Voice assistants: How marketers can leverage voice

Voice search is on the rise, and it's exploded in popularity around the world in just a few short years. With voice search and device use growing by over 200% in a year, voice is here to stay. One study showed that 58% of consumers used voice search to find information about local businesses in the past year. With this in mind, how can you leverage voice search to your benefit to beat out your competition? Read on!

How People are Using Voice Apps

You have to understand how people use voice apps on a day to day basis before you understand how to incorporate it into your marketing strategy. One of the biggest ways people use voice search is to find out information on businesses in their immediate area. They search for things like the address, phone number, and hours.

Another big way people are starting to use their voice devices like Amazon's Alexa and Google Home is to make purchases. One study projects that shopping via voice could rise from the current 5% to over 50% by 2022. This is huge news for retailers, and it's an excellent reason to consider incorporating voice into your marketing strategy.

Google also put out study results that showed 52% of all households who own and use voice-activated speakers and devices would like to receive information about business sales and promotions. This can increase buying in the next few years as more companies take advantage of these statistics and start sending out information to customers. 

Are Companies Transacting via Voice?

Yes. Studies show that voice commerce sales reached just above $1.8 billion in the past year, and this has projections to continue to rise to $40 billion by 2022. This same study showed that grocery shopping accounted for 20% of all sales with clothing sales coming in at 8%.

Roughly 19% (one in every five consumers) made a purchase or transaction using Amazon Echo or another voice assistant in the past year. On top of this, another 33% of consumers plan to make transactions using voice assistants in the coming year. Companies and purely online platforms can use this to their advantage and ensure that customers come to their company first over their competition.

Are Companies Using Voice to Improve User Engagement and Processes?

Yes, and you should be working on your voice strategy too! There are a few examples of companies using voice technology to take the pain out of some of their processes and delight customers, such as Zurich Ireland who recently converted their ‘Cost of Education’ calculator into voice applications on Google and Alexa, with the help of developers at Wolfgang Digital. Customers can now begin the process of setting up a savings plan for their children's education. 

Diageo has also been engaging their audience with their Alexa skills “The Bar” which is an interactive voice experience designed to help you create cocktails, you simply say “Alex, Open The Bar” and begin.

Looking Forward

Voice search is here to stay, and it's vital that you embrace it in your business and marketing strategy. It'll improve your customer engagement, boost your brand loyalty, and streamline all of your processes into the future.