Findings from the 2021 Voice Over and Sonic Branding Survey Created in Partnership with Voices.

Your brand tells the story of your company. It's the sum of your marketing, advertising, and image - your brand embodies your organization's values. It also creates an emotional tie to your company and its offerings - or at least it should if done right. None of this is controversial.

But as you read the short paragraph above, I'd be willing to bet that what came to mind was visual - what the brand looks like, rather than how it sounds. And while we cannot overstate how vital your visuals are regarding successful branding, other equally important aspects are often understated: its audio component, its sonic characteristics, its voice.

But the industry is starting to recognize that voice/sonic branding is a critical part of a company’s marketing strategy. And many businesses are now integrating sonic and voice branding at the core of their marketing strategies.

At Modev, we wanted to measure the industry's growing commitment to voice/sonic branding. So we partnered with Voices, the world's largest creative marketplace, focusing on voice-over, music, audio production, and content translation. Together, we proceeded to survey some of the industry's top brands to take the pulse of their voice branding efforts. And the results are definitely encouraging.

Here are some of the key takeaways from the report.

User Statistics

Let's start by providing a few details on the profile of the companies we surveyed.

Roughly 50% of the companies we surveyed were small to medium-sized enterprises. And the top 3 criteria for effective voice-over branding were:

1. The voice should be easy to understand and free of fluctuations.
2. The voice should sound natural and flowing, as opposed to robotic and staggered.
3. The voice should be able to speak in multiple languages.

So that's whom we're working with and what they feel is essential for successful voice branding.

Priority Statistics

When asked about the importance of voice-over branding, 91% (that's 133 companies out of 144) stated that voice branding is critical to the work they're doing.

Looking ahead, when asked if voice branding was an integral part of their 2022 marketing strategies, 40% of companies surveyed said that voice/sonic branding was explicitly included. Another 37% stated they weren't sure, but that still suggests voice-over/sonic branding was on their radar.

Audio Trends

As far as where surveyed companies focus their resources in regards to voice/sonic branding, the top 3 priorities were:

1. Voice Assistant Applications
2. Social Audio (social networking services where members interact using their voices instead of text)
3. Podcasting

The use of voice assistants has seen massive growth year-on-year in recent times, so the fact that it sits at the top of the audio trends is hardly surprising. It also suggests that those who have invested in VA applications are reaping the benefits of that strategy.

Talent Sourcing

Of course, if you're planning on investing in voice/sonic branding, it takes talent (i.e., people). And we wanted to know the industry's view on talent sourcing.

When asked what they identified as major roadblocks in talent sourcing relative to voice-over branding, cost/budget was the chief concern.

When asked if they would be interested in partnering with a freelance marketplace (such as Voices) to help with content creation, 43% stated they were willing to do so for audio content like webinars, blog posts, and podcasts.

Insights

So we have 40% of businesses stating that voice branding is a key part of their marketing strategies. And we have 43% claiming that they would be willing to turn to freelance marketplaces to help them with content creation. What does that tell us?

For one, that 40% of businesses are integrating voice branding into their marketing efforts demonstrates impressive growth for sonic branding. It’s a bit like the industry recently woke up to the fact that voice/sonic branding should be as deliberate as visual branding - not just an afterthought. It's time to reconnect with radio days. The sound of your branding is as critical as its looks.

Another key takeaway is that the industry is also starting to understand that freelance work compensates its perceived risks (typically, trust and engagement) with agility - so agility is demonstrating its value. At the same time, companies are coming to terms with the fact that those risks may well have been overstated. 

After all, freelance marketplaces, like Voices, have provided high-caliber talent for thousands of successful projects. And every single day, more and more get added to the list. As Voices grows, it makes a case for freelance voice talent, and with 43% of surveyed businesses willing to go down that road, it's safe to say the industry has taken notice.

Voice tech, in general, has been growing in effectiveness, complexity, and adoption since its inception. And that trend isn’t likely to be reversed anytime soon. Voice tech is with us now, and it's here to stay. The future is vocal. So it's no surprise that we are starting to see significant growth in voice/sonic branding - and we predict that trend will only accelerate going forward.

And there's another critical point that we haven't discussed, but that's made quite clear by this report: it's time for your business to start talking about voice branding.

Download the full report.

Report Intro

Your brand tells the story of your company. It's the sum of your marketing, advertising, and image - your brand embodies your organization's values. It also creates an emotional tie to your company and its offerings - or at least it should if done right. None of this is controversial.

But, what typically comes to mind around branding is visual rather than how it sounds, which is equally important.

The industry is starting to recognize that voice/sonic branding is a critical part of one’s marketing strategy. And many businesses are now integrating sonic and voice branding at the core of their marketing strategies. This report measures the industry's growing commitment to voice/sonic branding.

Report Summary

At Modev, we wanted to measure the industry's growing commitment to voice/sonic branding. So we partnered with Voices, the world's largest creative marketplace, focusing on voice-over, music, audio production, and content translation. Together, we proceeded to survey some of the industry's top brands to take the pulse of their voice branding efforts. And the results are definitely encouraging. Here are some of the key takeaways from the report.

Roughly 50% of the companies we surveyed were small to medium-sized enterprises. And the top 3 criteria for effective voice-over branding were:

1. The voice should be easy to understand and free of fluctuations.
2. The voice should sound natural and flowing, as opposed to robotic and staggered.
3. The voice should be able to speak in multiple languages.

When asked about the importance of voice-over branding, 91% of respondents stated that voice branding is critical to the work they're doing, and 40% of companies surveyed stated voice/sonic branding was explicitly included in their 2022 marketing strategy.

If you're planning on investing in voice/sonic branding, it takes talent (i.e., people) and resources. When asked what are the major roadblocks in talent sourcing relative to voice-over branding, cost/budget was the chief concern. And, only 43% of respondents said they were willing to partner with a freelance marketplace to help with content creation.

So, what does this tell us?

For one, that so many businesses are integrating voice branding into their marketing efforts demonstrates impressive growth for sonic branding. And, the industry is starting to understand that freelance work compensates its perceived risks (typically, trust and engagement) with agility - so agility is demonstrating its value. At the same time, companies are coming to terms with the fact that those risks may well have been overstated. 

After all, freelance marketplaces, like Voices, have provided high-caliber talent for thousands of successful projects. And every single day, more and more get added to the list. As Voices grows, it makes a case for freelance voice talent, and with 43% of surveyed businesses willing to go down that road, it's safe to say the industry has taken notice.

Voice tech, in general, has been growing in effectiveness, complexity, and adoption since its inception. And that trend isn’t likely to be reversed anytime soon. Voice tech is with us now, and it's here to stay. The future is vocal. So it's no surprise that we are starting to see significant growth in voice/sonic branding - and we predict that trend will only accelerate going forward.

And there's another critical point that we haven't discussed, but that's made quite clear by this report: it's time for your business to start talking about voice branding.