According to a recent study, 80% of the population listens to audio on their smartphone or other devices daily. Another suggests we consume over two hours of voice content each day. As these numbers rise, now is the time to add audio to your company’s marketing operations. It’s simple, cost-effective, and can be consumed on-demand - extending its reach.

While volumes have been written about the effectiveness of video, audio content is the more versatile of the two because it can be consumed during times video cannot – like driving, for instance – and there are numerous ways to create and stream it to your potential customers.

Marketer Heidi Cohen has a great list of top audio formats your business can take advantage of. Here are four of them:

Podcasting

Podcasting is the most popular voice content format, and its popularity continues to grow across many languages and cultures. Your voice audio should be recorded as a series of episodes or as a consistent piece of content, in order to attract and retain your podcasting audience. Host-only and interview-based podcasts are among the most common formats. With dozens of online applications that will stream your completed content live and on-demand for you, you just need to add your messaging. 

Audiobooks / White Papers / Case Studies

Audiobooks are not only for authors. By transforming your blogs, white papers, and case studies into audiobooks or native web downloads, you get additional visibility for your messaging in a less message-filled environment. An extra bonus: The same software used for your podcasts can also create this kind of audio content!

Instructions and “How To” Content

Companies often overlook the power of instructions and "how-to" content, yet this information can be mission-critical from your customers’ viewpoint since it helps them to use your products and services better with additional information. Transforming instructions and “how to” content into voice-first and multimodal formats improves customer onboarding by getting customers to use your products faster. This content supports sales and increases the lifetime value of your customer.

Videos, Webinars, Courses, and Conferences

Your video, webinar, course, or conference content can easily be transformed into voice-first information, regardless of how old it is. By using this strategy, you can expand the audience for this content and give it a second life on all your video and voice-first platforms and devices. Yes, these can also be used for podcast episodes!

For six more tips on how to create and utilize audio for your company, read the original article here.