Audible Tests In-App Video Promotions Amid Martech Push

Audible has quietly launched a US-only beta programme allowing publishers to upload vertical promotional videos directly within its app, reaching half of its American user base since December.

Initial participants include the ‘Big Four’ – Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette Audio, and Macmillan, alongside Audible Originals. Formats range from author interviews to trailers.

The move signals Audible’s belated embrace of short-form video, a format that has turbocharged TikTok’s #BookTok community and reshaped how readers discover titles.

Sue Shlapakovsky, Audible’s head of product science, discovery and martech (marketing technology in English), frames it as meeting “listeners where they are.”

Martech – the ecosystem of tools automating campaigns, analysing data and managing customer relationships – is increasingly AI-driven, with modern platforms leveraging machine learning for personalisation, automation and predictive analytics, though many core tools remain rule-based.

AI opponents will have plenty of fun looking the other way at yet another beneficial AI role in publishing.

The View From The Beach

Positives: Visibility and Engagement

Short-form video undeniably drives conversion. It caters to (or perhaps creates?) dwindling attention spans, offers snackable content for mobile-first audiences, and provides publishers with measurable engagement metrics.

For larger houses with existing video assets, it’s a low-friction amplification channel that could lift backlist titles and humanise authors through behind-the-scenes glimpses.

Negatives: A Two-Tier System

This initiative risks entrenching inequality. High-quality video production demands budget, editorial resource and influencer access – advantages big publishers already wield. Smaller presses lack the teams to create bespoke trailers or secure celebrity talent.

Without transparent participation criteria or subsidised production support, the beta could become a gated community for those who least need discovery help.

More worrying, content saturation looms. As TikTok and Instagram Reels demonstrate, algorithmic feeds quickly become noisy; quality is drowned by quantity. If every title sports a video, the format loses impact. There’s also the danger of misrepresentation – condensing complex narratives into 60-second clips risks trivialising literary nuance.

Background Context

Audible’s strategy mirrors broader publishing anxiety around video. The Shorty Awards documented how Audible’s community management on #BookTok grew its following by 51% year-on-year, proving the format’s potency.

Yet that success required relentless engagement, not just passive uploads. Publishers must decide whether in-app video warrants diverting scarce resources from proven channels like email or paid social.

This post first appeared in the TNPS LinkedIn newsfeed.