Each year, Voices’s Trends Report leverages proprietary market data, along with survey data collected from voice over clients, to uncover trends in media production, advertising, and to learn how voice over is helping to engage and delight audiences around the world.
Here, are some of the report highlights to help you set your expectations and plans for 2020. Specifically, this post looks at:
In this article
- The Top 5 Media Trends Impacting Brand Marketers and Ad Agencies
- Trend #1: Increased demand for training content (34%)
- Preparing for the Trend: Get ready to create more training content in 2020
- Creative Producers
- Voice Actors
- Trend #2: The growing digital audio advertising space (25%)
- Preparing for the trend: As audio ad production increases, it will be more and more important to make effective audio ads that cut through the noise.
- Creative Producers
- Voice Actors
- Trend #3: Podcasts rising in popularity (21%)
- Preparing for the trend: As audio ad production increases, it will be more and more important to make effective audio ads that cut through the noise.
- Creative Producers
- Voice Actors
- Trend #4: Voice powered applications and devices gaining adoption (15%)
- Preparing for the trend: The voice experiences that will capture user’s hearts will use distinct voices that match a brand’s tone (i.e. not the default voice).
- Creative Producers
- Voice Actors
- Trend #5: The upsurge in brands creating or revising their sonic branding (13%)
- Preparing for the trend:
- Creatives and Voice Actors
- Ready to hire your perfect voice?
- The 5 most important media and advertising trends to impact brand marketers and creative agencies throughout 2019.
- Predictions on the trends to expect in creative industries throughout 2020.
- Insight into how the industry has pivoted in a changing media landscape to find success, including how voice over has been leveraged as a tool for creating connection and information retention.
You can also read the full 2020 Media Trends report.
The Top 5 Media Trends Impacting Brand Marketers and Ad Agencies
Survey respondents were asked to identify which broad trends were impacting their work or their industry.
Here are the top five responses, ranked by popularity, along with quotes from survey respondents:
Trend #1: Increased demand for training content (34%)
This trend includes the development of a wide range of educational content, from corporate training content, to courses developed for the public at large.
While learning can occur in many different formats and mediums, elearning alone (learning conducted via electronic means, such as the internet), is projected to grow to become a 300B industry by 2025. In response, creative industries are feeling the pull to create more learning content to keep up with the demand of an ever-evolving workforce that has to keep up with changing technologies, regulations, compliance, best practices and more.
Preparing for the Trend: Get ready to create more training content in 2020
Creative Producers
Get educated on how technology is being used in digital learning, how Harvard created one of the best online learning platforms, and what to do when you need to update your training material voice over.
Voice Actors
Training content requires a range of vocal styles, roles, ages, accents, languages and more. Make sure that your skillset is accurately represented on your Voices profile by ensuring you have demos that showcase each of your special skills. Get advice from a casting director on creating a winning demo, and learn about the benefits of creating many voice over demos.
Trend #2: The growing digital audio advertising space (25%)
Digital audio advertising is growing rapidly as advertisers race to place ads where people ‘are’ (in this case, where the audience ‘is’ is immersed in audio). More and more people are embracing the audio medium, as our world shifts to one where prolific ‘listening’ and interacting with devices via our voice is the norm. Behaviorally, this includes increased podcast consumption, internet radio, streaming services, voice-enabled and voice assisted devices and more.
Preparing for the trend: As audio ad production increases, it will be more and more important to make effective audio ads that cut through the noise.
Creative Producers
Learn about voice over for digital advertising, how to create audio ads, and Using Pandora Ads for Your Audio Advertising Strategy. Plus, get a leg up on where the audio ad industry is going, by reading about audio dialogue ads: what they are (spoiler: they’re ads that can have two way conversations) and how they work.
Voice Actors
Make yourself more marketable to those looking for audio ad voice over. Update your knowledge on how to communicate in a commercial, and refresh your commercial demos with these free-to-use voice over sample scripts:
Trend #3: Podcasts rising in popularity (21%)
Podcasts are quickly rising as a popular form of entertainment, inspiration and educational content. In Edison’s 2019 Podcast Consumer Report, the research firm shared that: The audience for podcasting grew significantly in the past year. Today, 51% of Americans 12+ have ever listened to a podcast, with 32% having listened in the past month, and 22% in the past week. In addition, podcasting’s Share of Ear has more than doubled in five years, increasing 122% since 2014.
Preparing for the trend: As audio ad production increases, it will be more and more important to make effective audio ads that cut through the noise.
Creative Producers
Whether you work for an ad agency or a brand, you’ll benefit from learning how to make a podcast, the key benefits of creating a branded podcast, and key pointers on advertising in podcasts.
Voice Actors
Up your technical (recording) knowledge and discover how to offer a wide range of podcast recording, editing and voice over services. Explore how to edit podcasts in GarageBand, how to master podcasts, and try out podcast sample scripts.
Trend #4: Voice powered applications and devices gaining adoption (15%)
When Adobe surveyed over 400 business decision makers in 2019, they found that 91% were investing in ‘voice.’ What does this mean? The Adobe report on voice also showed that 36% of consumers have a voice assistant device, and of those, 75% use it daily. Because of the widespread adoption of voice assistants and voice assistant devices (like Siri, Amazon Alexa, Google Home etc), brands and the agencies that represent them are trying to find creative ways to use voice to increase conversions and revenue.
Preparing for the trend: The voice experiences that will capture user’s hearts will use distinct voices that match a brand’s tone (i.e. not the default voice).
Creative Producers
Get a leg up by learning how easy it can be to create Alexa flash briefings as part of your audio content strategy, explore the difference between using Alexa’s synthetic voice vs. human voice. Plus, read how the voice you choose for your voice apps impacts consumer trust.
Voice Actors
The human voice has vast applications for voice-first devices. Listen in on Mission Audition podcast episode: Alexa, Help Me Land More Voice Over Jobs, featuring Jim Kennelly from Lotas Productions, and learn what it takes to become the voice of an Alexa Skill. Then, develop your own voice skill demo with these Alexa Skill voice over sample scripts and Google Home Actions sample scripts.
Trend #5: The upsurge in brands creating or revising their sonic branding (13%)
In the Era of Voice, a time when consumption and demand for audio content is at an all-time high and voice first interactions are becoming the norm, the concept of sonic branding is experiencing quite a revitalization.It should come as no surprise that with the rise in popularity of podcasts, streaming services, voice assistants and other audio-driven media, that brands are heavily considering their audio branding.
Early in the year, Mastercard unveiled its new ‘sonic logo,’ and gained global coverage. But it’s not just major brands that are thinking or re-thinking their sonic identities. This trend impacts businesses of all sizes, as those who do not have a carefully crafted audio brand will risk being left behind.
Preparing for the trend:
Creatives and Voice Actors
Both creatives and voice actors will benefit from understanding what sonic branding is and how it’s used, as well as how brands are expressing their brand voice (literally), as well as conducting brand voice audits.
Ready to hire your perfect voice?
If you’re ready to take your creative project to the next level, you’ll find your perfect voice at Voices. With your free account, you can post a job for free and get auditions in just hours.
Sign-up or login to your Voices account today!
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