We’ve had a busy summer at XAPP. Based on the inbound requests from audio publishers, advertisers and agencies, the idea of interactive audio advertising driven by voice engagement has inspired many people’s creative thinking. That creativity has also led to requests for new features. One of the simplest and most interesting is the ability to designate custom phrases.
Making Mobile Engagement Easy
XAPP Ads, by design, are a simple way to generate consumer engagement on mobile devices through voice. Advertisers increasingly look beyond impressions and awareness to engagement and conversion as part of their marketing mix. Desktop-oriented online marketing has many tools to facilitate interactions by consumers with brands – typically related to click actions. When dealing with audio on mobile devices, this approach is problematic. Many consumers listen to content while their phone is tucked out of sight or behind a locked screen.
The essential nature of audio is a hands free and eyes free experience. That nature poses a problem for marketers relying on touch clicks for engagement. The Voice Click capability of XAPP Ads has addressed this challenge from the beginning. Voice interactions such as “call now,” “send coupon,” and “download app” are all simple hands-free ways for consumers to engage with brand advertising offers. However, some marketers wanted to go further and bring consumers deeper into the brand experience.
Bringing Consumers into your Brand Experience
Custom phrases allow advertisers to designate the short responses that consumers speak when engaging with an interactive audio ad. This could be a brand name, advertising campaign tag line, or other short phrase that gets consumers actively participating in the brand messaging. We know from research that brand salience or “level of activation” of a brand in memory is heightened with advertising exposure and with engagement. We also know from research that brand salience for one brand inhibits the recall of other competing brands.
The simple act of getting a consumer to repeat a brand name or phrase creates immediate engagement that can lead directly to a customer conversion. The conversion capability is at the core of XAPP Ads. However, custom phrases take this further by leveraging the mechanics of cognitive psychology. Marketers know that the act of saying the brand name or phrase also increases brand recall and inhibits memory of competing products. This can pay further dividends down the road when consumers look to repurchase.
XAPP Provides Creative Flexibility
XAPP has built an interactive audio platform that provides flexibility in voice interaction. While our standard engagement and action phrases meet most advertiser needs, the platform can accommodate a much broader vocabulary. Our goal is to create connections between consumers and brands through voice. Those connections can be made through creative and interactive audio that allows mobile consumers to engage hands free. And now it can be further enhanced by custom phrases that bring consumers into the brand’s story, through voice.
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