The Audio Revolution

When you reminisce a memory, you remember how you felt during that moment. The warmth of your best friend’s laugh, the smell of freshly buttered popcorn at your favourite movie’s premier, or the relief of your first sip of hot chocolate after a day out in the snow.

Our senses are a powerful tool that have a significant impact on how we experience the world around us. Sight has long been considered the most important sensory tool, however, it is the combination of all of our senses that help us remember the best parts of our experiences.

There is something incredible about the power of audio. Audio can transport us to another time and place - painting a picture defined by your own imagination. For too long audio has been an underutilised and underrated sensory tool and we are excited to see that the rest of the world is finally joining in on the audio revolution.

Man faces away from the camera in front of a moving train wearing headphones

Audio is on the rise

In the past, radio and music have been the salient forms of audio but with the introduction of the digital sphere, audio-based media is rapidly increasing in popularity. In the past 10 years, we’ve seen a rapid and significant increase in the utilisation of podcasts, AI voice assistants, and audiobook platforms. 

As of June 2022, there are estimated to be 209 million US people (73% of the population) per month who engage with online audio media. Audio media can include anything from audio books, to online accessible radio, to podcasts. If you compare this with 10 years ago in 2012, only 39% of the US population engaged with similar audio-based media. 

26% of U.S. citizens are dedicated, weekly podcast listeners. Podcasts have become so popular as they provide an attractive alternative to traditional media. With such a diverse selection of podcasts, people enjoy the ability to customise their media to their mood. 

There has also been a drastic increase in the popularity of AI voice assistants such as Alexa, Siri, and Google Assistant. Globally in 2020, there were 4.2 billion AI voice assistants in active use, this number is expected to rise to exceed the global population by 2025. 

Gaining traction

This rise in popularity has not come about for no reason. Visual and text-based media require a high degree of focus, whereas audio content can be consumed simultaneously to complete other tasks. You can listen to an audiobook while cooking dinner or laughing along to your favourite podcast on your daily walk - in a society with an ever-shrinking attention span, content that lends itself to multitasking is effective and valued. 

Many people believe that audio is the future of content, based on ease of consumption and value provided to audiences. 

The potential of audio can be taken advantage of across many industries - the most prevalent of these being the marketing industry. Traditionally, the majority of marketing and advertising assets fall into the visual category. While visuals can be an incredible tool, and often form the basis of marketing strategy, audio platforms create new opportunities for communication to create an audio-based or integrated branding strategy that will reach new audiences. 

Hands typing at a computer whilst listening to ‘podcast number 1’.

Who audio benefits

Accessibility benefits

Audio not only is an opportunity for new marketing initiatives but also an opportunity to provide accessible content to the 2% of the global population that is blind and low-vision. By integrating audio content into your media, you are creating a wider audience for yourself and are endorsing inclusivity in the work you produce.

If you are a small business owner, click here to read our last blog on how to make your business accessible.

Tourism industry is stuck in the past

While the rest of the world has been moving to audio, the travel and tourism industry is stuck using predominantly visual marketing to promote destinations and experiences.

However, travel is more than just a visual experience. The taste of hot chocolate can transport you back to sitting under the Eiffel Tower, the scent of cherry blossoms can bring you back to Japan in the spring, and the sound of waves crashing is reminiscent of pristine Whitsundays beaches. 

Audio is still a largely untapped market within the tourism industry, and Vacayit aims to change that.

An opportunity for the tourism industry

Incorporating audio into tourism marketing elevates the holiday planning process and creates holistic, accessible, and immersive experiences. 

The integration of audio into the tourism industry opens up tourism to a whole group of people who have previously been excluded.

This is why we created Vacayit. Vacayit’s mission is to create audio-based immersive storytelling experiences. Using authentic sounds, we want people to lose themself in the rhythm of nature or the hustle and bustle of the big city. People can be completely immersed in real stories and experiences all around the world. With information, stories, and experiences presented in an audio format, the world becomes a more accessible place. 

The audio revolution is a welcomed change to our media landscape and we are excited to see where is takes us in the coming years.

Vacayit works with major tourism organisations within Australia to reimagine destination content to be more accessible and engaging. If you are a tourism organisation and would like to work with us please reach out at hello@vacayit.com to join the audio revolution.