The Sound of Success: Audio Strategies for Video Ad Creatives

Actually, this is quite a popular opinion. These days, a lot of creative looks really good. So why is it still so easy to be left scratching your head, wondering why so many handsome video ads aren’t landing? 

It might be time to stop looking and start listening. 

Effective, considered audio strategies can be the difference between another victim of “the scroll” and an ad that sticks in viewers’ heads for days.

Sound often gets tacked on at the end of a production, treated like a background feature instead of a crucial part of creative strategy. That’s a missed opportunity.

Because when audio is planned with care, people talk about it. It helps your ad get attention. It's something viewers can easily call to memory. And importantly, it helps convey a FEELING about your brand. 

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Why Sound Design is the Unsung Hero of Effective Video Ads

Sound travels fast. It gets under your skin before your brain’s even caught up. It alerts us to danger, but it also plays on our natural curiosity. 

We’ve all been there. You’re walking down a street and you hear a car backfiring. It doesn’t matter what you were doing, thinking or saying a moment earlier. Something’s tapped into an ancient part of your brain. You’re going to turn around and look for the source. That’s why it deserves your attention when you're trying to get other people's attention.

Plenty of research backs this up. WARC found that campaigns using audio in any form, including voice, music or brand cues, performed better across the board.

So why is it often just an afterthought on campaigns?

Because most of us lead with visuals. And that makes sense, until you realise your audience might hear you before they even see you.

Sound narrates how people will feel about what they’re seeing:

• Upbeat music makes a brand feel lively and friendly.
• A deep, steady voice adds weight and trust.
• Sudden sound effects grab attention or urge action.

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Music Selection: Strategic Choices That Enhance Brand Recognition

If the audio doesn’t match the story your visuals are telling, the whole ad can feel off. This can be an intentional choice to play for laughs by comically undercutting the visual element of your story. But unless this is done with care, that disharmony will see viewers swiftly moving on.

But the song selection is just one of the choices creatives need to approach with care.

When you’re picking music:

• Match tempo to the emotion you want to create.
• Steer clear of tired clichés.
• Use tracks that loop cleanly for short-form formats.
• Stick with a consistent style or theme across ads.

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Voice-Over Best Practices: Casting, Direction and Script Adaptation

Your voiceover is your brand’s voice… obviously. So choose wisely.

To get it right:

• Select a voice that matches your brand personality.
• Direct the performance: give guidance on tone, pacing, even where to pause.
• Keep scripts tight, especially for 6-second or bumper ads.
• Test with and without sound. Remember, subtitles matter.

Calm, the meditation app, is a great example. Their voiceovers are slow and soothing, exactly what their users expect to hear.

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Sound for Silent Viewing: Designing for Muted Playback Environments

Here’s something that might surprise you. Most social videos are watched on mute. So does that mean you’ve wasted your time reading this blog? 

The fact that consumers appear to like it quiet doesn’t make sound less important. It makes it more important.

Choices around audio can guide how you craft an impactful video:

• Your visuals should tell the story clearly on their own.
• Subtitles should match the voiceover tone and pace.
• Good sound rewards those who choose to unmute.

Using sound in videos likely to be muted means the chance to add captions. Reports have shown that this can have several benefits, not least that they prompt viewers to unmute their phones to hear what they’re reading.

Most people react negatively to sound that plays automatically. But when someone taps to hear more? That’s a strong signal of interest. Don’t waste it.

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Audio Branding: Creating Sonic Signatures That Stick

“Da-dumm.” Who would’ve thought that was the signal for an incoming couple of hours spent watching a movie or TV show?

Someone at Netflix, that’s who. And now, everyone understands what that simple drum hit means.

A sonic signature, something as simple as a few notes or a recurring voice, can do the following:

• Tie campaigns together across platforms.
• Build recognition, even before visuals load.
• Set the tone before your script begins.

Even a short sting or closing sound can help you stand out. Just don’t forget to compress audio files along with your video to keep things speedy.

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Brands That Get Audio Right

Apple’s “Shot on iPhone” Series Often no voiceover at all, just carefully chosen music that shapes the mood. It’s clean, but it elicits grand emotions, in line with Apple’s overall branding strategy.

Spotify Wrapped Their voiceovers sound like the kind of friend you’d follow on social. Relaxed, informal and instantly recognizable as a Spotify voice.

Headspace on YouTube This is probably an obvious one. Everything, music, voice, even transitions, reflects calm. Their sound design is an integral part of their product experience.

These aren’t about big budgets. They’re about knowing who you are, and owning a sound that transmits that to listeners.

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Conclusion

When films were silent, cinemas hired full orchestras to keep people tuned in. They instinctively knew that images weren’t enough.

Good creative is just good storytelling. And sound is at the heart of any story. 

Audio can make your video ads more memorable and more effective, but only if you treat it as part of the creative process from the start.

It’s not an add-on. It’s the whole story: beginning, middle and end.

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