I get incredibly frustrated when I hear about a new marketing idea, but no one has any real-world results data.
This week I called around to a bunch of marketers who'd added a spokesperson headshot plus an audio clip to their site. "How many visitors click to hear the audio?" I asked. "Does it improve conversion rates?"
Nearly everyone said, "Oh, we're not measuring it, but we figured it's really cool so why not stick it up? It probably helps." Arrgh! Finally I got a tidbit of data (see below for the Case Study.)
John O'Dwyer, who helps out his dad the famed Jack O'Dywer with his publication for the PR community, told me he'd been kicking around the idea of having sponsors add audio clips, of Jack briefly discussing their product, to their site ads.
John said, "It's not too hard to create one of these things. It's just Flash with audio popped in. People believe in something more when they hear an authority say it." Plus, most audio clip tech companies allow your spokesperson literally phone in their message.
Which made me think, what about using audio for celebrity endorsements online? Click here to listen to what so and so says about …. Could be anyone from a big-name tech analyst to a Hollywood star.
