Five Tips to Drive Action with Soundbite
Internal communicators and change management teams often focus on telling people information. That's great - awareness is the first important step in change management.
However, communicators often need employees to act on this information - to do something.
Yet, there is no concrete request. No "call to action." Soundbites drive real engagement. Yet need a compelling call to action to get employees, managers, and leaders taking the steps you'd like them to accomplish.
What makes a good call to action in audio? A recent Podnews article had five tips to follow for podcasts and audio. The same works for Soundbites:
1. Make it clear - what do you want listeners to do after listening?
Example: to submit ideas for a new hybrid working employee experience plan (using Soundbite)
2. Use an enticing offer or incentive to those who act
Example: If you submit an idea, you can join a leadership forum where your thoughts are discussed and assessed.
Example 2: An invite to an *exclusive* Soundbite feed. For example, this may have short five-minute discussions of ideas by leadership where you feature more CTAs!
3. Give a deadline for when the listener should take action
Example: Two weeks is usually the maximum effective deadline to get people moving. You can remind employees of that deadline as it decreases in the time left.
4. Be specific about what will happen if listeners don't act on your CTA
Example: Act now, this is your only chance to share your input to our new hybrid working policy. We want your ideas but must time box our policy creation process. If you don't make suggestions now, we will not review the policy for another 12 months. [You need to use some FOMO]
5. Keep your desired action concise, so listeners are more likely to follow through.
Example: In your Soundbite, include a link to the idea submission Soundbite feed. Make it simple, straightforward, concise, and easy to take action.
And there you go: a simple one-minute Soundbite can invite people to submit, create some FOMO, and generate new ideas for your hybrid employee experience.
And if you would like to keep reading, check out What's Next? Have Fun with Calls to Action.
About the author
For 15 years, James Tyer has designed and facilitated processes and enabled technologies that help change to happen successfully. James helps large communities of people work together and is the author of Social by Design. James helps design the facilitation process, build bridges between silos, and teach/coach new ways of working and collaborating.