Author: Glen

When it comes to e-Learning, which is better, audio or text?

Text is often the foundation of digital learning due to the ease of writing, or updating the content however, audio can add emotion, personality and tone that will help enrich the overall learning experience.

We often see e-Learning combine text and audio, where a narrator reads the text on the screen, however, recent studies suggest that this is not particularly effective.

This is because people process text and audio differently. This means that text and audio may become ineffective, or redundant in targeting a learner’s auditory and visual channels at the same time. 

For example, if you watch a TV show with audio captions, you may notice that you read dialogue before it’s spoken, limiting the emotional impact of the on-screen action.

In the context of storytelling, text can be written in a compelling manner however, audio will improve engagement because the listener will better associate with the emotion behind the voice.

Audio can also create a memorable experience; a critical component of e-Learning because it allows the listener to better retain and recall the information.

Audio continues to be an effective tool in e-Learning, and if used properly can provide better outcomes. However, when deciding on the best media, context for the learning will ultimately influence the solution.

We’ve all seen the resurgence of vinyl records in recent years. 

According to the British Phonographic Industry, 5.3 million LPs were sold in 2021, and even though streaming accounts for 83% of UK music consumption, vinyl LPs represented over a quarter of all physical format purchases.

While you might think it’s nostalgic Boomers, or Gen Xers behind the renaissance, surveys actually show it’s millennial consumers driving the trend.

Despite the resurgence, Redshark News writer David Shapton, remains steadfast, arguing that the audio quality of digital is far superior to vinyl.

To test this, David took a live sound source and recorded it in two ways. First, via analogue tape and then to vinyl. Second, direct to a digital recorder, capturing at 24 bits and at 192KHz sampling frequency.

So which sounded better? The digital one, suggests David. 

“They will sound different, and the sound from the vinyl record certainly won’t be unpleasant if it’s recorded well. But by any objective and subjective measure, it will sound worse than the digital one.”

In his experiment David concluded that there’s nothing wrong with liking the “vinyl” sound. It’s only when proponents of a certain analogue “sound” feel so strongly that they start denying the feasibility of a really good digital recording that it becomes a problem.

He suggests it’s not their ears. It’s their brains, or, more specifically, their cognitive systems that prefer the audio from a vinyl record. It’s a trigger to our brains that makes us say that “this sounds great”.

You can read the full story from Redshark News here.

Spotify has announced the release of call-to-action cards for advertisers in Australia, Canada and the U.K.

Spotify suggests the new clickable call-to-action cards will provide a visual component to audio ads, making it easier for users to view brands, products and services while listening to content, without having to remember promo codes, or URLs.

Spotify suggests recent tests show a 2x increase in site visits with the new CTA cards compared with non-clickable podcast ads.

The CTA cards will appear as a podcast begins, and reappear again later, with another opportunity for listeners to engage.

Spotify’s Head of sales (AUNZ) Pieter Manten said, “Consumers can select the moment they want to be discovering and shopping on their own terms, which enhances their experience.”

The CTA cards are now available in Australia on all Spotify Original & Exclusive podcasts.

As digital marketing technologies and ecosystems have grown, traditional advertising has lost some of its favour. However, the recent CMO Survey suggests that a shift back to traditional media is underway.

The CMO Survey suggests that online consumers have become increasingly numb to conventional digital ads and engagement.

They suggest, traditional ads are seeing greater engagement, while the costs associated with them have fallen.

Another trend driving an increase in traditional ad spending is the continued consumer trust in traditional formats like print and TV.

The survey found that some companies have recently reinvested in traditional advertising as a result of Google and Apple’s forthcoming cookie tracking changes.

Marketers have also started tapping into podcasts because their on-demand approach is akin to traditional radio and listeners trust their podcast presenters.

Like traditional advertising, digital marketing effectiveness is being revisited, however, the CMO Survey concludes that traditional advertising is “alive and well” and when used with digital marketing, can reach more audiences, build and maintain trust and motivate buying from consumers who might otherwise ignore marketing messages.