What if “hold music for business” was finally considered at its full potential? Indeed, like social networks, it is a powerful lever for communication and marketing.
At Phone Design, we believe in turning hold music for business into a fertile creative space, capable of transmitting emotions, anchoring brand identity, and conveying targeted messages as social media posts do.
Today, I invite you to discover a sometimes overlooked but extraordinarily powerful facet of the customer experience: hold music for business.
How Does Hold Music for Business Compete with Social Networks in Your Communication Strategy?
More than just a sound break, hold music for business is a powerful communication strategy. It creates an immersive experience and offers an innovative alternative to social networks. Here’s why:
Creating a More Memorable Atmosphere
Just like a LinkedIn post aims to create a lasting impression, hold music for business transforms simple waiting into a memorable experience. The combination of impactful melodies and strategically designed texts creates an ambiance that reflects your company’s identity and values.
Engaging and Personalized Advertising
Hold music for business goes beyond just playing music. It offers a space for advertising or event messages performed with talent by voice actors. This personalized approach uniquely captures listeners’ attention.
Measuring Its Concrete Impact
While a post on LinkedIn is measured by the number of impressions, the impact of hold music for business can be assessed by the daily call volume of your company. The immersive experience created by the music and spoken statements helps maintain caller engagement, leading to more frequent interactions.
Strengthening Emotional Connection
Social networks appeal to companies that use them well by creating an emotional connection between a brand and its community. Hold music for business, enhanced with real storytelling, goes further in creating an enriched emotional experience. Voice actors add a human dimension that strengthens the connection between your company and your audience.
Creating an Auditory Identity
Just as a LinkedIn post helps build your brand identity, hold music for business contributes to forging an auditory identity. This is also known as sound identity! Melodies and spoken messages become distinctive elements that enhance your brand recognition.
How to Create Amazing Hold Experiences That Inform and Impress Your Callers?
Here are some tips for creating more powerful telephone hold messages than social networks:
Use Calls to Action
Providing information on hold music for business is a good idea. But telling callers what to do with that information is a better idea! Be conversational and inviting, yet clear and concise, allowing callers to take action.
For example, for a commercial message or a product message, why not give a promotion code? This calls for action: the caller must note and redeem the promo code, and if this code is only broadcast through your hold music for business, you can measure the impact of the message by counting the number of orders generated.
Create Standalone Hold Messages
Instead of using a single recording with several subjects looping, it is wiser to create standalone subjects. Give each “subject” its own music and personality. Like on a post, an email, an advertisement: 1 subject, 1 message.
Instead of destroying your entire recording when a subject becomes obsolete, reorganize specific subjects to stay current.
Be Relevant
Show callers that you understand them. Generic content does nothing for your brand and rarely makes sense to your customer. No longer consider being “general,” “timeless,” or “persistent” in your hold message script!
Allow no longer for callers to hear self-satisfactory, irrelevant messages. You hear that everywhere else. You can do better and offer a better brand image through your hold music for business messages.
50 Words or Less
Messages should be targeted. Callers cannot remember more than about 20 seconds and should not have to. Make a single important point using 50 words or less for better impact.
Targets
Callers are prospects… but also CUSTOMERS who call once or several times a week for some. Like subscribers on a LinkedIn page, they are your audience!
Use Randomization for Weekly Message Scheduling
Predictability causes blockages: and when you know what is coming, your brain loses interest. Randomization allows for the element of surprise and thus piques the interest of callers. Planning content at specific times of the day or days of the week is another technique for more substantial engagement.
Vary the Length of Each Hold Message
In a study on best practices for hold messages, callers heard a 3-minute song repeated over and over. They hung up when they realized they were hearing the same thing again and again. Particularly, callers were unconsciously adding up the minutes each time the song began to play.
Do not give callers a tool to count the minutes of waiting. Variety will give them the sensation that their waiting time is shorter than in reality.
Do Not Tell Callers They Are on Hold
Isn’t it amazing to note how often you will be on hold with a company and hear a recording reminding you that you are on hold? Statements like “Thank you for continuing to wait” or “Thank you for staying on the line” are off-putting. Avoid low-value statements!
Do Not Tell Callers They Are Important, Prove It
A study from the Carey School of Business (The On Hold Dilemma) proved what we have long suspected. When callers hear “Your call is important to us,” they are more likely to hang up. When you provide up-to-date and thus useful information for them, you truly show them how much you consider them.
Anticipate the Maximum Updating of Your Hold Messages
Since you will no longer use “generic” or “one-size-fits-all” hold content, you will need a plan to change the content that callers hear while waiting. Produce several individual subjects well before the need arises, and plan the broadcasts: give each message a start and end date.
For Extremely Long Wait Times, Choose Music That Makes People Happy
Whether short or longer, a wait time also gives way to music. Forget the bland “elevator” music right away and opt for recognizable commercial tracks that carry emotions. Choosing royalty-free music is not excluded, provided it ensures a strong identity, and has real “character,” since it embodies you in the ears of the callers.
A final note from VoIP.ms
At VoIP.ms, we know the impact of great hold music on customer experience. Our advanced VoIP features offer customizable hold music to fit your business needs. Visit our website to learn more and enhance your customer interactions today.