How In-Store Audio Marketing Shapes Customer Experiences

With consumers visiting businesses once again now that we have a better grip on the pandemic, it’s no time for business owners to fall asleep at the wheel. Now, more than ever the “in-store customer experience” has to be done right. One area that can offer tremendous aid in the customer experience arena is In-Store Audio Marketing!

When we walk into a store, every detail matters. We shape our opinions based on obvious things like decor, store layout, and product selection. But, we also adjust our perceptions based on little things we barely notice like overhead background music, sounds, and messages.

So, what is In-Store Audio Marketing? …  In-Store Audio Marketing uses sounds, music, and voice-overs to market to customers and shape the experiences they have while inside a business establishment. While in-store audio marketing may not be the first thing you think of when you design the customer experience at your location, it must be something that you think about. 

What Is In-Store Audio Marketing?

In-store audio marketing uses sounds, music, and voice-overs to market to customers and shape the experiences they have while in a business. It uses audio to control the messages and feelings that customers experience, to set the tempo that guides the consumer’s visit, and to exhibit a style that matches a company’s branding.

These are two powerful in-store audio marketing tools:

• Overhead Music: the background music broadcast throughout a location
• Overhead Messaging: the voice-over messaging broadcast throughout a location

Why In-Store Audio Marketing is Important?

There are multiple benefits to using audio as part of your in-store marketing strategies.

The sounds in your store impact the way customers think, act, and feel. Music isn’t just something we enjoy or dislike. It’s something that has a direct impact on our mood, feelings, and thinking. A paper published in Frontiers in Psychology showed that music causes people to:

• Feel emotions such as happiness, sadness, and excitement
• Feel removed from the world or more engaged with it
• Feel engaged and interested in listening more closely

These outcomes show how overhead music can shape the way customers feel as they shop or eat in your location. And, that’s not all music can do. The tempo and volume of the music in your business can also shape the way customers act.

The sounds in your store share messages with customers. Along with eliciting feelings about your brand, overhead sounds also give you an opportunity to share information about your brand.

Through overhead music and messaging you can create messages that tell customers about your sales, new products, upcoming events, brand story, or any other relevant, timely information. Customers in your store are already highly engaged with your brand, so use voice-over audio messages to turn that attention toward targeted advertising and communication.

Make Sure Your In-Store Audio is Legal.

The music in your store could be illegal to play. Another element of in-store audio that is often overlooked relates to the legalities of broadcasting sounds in a public space. Despite what many business owners think, it can be illegal to play Pandora, Spotify, or even purchased iTunes songs in your location.

There are legal rules in place for what music you can play in a public space. And, the fines for failing to adhere to these rules are steep. Agencies who enforce the rules such as BMI, ASCAP, SEASAC and other are turning up the heat on copyright lawsuits against business whom play in-store music without paying the proper licensing fees to do so, make sure you select a legal in-store music option so that you’re not next!!!

Final Thoughts and How to Get Started with In-Store Audio Marketing….

Just because music and messaging are in the background doesn’t mean that customers tune it out or don’t notice it. The sounds that broadcast throughout your location have a major influence and impact on how customers experience your brand and store. So don’t overlook in-store audio marketing.

So as you design your overhead music playlist, select music that best matches the experience you want to create and the customers you want to please, so don’t let employees change it to what they prefer.

The sounds in your store reflect your brand image. The music in your store shouldn’t be curated to include songs that you love. It should be a playlist of music that pleases and attracts your target audience and matches your overall branding.

Contact Original On Hold today to learn more about bringing in-store audio marketing to your location and how we can improve customer experiences by using in-store audio marketing in your location.