Why Spotify May Be the Ultimate Answer to Emotional Storytelling and Creating Brand Impact
One of the major discoveries in marketing lately has been that traditional growth marketing tactics have gone stale. Instead, effective marketing today is about making the?pivot?from transactional messaging to meaningful storytelling.?
But storytelling is not just about nailing your mission or story, it’s about authentically aligning that story with the needs and wants of your target audience.?
One way of doing that is naturally weaving your narrative into your customer experience.?
Where most brands and advertisers most commonly think to advertise
When it comes to marketing and advertising, so many are quick to think about social and entertainment platforms such as TikTok and Instagram .
Why? Because everyone has been made to believe that a viral moment on TikTok is commonplace and that Instagram and Facebook are the staples of advertising.
Actually, strike that.?Anyone who uses this as a rationale is in the wrong line of work.
But the point is that many fail to think about the state of mind the user is in when engaging with these platforms.
Everyone has been made to believe that a?viral moment?on TikTok is commonplace.
Intentional storytelling needs intentional distribution channels
Typically, when users interact with any platform, they are in a state of consumption. Or, to be more specific, they have entered this phase of mindless scrolling.
You know exactly what I’m talking about; we have all been there, whether it is right before bed or just at some random point in the day, where you cannot explain why you spent the last hour or so just scrolling through videos or photos.
This particular consumption state is just not ideal for brands and advertisers. Why? You are not creating the most impact where you can.
Where brands can effectively tell their story and make the most impact
To get the most impact out of your ad experiences, taking that extra step and offering more intentional experiences is critical. A great example is Spotify .?
According to a recent study conducted by?Neuro-Insight, a neuroanalytics and neuromarketing firm, Spotify experiences drive higher engagement than TV, digital video, and social media.
Here’s why:?
Spotify's impact on the brain significantly impacts ad memorability and brand impact
Neuro-Insight found that 93% of the brain’s engagement with content on Spotify translates directly into ad engagement as the listener moves from their music and podcasts to the advertisement. As a result, the ads on Spotify witness 19% higher brand impact when compared to all other media.
With that, Neuro-Insight says Spotify users experience higher memorability, engagement, and emotional intensity. That is because of Spotify’s ability to provide personalization and interactivity.
93%?of the brain's engagement with content on Spotify translates directly into ad engagement.
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The neuroscience behind why audio ads on Spotify work
Here’s how Neuro-Insight breaks it down:
After sound “travels from our ears into our auditory cortex, different processing centers extract elements of the sound—the pitch, rhythm, timbre, and volume—then bring it all back together just 30 milliseconds later.”
And as sounds travel to our brain, it affects our emotional, memory, and engagement centers.
Medical science aside, Spotify’s audience base is also much more dialed in because not only does the platform leverage the power of sound, but it also enables listeners to expand their tastes and easily explore new genres.
According to?Spotify’s 2022 Culture Next Report, Gen Z and millennials – two cohorts that continue to gain more purchasing power – are leveraging their Spotify subscriptions to discover and explore sides of themselves they did not know they had or could not otherwise access.
Furthermore, in the U.S. alone, 71% of Gen Z listen to at least one music artist or podcast that others would find niche, obscure, or experimental.
So, with the power of sound and Spotify’s vast listening selection and targeting capabilities, brands now have a boatload of opportunities to strike a chord with their target audience.
Leveraging ad solutions that consumers want more of
One of the major consumer demands as of late has been for more brand communities, not more ads. This is the opportunity where brands can take their ad experiences a step further.?
Instead of focusing on pure ad displays, brands can invest their time and energy in creating content for places where their target audience is most likely to be more dialed in.
Yes, plugging audio or display ads targeting techniques is one way to market, but if you’re really in the game to effectively story tell and create brand loyalty, then going beyond the standardized marketing playbook is essential.?
After all, consumers today look up influencers, other customer reviews, creatives, and expert POVs before making a purchase – they’re just so much more intentional about their purchases.
So, to truly understand if they want a product or a service, they will look to influencers they follow to see if they are genuinely using the product or service in their lives. And if their advertisements seem authentic and natural and real-life customers provide positive feedback, they are more likely to make that purchase.
Taking that into consideration, teaming up with a creator on Spotify that makes sense to your target audience is a smart response to these consumer behaviors. It also now puts your solution right where they are likely to find it.?
One way of effectively collaborating is simply having the creator speak your advertisement. Another way is having them weave in your solution where it makes sense in their podcast discussion. You can even leverage Spotify tools such as?Q&As and polls.
Brands need to focus on enhancing their storytelling capabilities
One thing that brands and advertisers need to understand is that if they fail to create a powerful story that resonates with their audience, they have nothing. Why? Because their solution lacks trust and loyalty.
To create that trust and loyalty, brands need to bring their story to places not only where their target audience frequents but where they are the most dialed in. Furthermore, they need to make sure their narrative and storytelling opportunity makes sense and feels authentic.