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Brief #69: Let’s talk about user-generated audio 🎙

This content originally appeared on July 1, 2021 as part of the Future of Marketing weekly email series. Subscribe here.

Welcome to Future of Marketing.

Each week, we send you the most relevant trends, resources, and strategies in social and user-generated content (UGC) from leading marketers and brands around the globe. 

Today, we’re discussing…

  • Social audio is turning up
  • Quotable moments from Social Media Week LA
  • #BrandCrush: Adult Swim 💘

Social audio is turning up 🔥

Did you know the music industry is set to earn $6 BILLION in revenue from user-generated content (UGC) by 2022?  

According to Midia Research:

UGC could generate significant revenues from demographic groups that do not pay for music, but who consume content on social platforms with voracity – especially so in the case of short-form video.”

Amid the pandemic, TikTok bolstered user-generated hits to the top of the charts, where 80% TikTok users now report they discover new music on the platform – making TikTok the #1 place for music discovery (more than any other platform or streaming service).

Even Snapchat launched its ‘Sounds’ feature as a way for people to create videos using licensed music.

But the future of UGC goes way beyond just music. The podcasting and short-form audio worlds are also emerging. Now, Spotify is accelerating podcast discovery, Facebook is testing audio rooms, and Clubhouse and Instagram allow listeners to tip speakers  (and Twitter is following suit) – making user-generated audio worth paying (very) close attention to.  

For brands, this is also an opportunity to dabble into new ways of social listening, content creation, and potentially discover (and elevate) the next rising star.  ⭐️

Quotable moments from Adweek #SMWLA

Today is the final day of Social Media Week LA – and it’s been an incredible learning experience so far.

In case you missed it, we’re rounding up our five (5) favorite quotable moments from the event: 

  1. “People with the biggest numbers and reach don’t necessarily yield the most results. It’s the influencers with an engaged community that can deliver those results.” – Aliana (Ali) Miller, Riot Games
  2. “Trends move really fast on TikTok, and you have to stay on top of it or you’ll be left behind. You have to learn to mold yourself around the trends and get your message across.” – Hammy Hamilton, Youth Voice, It Gets Better Project
  3. “Don’t get tricked by vanity metrics.” – Maggie Reznikoff, Open Influence
  4. “At the end of the day, nobody wants to be forced to share content. Create a culture where your employees will willingly WANT to create content for you.” – Ivonne Aldaz, TINT and Future of Marketing
  5. “When you can lean on micro-influencers – and internal employees who are also micro-influencers – you have so much more space to activate across channels. Work smarter, not harder – activate those micro-influencers.” – S. David Ramirez, TINT
A man virtually presenting a slide presentation, which states to "start with your customers and team due to lower costs, more content, faster production, trusted and authentic, and higher engagement and conversions."

For more tidbits like this, give AdWeek a follow on Twitter. They’ve been live-tweeting the event. 😉

What we’re learning

#BrandCrush: Adult Swim 💘

In a trend started by content creator Vano 3000, TikTok users have been recreating ingenious bumps to showcase Adult Swim’s “[as]” logo using Vano 3000’s remix of “Time Moves Slow” by BADBADNOTGOOD… so much that someone even got a tattoo of the logo. 🤯

Talk about brand loyalty…

A close-up of a tattoo artist tattooing "[as]" on an Adult Swim's fan's leg

Since the first TikTok was posted on June 4th, over 664.5K users have used Vano 3000’s sound to recreate their own version of the trend. Not to mention, the hashtag #AdultSwim currently has over 4.1 billion views on TikTok – demonstrating the potential of user-generated audio. 

In a way, TikTok creators have been creating free and authentic advertising for Adult Swim by letting word-of-mouth run its course. Plus, it’s free publicity for the creators, which reinforces brand loyalty. 

Know any brands elevating UGC to connect with their audience? DM us on Twitter for a chance to have your #BrandCrush featured in our weekly brief.