcasts. So the one-line description about the show, um, an asset that you can use because, you know, you're gonna imagine— imagine what the show format is going to be. So you have a concept, a description. Is this monologue where you just get on there and you share your point of view around the world? And I listen to a number of podcasts that are like that. This is almost like more like current events and there's a lot of opportunity to speak daily or weekly about what's happening in the world, or you're reporting the news in your industry because it doesn't get a lot of coverage. So that would be a monologue. Another opportunity would be an interview style, similar to what we're doing here today, where there's a host and then a guest. Now, the challenge with that is you also got to go out and get guests. And when recording, you can record, let's call it, you know, standalone offline, or you could be recording live. And I'm sure you've quickly recognized the benefit of recording live is there's really minimal editing that needs to be done.

And that is, that's the whole premise of what I teach, because when you're doing it live, there's no post-production necessarily. But one thing that I think, and this is true of this show as well, with Cash In On Camera, you know, we're about, I don't even know, 55 or so episodes in now, but I'm only just at this point really starting to think about audio branding. Because I, like you, listen to a lot of podcasts like Michael Stelzner's Crypto Business and other things where there are, there is a lot of audio branding that's going on and it's making me think more about the production of those elements, you know. So whether it be, you know, the intro, the outro, and all kinds of different, you know, sponsorships and just different things that you can add to it. But let's start with the intro. What, when, when should someone consider adding an intro to their podcast and having that produced for them?

Yeah, there's, I mean, there's certainly pros and cons to doing so. If you at the beginning, you're starting a podcast, it might make sense to do so. So I'll have perspectives, not necessarily answers on this one, but perspective would be by having it at the beginning, you know, when you're first starting a show, you're getting that name out there. People know right away what the show's about. Over time, however, you know, and I would encourage to keep this very short, like Certainly less than 30 seconds, probably more like 15, maybe even 5 to 10, because like most people, there is a skip 15 seconds button now on every podcast player. So recognize that if you kind of go on too long, it almost comes off a bit like a commercial for your own show when you already have someone's attention. They've generously provided that to you. So I would keep that very short. 5 to 10 seconds at most. And then realizing, you know, that the outro, as you kind of described it, I think that's a great time to remind people if there's a call to action. You know, if you're just listening, you could follow the show on Apple Podcasts, you could subscribe using your favorite podcast app, software application. And if you really like what you hear, you can leave a review, a rating and review wherever you're listening today. So I think you can do that call to action almost as a recorded one-off, or perhaps even if it is the live show, embed that in your script so you always have kind of a closing line that kind of concludes the show. But most of the other times you're going to use audio branding aside from your voice as a host and the questions you ask and that kind of dialogue back and forth. If you're going to be sprinkling in things there, I mean, it's probably going to be more like it's recorded and then post-production. Is going to edit and figure out where are those transitions that make sense. Some web-based software does allow you to, to do that. If you've ever watched, you know, Jim Cramer on CNBC, he almost has this like dashboard where he hits buttons and it makes sound effects kind of real live. You can— there is software that replicates that as well too, but you'd have to be pretty comfortable to know in the moment what button I'm going to hit to kind of make a transition happen, to make a um, sound effect kind of, as you said, like a switcher.

Like if you have a, a switcher, there's a one, what's it called, by Elgato. I think it's like— I can't remember the name of it, but it does, it has pre-programmed buttons.

Yes.

And you're able to just hit the buttons, but they know it's technology, you have to program it. Like there's a whole— you have to learn how to use it. It can be more complex than maybe for most entrepreneurs or business owners who want to just have a way to communicate their message to more people. But you could go down that path. And I like what you said about pre-producing your CTA, right? Reproducing that could be something that you could do. You could produce a short introduction. I, like you, agree it needs to be short because if you go on for 45 seconds all about you, all about your show at the very start of your show, you're going to lose people's interest. So you do want to keep it pithy and short. And I think also, you know, ads, you know, eventually when you start to build an audience let's say in a podcast since we're using that as the example here, you might be able to again monetize that with advertising or sponsorship revenue and then produce ads for that and hire voice actors or voiceover talent. Yeah, produce those spots for you.

Yeah, that's definitely an option. Justin, and if you're just landing your first couple advertisers, either they will have ads for you or, and which have already been produced, or if sometimes, uh, even if they have ads, sometimes the request is because the authority and the credibility is with you as a, as the host, then these are referred to as host-read ads, where the, the actual kind of halo effect is of the benefit to the advertiser is when you're reading it, which doesn't necessarily take all that much more, you know, production time or cost on your behalf, but it is definitely an income stream. I think, you know, it's important, I mean, to mention, well, you know, why are podcasts like, it's a channel, are people really listening to this? There's some research that we dug up from Orbelo that says a study is like 82% of podcast listeners. So people who are listening to podcasts, they go all in, they're listening to 7 hours each week, and then 20% of people are listening to 22 hours or more. So there's this real concentration of podcast enthusiasts really like this as a channel. And why is that happening? Well, because a third of the world are auditory learners. They learn best by listening. I'm definitely one of those people. I have 500 audiobooks on my iPhone, which I go and listen to time and time again.

I love audiobooks. Yeah, I love audiobooks. I love— I'm subscribed to Audible. I'm a podcast junkie.

I love it.

I love it. I love it because exactly what you said earlier, you know, if I'm going out for a 5K walk or run, you know, I want to be able to consume a podcast episode while I'm doing that. I want to learn while I'm doing that activity. And so I think from a business perspective, no matter whether you choose the path of a podcast or maybe you decide that you're really going to go all in on a YouTube channel Or maybe you need to examine your short-form repurposed content. There's probably a place for audio branding because audio branding is really what's giving the flavor or helping you to communicate your personality through audio and elements that you can have produced for you that really align to that.

Absolutely. I mean, you said it so beautifully, and I think it's a— if you remember the the basic principle of, of you, you know, personifying your brand or your organization. It's an element of your own personal branding. So, you know, thinking about even things like your word choice, it's everything that people are hearing. What words are you using to describe your business or your concept or your coaching services or your products, or, you know, products that you're offering? The word choice matters, the calls to action, the enthusiasm that even comes out. So A great starting point would also be, we're talking about kind of even creating your own show, reading out aloud. Even if you have to work from a script or had some talking points. So many people type it out. Even if you get that far, that's great, you're prepared. But saying the words, hearing them coming out of your own mouth for the first time, you're like, oh, that sentence sounds a little weird. So you kind of go and edit that out. So I'd encourage That's kind of more general guidance for any time you're giving a speech, being a guest, making some announcement audibly. Say the words aloud. And there's a lot that goes to be said about kind of practicing reading aloud. Yes, it's a little slower, but for important messages, like it's an ad you're creating, it's a podcast you're going to be on, being comfortable with the words that you're saying, they'll just roll off the tongue a lot easier. And it actually does elevate the credibility of what people here, it's like, wow, this seems— there's a lot of passion, there's a lot of conviction in this idea that this person has. And that's what comes with kind of that product, that practice, that out-loud practice that can be developed over time.

And I think that the skill set of being able to do voiceover work and having the ability to bringing out a certain tone is a skill set unto itself, which is why you have a marketplace like Voices where people can go and find voiceover talent, because it is something, it is a talent, and it's a skill set that people develop over, in many cases, many years. Um, you know, people who make this their career to do voiceover work. As a former broadcaster myself, I have done obviously voiceover work, and I've broadcasted many, many hours of live you know, TV over the course of my career, but I can tell you that it's not as easy as it may sound, pardon the pun. And so let's talk about Voices and what that is. It's a marketplace where people can go and find people to do the voiceover work. If you don't feel comfortable with your own voice, you can hire that out.

That's right. Sadly, a lot of people aren't comfortable with their own voice. You know, it's almost— they kind of cringe when they hear it back in person. And so there's absolutely Whether, you know, or sometimes you like it, but it's not— your voice doesn't sound like the people you're trying to reach, your audience. So that is kind of a basic principle. So what we've created is an online marketplace for freelancers where freelance voice actors, you know, who are independent, you know, talent, can sign up and create a profile and upload samples of their voice, their portfolio of work, if you will. And, um, and then they can also be, you know, of course, listed in the search engine., but it reply to job opportunities that are posted by clients. And so who are the clients? Well, clients could be companies just like yours that are either in advertising, marketing, video production companies, small to medium-sized business that's looking to, as we've been talking about, maybe start a podcast or update or upgrade their phone system recordings, narrate a video. Any time you hear the human voice, there's an emotional element you're trying to connect you definitely want to be working with a voice actor. And these— it's, it's— I love that you mentioned it's a lot easier, or so it's a lot more difficult, um, than it sounds. Not as easy as it sounds, which is to say it's not just reading the script. They're, they're trying to interpret that. They're putting on a character, you know, a role. They're delivering in a certain style. And so when you post a job on Voices.com, you know, we guide you through this process of asking kind of a series of questions like What's, you know, who's your audience? You know, what are the key messages you're trying to share? And then you get auditions back. These are talent who are reading a portion of your script so you can actually hear these words come to life. And they also quote on the job as well too. Most short content is like $100 to $250. It really depends on how many words are being said in most situations. And then you can hire them through the website. And they turn that around in a pretty short order. So that's what we serve, is that, that marketplace that brings these two parties together.

It's brilliant. And I think it's needed, especially for business owners who are looking to put themselves out there. They want to grow their business. They want to integrate audio branding into whatever medium it is that they're choosing to build themselves, or maybe even build that into how they pitch themselves. For speaking opportunities to get themselves out there. I love that. One of the things that we do, David, on Cash In On Camera is we have a special segment called Stop Marketing Like It's 1999 because admittedly, this is a Prince fan over here.

So I would love to know what is a tip, a tool, a tactic or technique, whether related to audio or not, that's helping you to market yourself or to market voices Well, one of the things just on this concept of voiceover, if you're going to work with a voice talent, I would think about, you know, we talked about the audience of who you're trying to reach, but I would resist asking them to put on kind of the role of the 1950s announcer. Now sometimes you hear these, and we talk about 1999, but sometimes you hear these and it sounds very condescending. Frankly, it was from an era which was, call it the father knows best era, and it was just talking down to the listener. And that is incredibly out of vogue and out of touch with today. Instead, if you're going to give some artistic direction or some creative direction to a talent, think about this kind of persona which we call the approachable expert. You know, it's the guy or gal next door, you know, could be a cousin or friend of a friend who always seems to be up on the latest social news, pop culture, technology. They're always the first one with the latest iPhone. And they seem to have this expertise about a wide variety of topics. And so how that comes out in the delivery of the content or an advertisement is this little bit like they're letting you in on a scoop. You know, it's like, psst, did you hear the other day that this thing happened?, and it's this very kind of leaned-in, intimate type read. It sounds like someone that you could relate to. So I would avoid the, the old-school announcer kind of authoritative approach to doing a voiceover and instead embrace this concept of the approachable expert, the friendly guy or gal next door who's conversational, who's knowledgeable. They're authentic, they're believable, but, um, and they would in turn be able to represent your brand best and most likely connect with your audience in the best way as well.

You know, it's so funny about— I love that tip, by the way. I love that because my husband is also a longtime TV broadcaster, now retired. He spent almost 40 years in the industry. I spent 25. So, you can imagine that we have a lot to say to each other about broadcasting. And often, when we're trying to make funny voices, we will make that voice from the 1950s.

Yes.

Yeah. That's our way of joking with each other.

Yeah.

So, it doesn't Yeah, you definitely don't want to be doing that or bringing that into your audio branding. But I love the direction that you just gave to our audience, and that's great direction to give to voice talent should you go in this direction. So, David, this has been a really insightful conversation. Thank you so much for joining us on Cash In On Camera. I hope to have you back sometime and we can talk about audio branding for other purposes as well.

I'd love that. Thank you so much for having me, and I thought it was a great conversation. I really enjoyed it.