Archive for August, 2008|Monthly archive page
Build Trust and Get More Cha-Ching! By Using Voice Overs on Your Sales Pages
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Your website is a useful tool for making sales in your sleep, but could it be making even more money for you during those twilight hours?
Every good Internet marketer knows: The medium is the message.
When someone is reading your sales copy and about to make a purchase, all they really get from you socially perhaps is some cleverly written text that outlines the features and benefits that state why they should go ahead and take their credit card out of their wallet.
What if you could up the ante and reach those prospects on a heightened, more emotional level?
You can! By using voice overs.
Voice overs help to build trust and make an instant connection with the people who visit your website.
Adding a voice over isn’t just another bell or whistle to your website, you’ll be ingeniously employing another medium to help you communicate your message, in this case, delivering your message using audio via your website.
By getting up close and personal at the point of sale, you’ve found another way to persuade prospective customers to buy, and as a bonus, have also given the world a better idea of who your company is through audio branding, using the human voice to start a favorable relationship that is profitable and engaging.
Need help finding a voice for your voice over recording?
Check out Voices.com, the voice over marketplace, where you can post a job, browse by category or search by keyword to find the voice that’s best suited to your project and meets your needs.
Voice Overs Are Becoming The Norm On The Internet
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Voices on The Web
One of the fastest growing applications for audio on the web is voice over.
Voice overs when used on the Internet can:
Sound On or Off?
There are two ways that you can present the voice over on your website.
1. When a visitor lands on your site the voice over can start playing immediately.
2. The visitor can choose to initiate the voice over by clicking a start button or turning the audio on.
Know This
Whatever it is you choose to do, having a voice over on your website is becoming a standard practice and people are more comfortable today listening to a voice over on the Internet than ever before.
Used well, the voice over independently starts new customer relationships at your website and can also personify your brand.
Another side benefit is that having a voice over on your website will give you a leg up on your competition who may not be using audio on their site.
Improve Social Marketing Efforts With Custom Audio & Voice-Overs
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So you’ve got a visual presence, are on all of the social networking sites and send messages like crazy but you’re finding that the human element, although seemingly everywhere you look, is oddly… missing.
How is it that you can have a photo, an about me paragraph, and hundreds of virtual friends but still miss the boat?
One thing probably nobody has told you about social marketing and social networking (that is, up until now) is that you can’t just have a visual presence online and expect to be the beneficiary of overwhelming success because of some strategically placed keywords and an enviable list of hobbies.
What you do need, however, is a way to talk to people naturally to give them a taste of who you are and what you sound like. People enjoy hearing the voices of other people, particularly if that person is of interest to them or has something to of value to offer.
Sounds good, you say, but how can you get down with the crowd when marketing to them without sounding salesy?
Audio & Social Marketing
One way is to record an audio message of yourself talking, perhaps even go as far as making a podcast, and post it on your social networking sites. Places like Facebook and MySpace give you the opportunity to share audio on your profile for others in your circle of acquaintance to listen to.
Listening to someone talk can be very reassuring, and for those being listened to, has the potential to be very profitable. This marketing technique, when blended with public relations, can be extremely effective. Using an audio recording as part of your approach to deliver a genuine message to spur on your company, product or service opens the door to a greater sense of community and shows that you’re reaching out and want to be part of the action.
What better way is there to build trust, virtually connect with others and develop a following online than to make yourself accessible using your voice, the most powerful tool in your arsenal?
You don’t have worry about too much in the technology department to provide an authentic sample of your personality when recording. You can easily make a no-frills MP3 recording on your own using free audio recording software, but if you want to kick it up a notch, I suggest spicing it up a bit with some music, sound effects and even the help of a professional voice actor.
Voice-Overs & Social Marketing
To really give them a treat, you might consider working with an internet voice talent on the recordings, perhaps even using their voice to brand your company. Now, if you are intimidated by audio recording, production or editing (maybe all of the above), it’s a no-brainer to go with someone who can look after all of it for you while adding significant value and letting you shine.
Your voice is a very important aspect of who you are, and when you’re in the trenches of online marketing and staking your ground in the vast landscape of social networking, it may be one of the only things that sets you apart from competitors in the same field. This is of particular importance if you happen to be the voice or personality at your company that is known to your customers and the public.
Where could customized voice over recordings for your business take your social marketing? Give it a shot and let me know how you do.
Multiply Conversion Rates With Audio Spots on Landing Pages and Sales Pages
Are you considering a unique or professional sounding voice over to improve the conversions on your landing page or sales page?
Turning to the Internet to find voice over talent has become one of the most popular means of successfully producing a high-impact, high ROI web audio ad.
Usually, your quest will start with a search engine. After tying in a description of what you are seeking, the search engine will produce a number of results. Tens of millions of people turn to the Internet each day to find answers to their questions, and that being said, millions search for better ways to do business online.
If you are reading this post, you are likely searching for voice-overs online. That’s perfect, because we specialize in the very service of providing professional Internet voice-over talent from all around the world, along with voice over talent for other industries as well..
The Way It Used To Be
Years ago, people seeking voice-overs had a long, expensive road before them when it came to finding a voice for their project. Usually the individual would start by calling an advertising agency, that ad agency would then contact their preferred talent agency, the talent agency would then hold a casting call, employ the aid of a casting director, a professional recording studio, and finally would result in the recruiting of a voice-over talent, the voice talent would travel to the recording studio, and from there, the recording process would begin.
That’s a lot of legwork, takes too long, and costs too much, don’t you agree?
For many companies, particularly “solopreneurs” and small businesses, budgets are limited making it very expensive to work with multiple organizations to get one job done.
The solution that many are discovering today is simple:
Go direct to the source to get the job done, quickly, professionally, and cost-effectively.
Finding voice-overs online is now a vital part of how business is done today. Searching online greatly streamlines the process of hiring a voice, enabling you to find what you are looking for within a few clicks and at no additional cost to you.
Searching online is one thing, but how do you know which search result is most relevant to your needs?
With there being so many websites out there, you could end up spending hours surfing through each website in the search results.
Wouldn’t it be great if there was a service that hosts everyone who records voice-overs?
We have consolidated the largest database of freelance voice-over talents and voice professionals. With over 7,000 talent capable of performing voice-overs, the perfect voice is just waiting to be found, listened to and hired.
We have worked to provide top-quality content for both voice actors and publishers and currently rank #1 in Google, Yahoo!, MSN, and a number of other search engines for voice-over keywords such as voice-overs, voice talents, voice-over jobs, and more. You’ll be able to find voice-overs at Voices.com with ease and confidence.
Once you are at Voices.com, you will be able to search for talent using our voice talent search engine, by listening to MP3 demos in the Featured Talent Categories, or by posting a voice-over job for voice talents to apply for at Voices.com.
Posting a job is the most popular option for those who want to collect a variety of voice samples, proposals, and price quotes.
Contacting voice-over talent for work is a straightforward activity. There are links to contact talents directly via email or even by phone if the talent has provided their telephone number.
Finding voice-overs online has never been easier, more convenient and affordable. When you go straight to the source, you save more than a few clicks… you’re saving time, resources, money, and energy not to mention the added perk of being able to select the perfect voice to record your voice-overs.
Audio Ads – 80 Words or Less!
When you listen to the radio, you’re likely to be in a vehicle facing numerous distractions and performing actions like catching a green light, stopping for pedestrians, and checking your mirrors.
Or, you are jumping from one web site to another desperately looking for something that, at the time, seems VERY IMPORTANT! (but really isn’t).
What could you possibly remember from an audio ad? Would you even stop and really listen to anything more than a few seconds long?
Amid all the distractions, whether in a car or not, it is increasingly difficult to remember every word that is said in an audio ad or Internet commercial.
This is why experts are encouraging advertising agencies to limit their commercial copy (script) to 80 words or less in order to convey their message.
What are the benefits of less words in an audio advertisement?
- A more moderately paced voice-over
- More concise copy
- Higher percentage of listeners who retain your message
Think of what would happen if you had to write down a commercial, word for word, after only hearing it once. Even if you were solely concentrating on that commercial, it would be hard to remember what was said verbatim, or word for word.
After this exercise, one would be able to jot down key words, or keywords – basically, the words that are most important and best convey the theme and call for action of the commercial.
Take those words, form your copy around them, and be sure that each word is relevant to your script. :30 is not a long time to get in 80 words, so they had better be the words that count.
Where did we get the notion of 80 words or less?
Check out Warren Johnson’s Unsolicited Marketing Advice blog for more details and helpful tips on how to minimize the length while maximizing the effectiveness of your copy.
Check out Internet voice talent marketplace for the best collection of voice over talent you’ll find on the Net.
Writing Great Copy for Google Audio Ads
When writing ad copy for Google Audio ad or a Web Infomercial it’s easy to get carried away. How much is enough?
The short answer: Enough to get the message across.
OK, but how does that translate into a word count for a 30 second spot or a 60 second spot?
Great question!
To help give some guidance, we’ve created a handy chart for you to reference the next time your writing some ad copy.
The 30 Second Spot Word Count Guideline
30 seconds, 65 words = lots of inflection, sincere read
30 seconds, 78 words = typical, straight read
30 seconds, 90 words = fast read
30 seconds, 100 words = hard sell, maximum speed read
The 60 Second Spot Word Count Guideline
60 seconds, 130 words = lots of inflection
60 seconds, 155 words = typical, straight read
60 seconds, 180 words = fast read
60 seconds, 200 words = hard sell, maximum speed read
Note that numbers (such as a phone number), symbols (@ symbol or www) , etc., count as one word each.
Get More Help
If you need help with your commercial scripts, you don’t have to start from scratch. There are plenty of resources online or simply listen to a few radio commercials or TV ads to get the ideas flowing.
You check out more tips at our related podcasting voice over resource.
