Audio strategy

Audio can be an effective tool in campaigning and advocacy. This guide examines the uses of audio, what makes effective campaigning content, and how to strategise about using audio in your organizing work.

Creating an excellent audio piece is no longer the preserve of media experts. Today everybody can potentially make an audio piece, so long as you have some basic equipment and a little background knowledge. Using audio for campaigning and advocacy is a growing phenomenon, but it takes planning to make a piece innovative and effective.

This guide looks at how you can create an audio work that is powerful and useful to you and your audiences. There are many different kinds of audio pieces, ranging from in-studio discussions, talk shows and phone-ins; to in-the-field recordings of events such as a rally. Other popular formats are documentaries or features that combine various recordings — such as interviews, background sounds, music and narration.

All these types of programming can now also be distributed as podcasts, i.e. as downloadable audio feeds you can subscribe to online. These segments can be used for many different types of campaigning or education. It is a great way to reach a mass audience — both those who may listen to radio stations and people who listen to audio online.

When someone listens to your programme, they are engaging with the content in an intimate way — just you and them. Radio/audio has the power to be both private and public; intimate and broad-based. It can reach large amounts of people who may not otherwise be exposed to your message and provide them with compelling and personal details.