Digital audio opportunities continue to rapidly expand across the media spectrum, and the corporate landscape is not indifferent to this expansion.
The boom of digital formats in the form of audio articles and smart speaker flash briefings (quick overviews of news and other popular content) really put the medium’s versatility in the global spotlight, offering more choice and interactivity in content consumption. At the center of this movement is audio AI technology that swiftly converts text into audio content. As a result, companies of all sizes - particularly enterprises - are finding it easy to leverage audio without having to deal with the entire production process.
By converting text into audio voiced by synthesized speech, large companies are tapping into a whole new, yet familiar way of creating engaging content experiences, not only for audiences but also employees and team members.
Along with AI-powered natural-sounding narration, what helps the cause is the fact that there are specific speaking styles developed for different types of content and context.
For example, the newscast style, leveraged by the Miami Herald, among many other global publishers, reflects the experience of listening to news or articles delivered in a professional tone, much like heard on TV or radio. Then, there are more conversational styles that feature a friendly and engaging tone, simulating a more casual dialogue with varying degrees, typically used for conversational bots and voice assistants.
Ways corporations are utilizing audio content
There is no shortage of use cases.
To begin with, listening is very easy to integrate into the typical hectic day-to-day experience. Having audio articles on your company’s blog means being where your audience already is. In the same way, audio can boost a company’s marketing efforts such as the newsletter by amping up subscribers with an additional, more convenient channel - thus creating more personal relationships with clients.
Next, audio content boosts organizational productivity as team members can operate by consuming content on the go while multitasking. Corporate resources such as whitepapers, research, topical reports, and analysis can all be absorbed in situations when they’re too busy to even look at a screen - let alone read something. This creates a more streamlined inter-departmental communication
Thanks to lifelike voices and distinct speaking styles, there is a highly personal and immersive feel when listening, ultimately creating a more engaging type of content that increases the probability it will be consumed. In turn, corporations gain more accessibility and reach across the company, effectively eliminating its siloed nature.
Two of the companies ushering in this golden age of digital audio are PWC Israel - the leading accounting and advisory services firm, and top Israeli law firm Amit, Pollak, Matalon & Co.
They are relying on custom-designed CMS (Content Management System) to distribute their content via top streaming audio platforms and voice assistants. They refer their users to all of their audio content through playlists and subscriptions on the aforementioned channels, sharing the latest stories and updates from respective industries in a more accessible way. PWC Israel, which is dedicated to adopting innovative solutions, is taking this a step further, leveraging the Trinity Audio technology to smartly share flash briefings with tax updates to their clients (and general follower base) via newsletter and the Pulse solution on its website:
“Solving” the Hebrew language
Of particular interest here is the approach to the pronunciation of the Hebrew language, something that even Google is having trouble with. Due to various traditional and geo-specific pronunciations, as well as unique stress patterns, Google is yet to officially add Hebrew as one of the languages supported by its voice assistant.
However, there is a solution in the form of lexicons where you can adjust pronunciations and make the necessary tweaks. This feature is tied to an audio CMS where specific pronunciation rules are created and edited for future use, improving accuracy and overall listening experience.
This means that users can spell out every single word (names, numbers, special characters, others), write everything phonetically with a phonetic pronunciation guide, separate acronyms into letters and words, and so on. The high level of customization makes sure that even unusual words pronunciation-wise are said with proper intonation.
In the end, the final result is a perfect listening experience - one that can include multiple languages, voices, and accents, and comes with full editorial and quality control while requiring minimal time and cost.
No wonder why corps are getting into it, right?