While our focus is text, we understand that sometimes you need a bit more (especially our artists!). So, we’ve taken it a step further and developed a suite of audio features that takes your fan experience to the next level.
Our audio-based features include three tools:
- Custom Voicemails
- Phone Trees
- Call-to-sign-up
- *Bonus Tool: Audio Messages
Let's examine how some Subtext artists have used these features to drive fan engagement.
Custom Voicemails
Voicemails are great ways to provide fans with an additional layer of exclusive access and promote massive engagement. You can make the voicemail a recording of a simple greeting/shout-out, tease new music, and even allow fans to leave you a voicemail for the artist.
Use Case Highlight: Perrie Edwards
Perrie Edwards of the band Little Mix decided to promote her second solo single "Tears" with a hotline for her fans. By calling in the hotline, fans could have exclusive access to the unreleased single, weeks before it dropped!
Phone Tree
By creating a phone tree, you are giving fans multiple options and pathways to explore from listening to music or leaving a voicemail. What we like to call a “choose your own adventure” experience.
Use Case Highlight: Maggie Rogers
Maggie Rogers launched the WANT WANT Hotline to promote her latest single and album. She tweeted what seemed to be an inconspicuous picture of a phone number on the back of a receipt, but when called, fans got a “choose your own adventure” experience. Fans were given three options:
- Leave a voicemail.
- Hear Maggie’s new single.
- Listen to an unreleased single from her new album.
The custom phone tree gave fans a unique experience they went wild for, creating tons of fan-generated content. Her campaign received over 22,000 calls and 2,300+ voicemails from fans. Maggie took it a step further by recording her reactions to fans’ voicemails which she shared on TikTok.
Call To Sign-up
A multitude of Subtext artists have decided to cross-promote both their audio components and text channels. Alkaline Trio recently decided to connect with fans differently by creating an interactive text and audio experience.
How It Works
- A fan calls the phone number
- They are sent a trigger text from their call-in with instructions on how to sign up for the text channel
- Fan follows instructions to sign up for the text channel
BAM! The easiest conversion you’ll ever see.
With conversion rates ranging from 50-75% from calling into sign-up, adding this feature is a no-brainer. 
Use Case Highlight: Alkaline Trio
The band launched their hotline on social media, using it to promote their new text channel and announce the beginning of the countdown for their new album. They also enabled our newest voice feature which immediately sends a text to the fan after calling in with sign-up instructions for their text channel. By using text and audio, Alkaline Trio was able to drive excitement and engagement around their new release.
*Bonus Tool: Audio Messages
The best of both worlds: audio WITHIN a text.
Audio messages or voice notes are great ways to engage with SMS. Drop fans a personal hello or tease them a new chorus! By adding voice quality, the personalization of SMS channel reaches an entirely new level.
Use Case Highlight: Marren Morris
To build anticipation for her newest album Humble Quest, Maren Morris launched the “Humble Quest Hotline” where she encouraged fans to leave audio messages of times they’ve been humbled.
She had a flood of fan stories from small moments to life-changing events. Maren and her team reached out to select fans to ask if they could share their stories and included them during an interview with Apple Music. These audio elements allowed Maren to create a deeper connection with her fans by including them intimately in the promotion of Humble Quest.
Her team even created a series of merchandise that touted her "Humble Quest Hotline" campaign number.
TL;DR
The audio-based features are a great way for creators to communicate and connect with fans on a deeper level. Whether you want to create buzz around new content, exchange audio recordings with fans, or create a more interactive experience, creators now have audio in their SMS marketing toolbox.
If you are interested in exploring Subtext’s audio features, schedule a demo with the Subtext team.