Strategic Marketing Article - Getting vocal on the web
April 5, 2004
- use a voiceover to personalise your website and increase sales
Some people find computers threatening. The very presence of a screen
in the room gives them the shivers. Now, it's partly because the
thing reminds them of work that still needs doing, or of hours spent
in its company when the world carries on outside. And it's partly
the look of it - this big, gaping mouth that lurks there in the
corner, waiting for a feed.
OK, so that's a little paranoid. Or is it? What happened to that
packet of crisps? And I haven't seen the cat since Tuesday...
No matter how much research goes into improving the interaction
between man and machine, it still remains a highly unnatural piece
of kit. It isn't natural to sit in front of an illuminated box,
let's face it.
Our arms weren't designed to stick out to the side and grip a small
object for hours on end making subtle movements and double clicks.
We were designed to move. Looking around us, seeking berries. Perhaps
killing the odd creature that ventures into our path.
Don't worry, I'm not advocating a return to a hunter gatherer society.
Not for everybody, at least. (There are some people I wouldn't mind
seeing try to operate without make-up, or texting, or frappuccinos.
Anyway.
Improving the experience
Why not make the user's interaction with your website as natural
as possible?
Imagine someone visiting your premises and being left alone to wonder
round. She wouldn't feel particularly welcome, and she'd probably
come away with the impression that you didn't care much about her
or her business.
Now imagine a visitor to your website, sitting at her desk, alone,
open mouthed, with the habitual rounded back of the long term computer
user, eyes crossing as she reads the thoughtful words you've put
there. At least she doesn't get to see the state of the office kitchen,
or the person ranting about the used teabags on the side instead
of in the bin. But she is being left to infer stuff by herself.
Walk this way...
What if you gave her some company as she trekked round your site?
What about a voice she could listen to, with a warm and welcoming
message?
The presence of a voice on your website can turn it into a much
more human experience. It becomes an interaction with life, rather
than with the static words and images on the page. And I'm sure
the pages on your site are beautifully written, perfectly designed,
but it's still likely they’d benefit from the addition of
a human presence.
Marcus Hutton, a voiceover artist who founded talkingwebsites.co.uk,
a firm that specialises in providing audio to enhance websites,
says: "I think that the biggest contribution that spoken word
audio can make to a website is to provide user reassurance. A well
modulated voice is reassuring."
How to go about it?
Start by understanding what you want the voice to achieve. Is it
to help people navigate around your site? Is it to point out special
offers that are only available at the moment? Is it a branding exercise
that helps your customer understand your company a little better
than the copy and graphics alone?
Take them where you want them to go
An e-commerce site, for example, wants people to make a purchase.
So the best route a visitor can take, as far as the site is concerned,
is from the home page to the product description page to the order
page to the order confirmation page. Audio that guides visitors
along that route will therefore enhance your sales prospects.
The Daylight Company, one of Marcus' clients, which provides speciality
lighting technology to needleworkers and other hobbyists, found
that audio increased its sales by 30% in the first week.
It's a good example of how to make audio work for a commerce-focussed
site - see www.daylightcompany.co.uk
"But what if we don't sell online?"
Use it to build trust in your company. Another of Marcus' clients,
a financial services company, has used it to great effect to encourage
people to look around the site, and to enforce the idea that the
company is trustworthy enough to call. (See www.charlwood.info).
Don't overdo it
Too many websites make great claims about their products in a hard
hitting way that frightens away customers - especially less experienced
web users, like some silver surfers.
As Marcus points out, the voice is there to enhance the visitor's
experience, not to take over completely. It needs to fit in with
the strategy for the site as a whole, and to do so in a humanising
way, not a loud, attention grabbing one. (It will grab the attention,
because it is still relatively new, but if you set out to do that
you'll simply succeed in adding more marketing noise to an already
overloaded consumer).
Marcus Hutton's top tips for perfect audio harmony
1. Combine audio navigation with company history and some customer
reassurance.
Give personality to the parts of the site that are about you - for
example, a spoken overview in your "about us" section.
On the home page, tell people where the relevant buttons are. Provide
spoken product descriptions. Let your customer know that their credit
card details are safe.
2. Don't provide automatic audio. Give the option to switch it on,
because people don't necessarily want sound coming from their computer.
This is especially true if marketing to businesses. People in open
plan offices won't appreciate audio they haven't elected to hear.
Of course, if you need to make an impact quickly then you can load
it automatically, but always bear in mind your target audience and
handle with care.
3. Direct users to the areas of the site that you would most like
them to visit. Point out where the buttons are that will get them
there.
4. Keep the audio navigation brief. No more than 60 seconds on the
home page. No more than 2 minutes on any page. If you can't be interesting
in under 2 minutes, they'll have gone anyway.
5. Don't overwrite. The speaker should put a succinct precis of
the text on the page, rather than replicating it.
6. Get an experienced radio script writer in, or, failing that,
make sure that you read the script aloud, and be ruthless if it
doesn't sound natural when spoken. Natural sounding speech is lazier
than grammar on the page. Use 'isn't' for 'is not', and that sort
of thing, to help the voiceover artist.
7. Keep the language conversational. Avoid technical terms unless
you simply have to use them
8. Use professional voiceovers if you can - unless you are totally
confident in your own abilities or unless you deliberately want
your site to be a personal statement. There are reputable agencies
around who can help you select the right voice, (if you use Talking
Websites, you can even choose a voice online.)
9. Don't use a regional accent unless you have a regional statement
to make. Standard English Received Pronunciation is the vocal equivalent
of the Times New Roman font and has come to be accepted as neutral.
10. It isn't necessary to underscore your voiceover with music,
but if you want to create an emotion in the listener, it can work
well. Avoid songs because a singing voice clashes with a speaking
one. Also, be aware of copyright and royalties. There are many royalty
free music sites out there where you can buy individual tracks quite
cheaply.
11. Use Flash to stream the audio and to create the sound player
buttons. About 95% of internet users have the Flash plug-in. This
makes it very fast to download.
12. Be reassuring, not intrusive. Audio has a great potential to
win trust, but it won't do it if the style is gung ho and the marketing
heavy handed.
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