What Is “Sonic Branding?” Why Does It Get Travelers So Excited To Book?

Sales Secret: In the world of sales, sales professionals have been trained to understand that to “sell” successfully, you’ll have “to transfer a feeling.”

When booking a vacation, you have to get the traveler to feel excited and stir up their emotions -but how?

How do you make someone “feel?” (Hitting someone on the nose to cause pain doesn’t count) 🙂

On a serious note, I’m sharing some marketing mojo that should be music to your ears.

Question: What is the quickest way to make someone feel an emotion you want them to feel?

Answer: Through the awesome psychological power of music.

That’s exactly why we need to use music in our vacation rental marketing strategy. 

Unfortunately, not many of us have mastered the art of music marketing and some are not using it at all.

Is it because we don’t realize its power in advertising?

As a research director for ad agency giant Y&R so aptly explained in his extensive study of music in advertising,

“Music may well be the single most stimulating component of advertising, and neither the diagnosticians nor the testers are giving it sufficient attention or credit.”

I could replace the words “diagnosticians” and “testers” with “owners” and “managers” or “experts” and “professionals” and I think it would be just as relevant – just saying the VR space is pretty quiet.

In fact, I believe this is the first vacation rental marketing blog that is fully covering the topic of music in marketing.

It’s about time we discussed this. You’re welcome.

The Marketing Magic Of Music

Now, let’s ponder on how music transfers emotions for a moment.

Have you ever turned a song on and within just a couple of short seconds you felt a boost of adrenaline, joy or excitement from hearing your favorite song?

There’s good reason for that since music “reprograms” us. Studies show music actually changes our brain waves.  It’s like a mood switch!

Fact: Music is a natural antidepressant.

Music Is The Ultimate Motivator

Think about the iconic songs, “Eye of The Tiger” used in the movie soundtrack Rocky, and “I’m a Survivor.”

Think about what those songs do to someone’s psyche. They excite and empower them.

Vice-versa. While music can stir up positive emotions, it is like a two-edged sword that can cause negative or less desirable emotions to surface.

I remember breaking up with my first girlfriend and every time I heard a song called “Pretty Brown Eyes”, a lump would form in my throat and make my eyes water.

Yes! That’s the power of music! And it could’ve also had something to do with puberty… I’m not sure 🙂

Point is, choose your music wisely!

Interesting fact: In studies where music had inhibiting effect or little or no effect on emotional response, it was probably due to a poor fit between the advertisement and the background music. (Stout & Rust, l986) (MacInnis & Park, l991)

Music choices should not be based on your favorite music or what you like.

Your choice of music should be based on the emotional experience you want it to bring to your audience.

And please, please, please ask at least five people about the music you’re considering before publishing your advertisement.

This is your brand we’re talking about here, and no offense, but some of you have “interesting” taste in music. 🤦

The Pre-Experience Vacation 

When selecting music for vacation rental videos that we create for our clients, we like to match up the video with the music style of the destination.

If the vacation rental is in New Orleans, you may want to consider using Jazz for the music in the property video.

If the vacation rental is in Hawaii, you may want to use a tune with a ukulele.

The idea should be to give them a sample of what they could experience.

People like to experience the culture when they travel, so you’re providing them with what they want even before they book with you.

Music Increases Brand Recall

In a study by Oatas, it was uncovered that advertisements that used music which was congruent with the content of the ad, increased the recall of a brand in those who were exposed to the ad.

Sonic Branding: Sonic Branding is the use of a melody, song or tune to support your brand’s message.

You can utilize sonic branding with a jingle, in a slogan or even a phone number. You remember these…

Nationwide Is On Your Side – Nationwide Insurance

I’m Lovin It – Mcdonalds

“Call 1-800-STEEMER, Stanley Steemer gets carpets cleaner,” 

If you can create a melody that customers replay in their head as they whistle along their day, then you’re maximizing your ad buy exponentially.

Don’t think this is just for the big guys.

What’s The Best Music Genre To Use In Marketing?

There’s no right answer to this question. You know your brand and you should know what’ll appeal to your potential customers.

There is, however, data that tells us what is the best kind of music to use if we want to create catchy advertising that people remember.

According to the APA journal, Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity and the Arts, the songs that are most likely to stick with you carry a faster tempo and a simple generic type melody with unique characteristics.

A Word Of Warning About Choosing Music

I recently had a client ask to use a famous song for their vacation rental video, but I had to advise her of the issues in doing that.

The danger with using a popular song is you’re violating copyright laws and it could cause you some legal drama, so avoid it.

YouTube might let you post it but they have a way, something like the Shazam app, where they can identify the artist and song from the sound of the music.

I’ve seen Google mute videos with over a thousand views. This really stinks to have this happen and lose your, once great video.

Use royalty free music only!

Music: The Master Manipulator Of Emotions

Music gives new meaning to the phrase “Playing with my emotions.”

Music speaks to the soul. It’s the language of emotions and we’ve learned from my other posts that emotions are an important part of the buying process.

Studies have also shown that music affects buying decisions. Of course, that is done through the emotional experiences that music evokes.

It’s also proven that music can increase the amount of money customers spend with an establishment.

That’s part of the reason why we hear music playing in the background of many retail stores.

How Does That Work? The Science Behind Music

Music can flush the body with dopamine, a neurotransmitter that makes you feel good.

According to the Neuro at McGill University – music does not just trigger emotional responses but physical ones too. This is why music is so unique; it has amazing overriding power over the human body.

At McGill, they measured the dopamine release in response to hearing music that actually elicited “chills,” changes in skin conductance, heart rate, breathing, and even temperature all correlated with pleasurability ratings of the music.

So maybe it wasn’t puberty after all…

How Not To Use Music In Your Marketing

Have you ever visited a website where music immediately begins to play as the website opens? This is something you don’t want to do.

I share an example of that in one of our vacation rental makeover videos.

In that makeover video,  owner Paola made the mistake of having a video play automatically without giving viewers the option to click play.

People often search online for vacations while they’re at work.

Imagine the boss hearing loud sounds of the steel drum abruptly coming on from your computer.

Probably not a good thing. You’ve probably just been busted!

Using music that automatically plays will make people immediately click off of your website in order to silence the loud interruption and save their jobs 🙂

Alternatively, having music/audio as an option for people to click on to hear is a much better solution to using music on your vacation rental website.

This allows people to play the video/music when they want to?

It keeps your website visitors from getting spooked and leaving your site.

People will hear your music, trust me. Videos are very hard to resist clicking on when people have a genuine interest in the product.

Did you find this article useful? Please feel free to ask any questions you might have.

Do you have a favorite jingle? Drop it in the comments.

Now go on, get working on your marketing mojo and sonic branding!

And if you need my help, please reach out. I’d be happy to help.

Click here to contact me.