We have a client who prefers relatively long On Hold Messaging copy. Typically, we suggest keeping OHM messages shorter 1) so that callers will be more likely to hear the entire message, 2) because callers tend to retain the message longer if it's presented succinctly, and 3) because callers can easily feel overwhelmed when presented with non-stop talking. (On Hold Messaging is meant to pique interest, not give all the details about a company, product or service.)
But even after offering these thoughts to our client, they still wanted to present a large amount of information - about 60 seconds worth in each message. So, we came up with the idea of using two voices to record each message. We divided each long section of copy into 3 or 4 parts, then revised the script slightly to present it more as a conversation between the two voices. Hardly a groundbreaking idea when you consider multiple voices are often used in radio and TV spots, but it's not often done with straight OHM copy. Two voices also "break up" the long messages so they're more interesting and appealing to the ear.
The bottom line: we found a way to make the content more palatable to the end user - the caller - and that will make our On Hold Messaging program even more effective for our client.
