(How-to-tips) Using short-form audio in your content strategy

Estimated read time: 3 minutes


Short-form video content – think Instagram Reels or TikTok – has been a thing for a while and indeed can be addictive. People scroll through those short videos all night and maybe even all day. But what about short-form audio content? Why is that not a thing, or maybe it is?

Let’s dive into the top of short-form audio content here and see how your brand or you as a creator might be able to use it.

What is short-form audio?

Short-form audio is audio content that has a time limit to it. How long certainly can be debated. Some apps in the market allowed nine-minute uploads, then 90 seconds, which is also what Beams.fm has as a recording time.

Read next: How do I know if I have LinkedIn audio?

How to create short-form audio content

You can create short audio content on several different platforms:

Twitter has audio memos – aka audio tweets

You can record short voice messages from the smartphone app and then publish them on Twitter. Here’s how that looks. Click on 2. No. 1 starts a Twitter Space.

Twitter audio tweet

 

short-form audio on Twitter record

Audiograms on any networks

Audiograms – short snippets from a podcast – technically are short audio content. Adding an audio wave hardly makes it a video. Audiograms can be produced on a number of platforms and can basically be used anywhere – including, LinkedIn, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and even TikTok.

Short-form audio apps

Beams.fm is one such app. The audio clip starts playing while you can see the cover art the creator uploaded for that specific audio file. I would say the first few seconds of a TikTok video matter. When it comes to audio, the picture and the first few seconds of the audio matter. That could include:

  • Sound quality
  • Tone of voice
  • Quality of the story being shared
  • Likeability of the voice

As they say, first impressions matter. That holds true for audio as well. And one thing I’ve struggled with and thought of is how podcasts sometimes take a bit to get to the actual meat of the show. I’ve tried to get to the point quicker on my show, which takes some getting used to – for the guest and me. After the intro and a quick setup, I throw it to my guest with a question.

On Beams, I can record or upload an audio clip up to 90 seconds long.
short form audio beams
Once uploaded, write a post, add hashtags and publish. You can also share from there to other social networks, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify. Sharing to Spotify and Apple will create a new podcast on those channels. So make sure you name your Beams channels what you want the podcast to be called. I’m calling my Beams Channel “Christoph Trappe’s Content Corner.”
Beams posts and sharing
Alternatively, you could also record a quick reaction or summary of a topic discussed on the podcast.

Short-form audio conclusion

Audio content can be a differentiator and should be part of a content strategy. At least, it should be considered. Whether that’s through podcasting or short-form audio content elsewhere. It’s yet another way to show off your brand’s human site and connect with people differently.


Listen to my podcast

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