Audio branding – or sonic branding – is the use of a specific set of tones, a jingle or even spoken words as part of a comprehensive marketing strategy. Traditional visual/verbal branding, such as logos and slogans, helps your client base recognize you instantly and recall what your company does and what values you stand for. Sonic branding furthers your brand identity and gives consumers another valuable memory cue to recall what your company is all about.

Adding yet another layer to your branding and marketing strategy can add a little cost to your marketing effort, but it’s worth it. If you’re not quite sure whether your company needs audio branding, here are five compelling reasons to make the investment.

Audio Branding Creating Memorable Shopping

Audio Branding Is Part of Your Image

Your image is everything. It’s the first thing a potential client or customer learns about your company. When you advertise in print, clients and consumers see your logo and ad copy as a representation of your business. But in dynamic media, such as television, radio and Internet ads, you have more to offer people than just a solid image – you can give them audio, too.

An effective audio brand is synonymous with your company: think, for example, of the NBC chime sonic logo, or the famous roar of the lion from MGM studios. These audio logos are iconic, ubiquitous and instantly recognizable.

Sonic Branding Sets You Apart from Competitors

Not every company sees the value in investing in audio branding. If you work in a field that doesn’t focus on dynamic media, you might be the only company utilizing audio branding. Fields that are typically more loathe to give up tradition and try newer technology – like hardware retail stores or general contractors – might not yet be using sonic branding as part of their marketing strategy. If your competitors aren’t using audio logos in their ad spaces, having a distinct audio brand can set you apart.

Even if your competitors are currently exploring the world of audio branding, having a distinctive and unique audio logo to play in your media can make you recognizable from others providing the same services or goods. Think back to the example of the MGM lion roar: Fox Studios, another major movie production company, also has a very distinctive tone, instantly recognizable as their own and separate and distinct from other studios.

Audio Logos Influence Consumer Moods

It’s no secret that music influences mood. A 2015 review published in the World Journal of Psychology found that music reduces depression and anxiety and elevates mood and self-esteem. When your clients are in a good mood and feeling good about themselves, they’re likely to spend more on your products or services.

By using sonic branding to encourage a positive feeling about your company, you’re building trust and an elevated impression among your client base — they feel good about trusting you with their hard-earned money.

Your Audio Identity Ups Your Value

Just like music and sound can increase self-esteem and lift the spirits of listeners, it can also change the perception of your products or services. A quality audio brand can do the same. If your sonic brand resonates with your client base and is cohesive with your other marketing efforts, you can command a higher price for your efforts.

Audio logos that are created in a style that appeals to your target market helps convey the message that you identify with your client base. By showing your clients that you’re one of them, you’re encouraging them to trust you to deliver products or services that they’ll love.

A brand that’s polished and put together among all mediums from print to radio says that you’ve put time, effort and money into building your company to be the best of the best. Appearances – even those that are just auditory – matter.

Sonic Branding Helps Build Loyalty

Audio branding sets you up as a dependable company that’s here to stay: it’s unlikely that a fly-by-night operation would take the time to create an audio logo that resonates with its target market and helps consumers recognize them in just a few notes. Dependability and stability are two things that clients look for when deciding whether to be loyal to a company.

A quality sonic brand sound doesn’t just show stability, though: it also shows that your company is forward thinking enough to embrace new media and technology. Although radio and television are by no means new, the world of digital media is still ever-changing. And with more and more consumers turning to the web to take in advertising and view products, an eye toward the future is a must.

By creating an audio logo that appeals to your main target market, you’re showing them on a subliminal level that you care about their likes, preferences and dislikes. A hard rock riff for a clothing company aimed at edgy, alternative teens and young adults, for example, shows that you know what they like and are willing to listen to what they have to say. A soft orchestral audio logo for an upscale wine company shows much the same for a different audience.

Summarizing Why You Need Audio Branding

Your audio brand helps set you apart from the competition and gives clients and customers a powerful memory cue to recall your company’s name and values when they’re searching their minds for someone who does what you do. By crafting a quality audio logo, you’re subconsciously showing your client base that you identify with them and care about their preferences.

An audio branding strategy sets your company up as both stable and dependable, but adaptable and forward-thinking. By using a unique audio identifier in your television, radio and Internet advertising, you’re creating a comprehensive brand that works with your other branding efforts across all platforms. When used together with your in-store playlists or telephone hold system messages, audio branding makes you hard to forget and easy to trust.

If you’re still not sold on creating an audio brand, reach out to a professional company like Retail Radio. Companies like Retail Radio that focus solely on branding with music and sound can help you figure out what sounds and tunes are right for you, and how you can best maximize their potential to keep your clients loyal and attract new customers.