Listen Carefully. Were You Listening Or Did You Just Read That?
I've been experimenting with adding audio to my Substack articles over the past few weeks. This is what I've learnt.
Can I Be Bother?
Recording and editing audio can take a hell of a lot of time. But is it worth the effort?
Does your post get boosted if you add audio?
Does it attract a following and subscribers?
With the popularity of Amazon Audible are more people moving towards listening rather than reading?
Back in September, I spent over 4 hours recording and editing the audio for a Substack article about a friend whose online accounts got hacked. You can listen to the audio here.
While I’m proud of what I achieved with my novice Audacity skills, was spending that much time on the audio really worthwhile?
What Do Readers Really Want?
I reached out to my modest following on X, Substack and a writer’s slack group of which I’m a member and asked the simple question; “Do you listen to the audio in articles published online?”
I got some interesting answers and unusual reasons. Here are some of the replies I got back:
Read. But then I'm a fast reader. If it's audio, it makes it easier for my mind to wander.
Depends where I am. Usually read, but if I'm on the go, audio is easier.
I prefer to read. I soak in the language more when I read it rather than listen.
Reading too, here. It is easier to fully immerse myself. And it's easier to scroll up and down instead of stopping and looking for the right time.
Reading allows me to really focus.
So there were a group of readers who clearly preferred reading over listening as this helped them focus and absorb the content as well as navigate around the article if they wanted to skip ahead.
The other thing that came to light during this survey was the way people interacted with Substack - more than half only read the email and did not click through to the app or website to listen to the author’s recording. This alone is swaying the effort needle to the lower end of the scale.
But then there were the auditory cheerleaders. Here’s what they commented:
Depends. It becomes a habit to listen to a podcast from one person and read work from another. Also if I don’t like their voice, I won’t listen.
Listening to voiceovers enriches the post for me as it’s another way to build a connection with the author by hearing them speak.
After a while, sometimes I can hear their voice when I read their content (notes or posts).
Hey Abid, audio makes your article accessible. Not only in our rushed society or Podcast sense but for folks with disabilities. Or like me - my concussion brain can't read reams of text anymore.
I would only listen to the audio if I'm curious about the person's voice, or want to hear their voice, for some reason.
I always make an audio because it adds value, people can listen in the car and when doing housework, plus we get into habits about how we consume different creator's content.
These people are looking to build a connection with the writer not only through reading but also listening and after some time some people mentioned they could hear the writer’s voice in their head while reading their work.
Also, Janet made a strong point that it makes my article more accessible to folks with disabilities which is so often overlooked.
The Verdict
Over 80% of the people who took the survey said they preferred to read articles and rarely listened to the audio associated with the text. Were these results skewed because of the writer’s cohort that I’m a part of? Do they spend more time on Substack than the average reader and do they read more to consume content for their own writing?
I’ll have to re-run this survey when I have a larger and more diverse following but until then; I’m going to continue recording audio for my articles so that I can accommodate the 20% who like to listen.
Next step is to find a way to streamline the audio recording and editing process.
Credits:
Music: Somewhere in the Clouds by Keys of Moon | https://soundcloud.com/keysofmoon
Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Fascinating article Abid! I started putting out audio voice-overs as a way to emotionally process what I had written. It had immense value for me but when I asked a few readers if they had ever listened to the audio they said no. So now if I do an audio I do it for myself, because like you said, 80% will likely never hear it. Side note: About 3 or 4 months ago Substack was placing a play button on the upper right corner of posts. When clicked an AI voice would read the article to you. I found this incredibly useful myself. It disappeared (on my substack app at least) so I use the app Reader to have an AI voice read articles to me when I'm on walks or in the car.
Love this reflection, Abid. Your audio recordings are just phenomenal and I think everyone should be listening to you. That said, perhaps it's really just an issue of medium/channel. Substack posts may still be primarily read, but perhaps a podcast is where your audio talents will shine so much more -- and trust me, you have a significant talent!
My two cents: You definitely aren't wasting your time, but perhaps your value is not being appreciated sufficiently in your current mode of delivery.