Umano Reads Articles Aloud So You Can Listen on the Go

It’s not everyday that I come across a content and mobile marketing game-changer, but that’s exactly what happened when I discovered Umano.

Best described as a “content platform,” Umano serves up “The largest library of free audio articles” to folks who download its mobile app. What makes these “audio articles” unique is the fact that each one is a recorded reading of a written news update or blog post.

Yep, Umano is the “Books on Tape” version for news sites and blogs.

While the ability to “read” blog posts on the go is Umano’s primary offering, the platform also provides many compelling opportunities to content and mobile marketers as well. So compelling in fact, I was frankly surprised that Umano was not better well known within the content and mobile marketing community of which I am a long-time member.

Excited, I dug into the Umano platform; here’s what I found:

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Blog Posts and News Updates on the Go

Before I dive into the opportunities that Umano provides to content and mobile marketers, let’s take a look at the consumer side.

Umano is a content consumer’s dream. Similar to “Books on Tape” or online solutions such as Audible, Umano enables you to “read” not from books, but from your favorite online blogs and news sites on the go. Imagine staying up to date on the latest news and advice in your car, while you work out or during any of those downtimes when your mind is free to wander but reading is not a viable option.

Better yet, Umano enables you to submit the updates and posts that you’re most interested in having recorded. Here’s how it works:

Throw in features such as “Listen Later” playlists, recommendations and the ability to follow specific topics, content publishers and voice artists and Umano is a robust tool for both finding and listening to useful and relevant content.

Umano’s free app is available for both iOS and Android devices. Here’s an example of the app on an iPhone:

As you can see below, Umano does offer a premium option for $3.99 per month. You can also earn a premium account for free by inviting friends to join Umano using a specific referral link that’s provided to you.

Get Your Content and Mobile Marketing Here

On the marketing side, Umano gives you the ability to increase:

1. The value of each piece of content you create by re-purposing the same content in a different form (e.g. written to audio);
2. The ways your content can be consumed by adding the “audio on mobile devices” option;
3. The reach of your published content by putting said content in front of the Umano community to consume; and
4. Targeted inbound traffic to your site thanks to the fact that each recording is linked back to the original written content.

Taken together, these four benefits can positively impact your marketing efforts in a big way. Let’s take a look at that impact from the perspectives of a few different types of marketers:

Using Umano as a:

Content Publisher

If you run a news or blog site, you’re a content publisher. Umano enables you to expand your audience, extend your brand, drive targeted traffic to your site and even earn revenue. As you can see below, they provide a handy player for listening on your own site and offer further customization and integration as well.

Writer

If you write for online news sites and/or blogs, then Umano can bring your work to the attention of a big audience while earning you additional income. That’s a powerful combo.

You don’t even need to worry about how to record your content — Umano provides an in-browser recording studio for you to use.

Speaker and/or Voice Actor

Talk about your low-hanging marketing fruit — whether you’re a speaker or voice actor, Umano is the perfect stage to showcase your talent in front of a large audience.

Profiles and Channels = Centralized Marketing

Umano provides a central spot for both users and content providers to share the content they like and create, user profiles and writer/publisher/narrator channels. From a marketing perspective, both profiles and channels offer two advantages:

1. They serve as a place where you can provide value to your followers by collecting useful content for them to consume (i.e. content curation); and
2. They serve as yet another search-engine indexed profile that builds your online presence and authority while earning you the trust that converts to leads and sales online.

Here’s a look at a user profile as well as the different types of channels:

The Bottom Line

From a marketing perspective, there’s a lot to explore inside the Umano content and mobile marketing platform, and I’m planning to add some Umano narrations to my own marketing mix (my wife tells me I have a great “narrator voice”).

I would love to read (or listen to) some real-life marketing case studies. It may be the lack of success enjoyed by stories on either Umano’s site or their blog that’s putting interested marketers off. Maybe that’s the reason it took so long for me to discover them.

Though Umano is still relatively unknown, I believe that’s going to change soon based on the success of “Books on Tape” and online services such as Audible. The people have spoken and we like our content on the go — Umano satisfies that need to a tee.

Image: Umano

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