Not really the kind of title you would expect from a company that sells hold music and messages is it?

Well, there’s a twist in my tail as it was recently reported in the daily mail that waiting in a call centre phone queue for more than five minutes is bad for your health.  Experts found callers’ stress levels and blood pressure rise dangerously high as they become frustrated with the delay in being put through to the right person.

Of those surveyed, 64 per cent said their grievance is even more inflamed by annoying music, which is supposedly played to calm them down.  Panpipes are considered the most annoying hold music, followed by classical music and sounds from nature, such as crashing waves. The result is that people become so frustrated they hang up.

So, what’s the answer – don’t keep your caller waiting for too long. The average hold time is actually 30 seconds so to keep somebody holding for up to five minutes is pretty poor service.

If you have a hold music CD playing to a caller when they’re placed on hold then make sure that they’re kept holding for the shortest period possible.

Although most businesses who use on hold marketing don’t abuse the feature many employees will almost assume it’s a licence to keep people waiting. It’s not, in fact we don’t even encourage you to place callers on hold – but that fact is callers are placed on hold. If this feature is abused the result is not a desired outcome. The caller will complain (and not always about holding the line) but often about what they’ve been listening to.

However, with that said – the story in the daily mail was about somebody holding the line in a call centre queue. This is entirely different than being asked to be placed on hold, as many people in call centre queues are automatically placed in a queue. Without being asked.

To sum up, just remember that the procedure of placing people on hold is supposed to be a brief, happy encounter not a long frustrating one.

For more details and advice about on hold marketing feel free to check out our on hold messaging page on our website.

Did you know, RADIO makes people happy? It’s true. Retail therapy at it’s audible best, the research for the Radio Advertising Bureau found that radio listeners have higher levels of happiness and energy than consumers of any other form of media.

For me, there’s nothing more boring than ambling around a retail store with no atmosphere. I like to leave my troubles by the door and get lost in the browsing retail therapy – I don’t want to listen to the bickering of married couples or the tantrum throwing toddler.

However, I do like to be guided around the shop or store with some familiar music. Even better if the store tells me how to get 50% off today. Retail is the place that should put us in the mood to buy, not in a mood.

Many customers who walk into their local shop, department store or supermarket don’t often take a second glance at the opening times. And rightly so, busy lives!

What I’ve found though, is that hearing a message inside the store about late night Christmas opening times, where the toilets are located or even something more drastic like, “we close in 10 minutes” is a much more relaxed and reactive way of relaying your message to consumers.

So, how does store radio really help customers relax and put them in the mood to buy?

It’s a simple formula really, good music that targets a specific market sector. This puts the shopper at ease and hopefully in the mood to buy. The next step is to make sure that relevant announcements are relayed to the consumer.

So, how is store radio different than traditional radio?

Firstly, store radio is specific to the store it belongs to, the music played is matched to the customer that enters the shop, so if the average customers is 25 to 30 years of age the music will compliment their age profile. Also, because the store radio is specific to the store it’s adverts/announcements are all about the store. Genius!

Now, what I’ve noticed over the past few years is a lot of big brands moving away from basic store music and announcements and having their own virtual radio station. Music shops like HMV have done this for years, but only now have the bigger retailers started to jump in.

So, what are the benefits to having your own virtual radio station?

Well, the instant benefit is that your store radio suddenly sounds fresh and up to date. There’s a presenter on the radio who just talks about your store and reads out messages from staff and customers making your in-store radio sound more interactive with its audience. Yes, just like a traditional radio station you suddenly have a real person presenting your station with news, weather updates and even special requests.

To sum up, do I think store radio makes retail sense? I do, and without it I think we’d return back to a bygone era when the only thing that created an atmosphere was the shop’s sales assistant asking if they can help you every two minutes. Not good, quick exit please!

For more details and advice about store radio feel free to check out our store radio page on our website.

Have you ever watched a programme on the TV, and when the adverts come on you’re reaching out for the remote control to turn down the volume. Annoying isn’t it?

This is mainly because the adverts have been mastered/recorded in a different way to the programme or film you have been watching.  Unfortunately producers of TV and radio advertisement have entered into a loudness war. Why? To make their clients commercials sound louder and better than the rest, but does loud really mean better?

If you can remember some of your favourite TV commercials from yesteryear like the Mash advert listed below you’ll notice that these commercials were not loud at all. Especially in comparison to today’s TV ads.

So, does loud = better? Well, in my humble opinion – no! Of course it plays its part but it isn’t everything.

For me,  the commercial should always be memorable. And not for all the wrong reasons either, if I had a pound for everytime somebody said, ‘ I hate that annoying advert, but it’s memorable so it must have worked’.

So, if you had an annoying neighbour who constantly made your life hell would you be their friend?

And that’s just it, radio is the listeners friend. If it annoys them with irritating commercials or presenters that don’t appeal to it’s audience, people will turn them off, sometimes not literally either, people have an in-built mute switch which makes them subconsciously not listen to something they’re not interested in. I think it was possibly something we learned when we was teenagers. Ha ha…

So, how do we make a radio advert memorable?

Firstly,  you start with the person in mind that you are talking to. What do they do on a weekly basis, where does that person spend their money, where do they socialise, what are their likes and dislikes. Once you build up a profile of this person you can think about some ideas that will make them sit up and listen.

When a radio presenter preps his or her show they will always have the listener in mind, making sure that their content is relevant to the listener. Once the content is chosen it’s all about telling the story. Be it funny, sad or scary – people love a story that connects with their lives in an interestingly imaginative way.

As an example I’m going to pick a Pension company who wishes to target young people. The voice I’m going to use is a 20 year old male, this may seem ridiculous. Especially if the person is not at retirement age, but believe or not pensions are actually aimed at the young not the old.

So, here is our scene, the young male talks about how great his life is right now and how taking out a pension is just not for him, let’s be honest he’s young. Then, half way through the commercial something happens…

……………………………

Young male voice:
I’m 20 years old, I don’t need a pension, ever! Pension, ya having a laugh arn’t ya. It’ll be years until I retire.

Older male voice:
I’m 70 now and if I knew now what I didn’t know then I’d have saved some money to enjoy the rest of my life. I can’t afford my own place anymore, so I live with my daughter’s family. I have no savings and still have to work to get by, is this the future I wanted, no! but I was young like you and thought I’d be young for the rest of my life.

It’s too late for me but there’s still time for you.

…………………………….

Obviously, this is just an example of how good story telling can engage with it’s audience in a memorable way. The young person that it’s aimed at (the listener) can relate to the young man in the advert as they feel a connection with both him and the older version of his younger self. What makes this advert memorable is how it connects with our emotional kinetic feelings about being young and growing old.

To sum up, what makes memorable radio is good story telling, cast well and well written.

For more details and advice about radio advertisement or to take a listen to some samples, please don’t hesitate to check out our radio advertisement page on our website.

We all know that social media is about engaging in conversation. So, what if we could literally engage in conversation with a social media podcast.  A social media podcast production is very easy to put together, and if done right can help your company spread the good word and increase sales.

For instance, you could do a monthly or quarterly podcast production, this could be included in your newsletter, if you have a press office you could extract soundbites for news stories. Plus, you could then link to it on your social platforms and even subscribe to podcast channels like iTunes for extra promotional activity.

The great thing about subscribing to podcast channels is that it sends link backs to your website which are worth gold to your site’s rankings in the search engines.

What could the social media podcast be about?

Just like a good book you start off with the basic story line, so in this case who are the main people involved in your company or organisation? what are their roles? is there a key person who can talk in broad detail about the dynamics of the business and what the company does. Don’t worry though – from experience, we’ve always found that there’s nothing more interesting than people.
From Debbie in accounts who drives tanks for the TA at the weekend, to John the driver who’s a well traveled snowboarder and mountain climber, there’s always a great story to tell your audience that will help your podcast production engage with your listeners.

Can I make my own recordings?

If you don’t have access to a digital recorder and microphone, and let’s face it, if it’s not part of your job – who does? An alternative is to download a recording app on your smartphone or iPhone. One in particular is called iTalk, this app will enable you to record audio onto your phone which you can either edit yourself or email direct from the app to an audio production company like ourselves.
The beauty of doing something like this is it gives the podcast a REAL feel, capturing the ambiance of your workplace and people around you.

You can also have some great fun recording via your phone, as you can take it anywhere. It’s less conspicuous too – meaning people will feel less pressured talking into a phone, than they would speaking into a microphone.

What could I make a podcast about?

Pretty much anything, there’s loads you can talk about but listed below is a few ideas.

1. Awards you’ve won, people who’ve won them and what they do for the company.
2. Day in the life of the MD. (make an audio journal)
3. Hospitality day out, record everybody involved. (distribute to sponsors)
4. Creative discussions, how you design your products. (fly on the wall style)
5. Seasonal campaigns, talk about new product lines and services.
6. And much more…

What is the main benefit to having a social media podcast?

Without doubt it has to be the relationship your customers will start to develop with your business. For instance, they’ll understand more about your products and services. Something that often can’t be explained in a newsletter can be spoke about at length within a podcast production. They’ll also become more familiar with the voices and people who work in your company. The end result is more sales, better customer services and a real kinetic feeling for what your company represents.

For more details and advice about a podcast production or to take a listen to some samples, please don’t hesitate to check out our podcast production page on our website.