Voice Marketing

Voice Marketing is the strategies and tactics used to reach your target audience through audio content and/or voice-enabled devices powered by AI voice assistants such as Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, and Apple Siri.

It includes recorded audio content such as podcasts, Flash Briefing, and all branded audio including sonic logos, audio marks, and IVR phone systems. An evolution of search engine optimization (SEO), voice search optimization (VSO) is an important aspect of Voice Marketing wherein brands, products, and services optimize content to be found through spoken searches.

WHY DOES VOICE MATTER FOR MARKETING?

We are leaving the Tap, Type, and Swipe era and entering the VoiceFirst era, where computing shifts from physical interactions on handheld devices and keyboards to natural speech.

STATS ABOUT VOICE SEARCH AND MOBILE:

1. Currently, 41% of adults use voice search at least once per day.
2. 30% of searches will be screenless by 2020. Thanks to the growing popularity of hearables and voice devices like Apple AirPods, Echo Buds, Google Home, and Amazon Echo, voice-first interactions will become ubiquitous. Half of smartphone users engage with voice technology on their device.
3. The total voice searching user base among U.S. adults is 42.7%

MARKETING IMPLICATIONS – FROM SCREENS TO VOICE:

Attention is moving off screens and to voice. Much like we moved from desktop to smartphones and had to update our strategies and websites to be mobile, we need to think about voice the same way. But for the first time ever, we will not be computing in computerize (typing, text, and the language and interface of the machines). Voice is a unique departure and a true paradigm shift unlike anything before.

STEPS TO START YOUR VOICE MARKETING STRATEGY:

1. Algorithm– As digital marketers, we understand the role of data. In the age of voice, we need to understand how algorithms are used to sift through that data. The first step is to invest in understanding the algorithms that platforms will use to recommend and choose products. How is the mini device, Google home, going to choose to voice your brand over your competitors?
2. Know your Voice– A big part of branding will be clarifying who you are, what makes you distinctive, and what makes you better. Trending in voice marketing will be finding clarity in what category your firm is placed by both consumers, and more importantly, algorithms. Voice searches will categorise depending on the relevance for a product or brand. For some categories, brands may be more important than price, like with Apple. For other categories, like pencils, brands may be less relevant. For those brands where brand remains pivotal for category placement, promoting brand awareness through current marketing strategies outside of voice assistant marketing may be a good strategy.
3. The Digital Balance– You’ll increasingly find your customers online, but for now, they’re not 100% there yet—currently about 90% of global retail sales occur in brick-and-mortar stores. So don’t cut all brand building investments just yet, because changing consumer habits are is take time to kick in. As voice assistants gradually take over consumer shopping habits however, continuous evaluation of your ROI from branding efforts will become increasingly important. Depending on the category voice assistants place you under, you’ll need to look into adjusting your strategy accordingly.
4. Mapping your customers to your voice– As consumers shift their reliance towards voice assistants for complex purchase decisions, brands loose their power. An important question to ask is- who are they losing their power too? Over the next decade we will see rising dominance in a selected few voice assistants. Our bets are that Alexa and Google home are here to stay. What is less clear, will be mapping our customers to the various voice assistants, and understanding how to adjust our strategy accordingly. The same way we are currently changing our ‘tone’ of voice for the various marketing channels, AI assistants will be yet another opportunity to target our customers through a new voice.