woman receiving a phone call

How to Leverage Voice Broadcast Marketing Effectively

Effective communication is king. And today there are several ways to make an instant connection, from email to text messaging services. So, why are so many businesses investing in voice broadcast marketing to reach customers and follow up on leads? Because phone conversations are more personal.

Telephone marketing is still highly effective, even in today’s digital-first world. For instance, it’s easier to discuss the details of a product or promotion through direct conversation than through written messages. And consider these numbers: Research has shown that the average click-through rate for email marketing was 1.25% in December 2021. Compare that to an average voicemail response rate of up to 33%.

If you want to get the best results from your outbound voice broadcasting efforts, you need to learn how to leverage the technology for your unique industry and its goals.

What is Voice Broadcast Marketing?

Voice broadcasting utilizes advanced software to distribute bulk phone calls and/or voicemail messages in less time. You can even send thousands of messages simultaneously with the right software.

Voice broadcast marketing can take many forms, including:

  • Pre-recorded voicemail — Record a voicemail message and allow your broadcasting system to drop it into mailboxes for you when live calls go to voicemail.
  • Robocalling — Pre-recorded messages delivered to recipients even if they answer the phone. When you pick up a robocall, you will hear a pre-recorded message instead of a live person. The message can be left on voicemail if the recipient doesn’t answer.
  • Interactive messages — You can send surveys and other interactive calls to collect data. This approach is often faster than asking for survey responses through social media, text, or email.
  • Text-to-Speech voicemails — Write down your message and allow software to create a clear audio message utilizing your words. The message is delivered exactly as you wrote it. It can even be personalized for each recipient. 

If you need to reach a group of people on the phone, you can benefit from voice broadcast marketing. It’s just a matter of selecting the right software and then customizing it with the features that work best for your needs.

Voice Broadcast Marketing Benefits

Now that you have a better understanding of what voice broadcast marketing is, let’s look at the benefits:

  • Voice broadcast marketing allows you to dial more numbers and leave more messages in less time.
  • You may need fewer live call agents, which may mean less office space as well.
  • Call agents can move between calls faster due to automated voicemail drops.
     
  • Live agents can be directly connected to interested customers. Give your customer or lead an option to press a key to talk to a live person immediately.
  • Every voicemail message left is exactly the same.
  • The risk for misunderstandings or misconceptions is lower than with text and email messaging.
  • You can re-record messages as many times as needed to get it just right.
  • You can send thousands of messages simultaneously if desired.  You can also control the rate at which your calls are placed depending on the number of live operators you have standing by.
  • Voice broadcast software makes it easy to track return calls and other marketing data.
  • You can split test multiple messages to determine the most effective tone and wording.
  • It’s easy to change messages at any time.
  • You can send different messages to different groups or call list subcategories.

How to Leverage Voice Broadcasting to Boost Marketing Results

How you use voice broadcast marketing depends on your goals for each marketing campaign. That’s why it’s important to work with versatile software. The more options available for designing a campaign, the more likely you are to have everything you need in one platform.

To help you leverage voice broadcasting effectively, here is a list of potential voice broadcasting marketing strategies, as well as tips to make each strategy work. You’ll also find a case study that shows the strategy in action.

Schedule Availability Notifications

If you manage the appointment calendar for a service provider, you know that cancellations are a costly problem. One cancellation creates a hole in the day that may leave a provider wasting time for an hour or longer. When multiple cancellations hit on the same day, the loss in productivity and revenue is substantial.

For many businesses, there are customers or patients willing to fill the holes if only they knew when those appointment slots were available. You may remedy this by asking staff members to call customers or patients with unexpectedly available appointment times, but that takes a lot of time. It’s also a distraction from more important tasks.

There is a way to leverage voice broadcast marketing to solve the problem with greater efficiency. You create a pre-recorded message that notifies clients or patients that an earlier appointment time is now available. They can simply press a number on their phone’s keypad to accept the appointment instantly or talk to a member of your staff to manually complete the appointment change.

This strategy can work for businesses in a variety of industries, including but not limited to:

  • Beauty salons
  • Spas
  • Medical practices
  • Charity organizations
  • Auto mechanics
  • Insurance agencies

If you schedule appointments and want to keep your calendar full, this is an effective way to leverage voice broadcasting software. Here are some tips to help you leverage this strategy effectively:

  • Focus on benefits to the client rather than pointing out the hole in your schedule. Research has shown that the most effective reminder notifications provide positive reinforcement for the recipient. Use wording that suggests they have a golden opportunity to move their appointment time up for faster service.
  • Combine this strategy with automated texting services to verify the new appointment time. Once the appointment time is accepted, a text message is sent to the client’s phone for confirmation.
  • Make sure the voice broadcast system you select is sophisticated enough to handle this type of campaign. You need the phone calls to stop once all appointments are filled. 

You will also need to adjust your schedule in the office to account for the appointment changes. At the very least, you should have a way to speak to patients on the spot if they choose to change their appointments. That allows you to manually make the adjustment in your system.

Automated Alert Message with Live Agent Option

This voice broadcast marketing strategy allows you to send an automated message that gives recipients the opportunity to talk to a live agent over the phone. It’s an interactive calling strategy that starts with a simple alert message. While that sounds negative, many positive alert messages work well with this strategy.

The strength of this voice broadcasting strategy is the ability to generate inbound calls that may lead to sales, renewals, or other positive outcomes for your business.

The following list of potential message types will give you a good idea of how to use this strategy effectively:

  • “Your bill is now 30 days past due. To avoid disconnection of service, press 1 to talk to an account representative now.”
  • “Your free trial will end in 3 business days. Press 1 to talk to a representative and continue service.”
  • “Congratulations! You’re the winner of our weekly social media drawing. Press 1 now to schedule your free consultation.”
  • “Your appointment with Dr. Bling is Tuesday, March 3. Press 1 now to confirm your appointment. If you need to reschedule your appointment, please press 2 to talk to our front office staff.”
  • “Your account is now eligible for bundled discounts. Press 1 to discuss your service options with our accounts representative.”

That list shows a variety of applications for this voice broadcast marketing strategy. The biggest benefit is that your call agents don’t have to speak to each person individually or wait for voicemail messages to play out. They simply receive inbound calls when a recipient chooses to click through to a live agent.

Here are a few tips to help you leverage this strategy:

  • Keep your introductory message short. Provide basic information and then allow the caller to transition to a live agent if they want more details or have questions.
  • Create follow-up messages to maximize results. As the clock ticks down toward a deadline, recipients are more likely to talk to an agent willingly. Don’t give up after one call.
  • Make sure these automated voice messages are only sent during operational hours for your live call agents. You don’t want recipients to attempt to connect to a live agent only to hit a voicemail box or out-of-office message.

Automated Voicemail for Mass Notifications

What if you need to reach a large group of people simultaneously, but you don’t need to speak to individuals in the group? This would traditionally take a lot of people to place the phone calls and manually leave the messages. You don’t have to do that with a voice broadcast system.

Automated Voice Broadcast allows you to pre-record a message and send it to hundreds or thousands of phone numbers simultaneously. 

This isn’t always a good idea, but it is one useful tool when appropriate and works well when you need to distribute one message to a group quickly.

Robocalling allows a computerized system to dial every number and deliver the pre-recorded message when someone answers. The message is left in voicemail inboxes for those that don’t answer.

This strategy works best when you have a group of people who are expecting the voicemail. They have opted in to receive voicemail notifications from your company or are part of an internal group that you coordinate and manage. 

This is an example of how voicemail broadcasting is useful for internal operations as well as marketing.

Here are some potential applications for this voice broadcast marketing strategy:

  • Alert employees, students, patients, or customers of facility closures due to adverse weather conditions
  • Quickly mobilize on-call teams for duty
  • Notify VIP customers of flash sales and special discounts
  • Invite previous customers to redeem special discounts when they place another order
  • Send thank you messages to customers who place substantial orders or leave reviews
  • Invite customers to review your company on social media

How do you leverage this strategy successfully? We have some tips to help:

  • If you offer a special discount in your message, don’t leave it open-ended. Put an expiration date or a specified period of time for redemption.
  • If you will send out urgent alerts to mobilize on-call teams, select a voice broadcast service that includes an urgent alert feature. You will have the combination of text messaging and emergency phone calls to ensure everyone on the list gets the message in a timely manner.

Elevate Your Marketing Strategy

There are many other types of campaigns for which you can leverage voice broadcast marketing. In addition to notifications, alerts, and voicemail drops, voice broadcasting is ideal for political calls, “Get Out the Vote” messaging, and interactive polling. You can even utilize voice broadcast for internal operations, which allows you to get more from the investment.

If you’re looking for a proven outbound voice broadcasting platform, VoiceShot is a leader that offers a versatile suite of services that enable you to do more in less time. Our strategy is to customize applications to meet the needs of every customer. VoiceShot messages are delivered across copper/PRI lines for incredible clarity, and we’ve invested in state-of-the-art technology to ensure your messages are delivered completely and promptly.

Sign up today or schedule a demo to see how VoiceShot can help you create outbound voice broadcast marketing campaigns that increase efficiency and revenue for your business or organization.