Why Marketers Love Alexa More Than Other Voice Technologies
Amazon’s Alexa is still advancing — still going to more places. Recent numbers show that its future is brighter than ever.
That’s right.
Millions of people use Amazon’s Alexa to do everything from play music to set reminders to order groceries, and more. The Amazon Echo smart speakers are a classic feature in homes, so it’s no surprise that millions of businesses love working with Alexa, too. In particular, small to medium-sized businesses rely on Amazon’s digital assistant, beloved for its marketing potential.
Some believe it has a brighter future than any other smart assistant on the market. Let’s talk about why.
we interact with tech at home and beyond.
Voice Technology and Marketing
Despite gaining increased recognition in recent years, voice technology has actually been around for a while. Speech-to-text translators have been used by the hard-of-hearing and Deaf community for decades now.
Today, voice tech has become almost synonymous with digital assistants that live in your smartphones, tablets, smart speakers like Amazon Echo, and other voice-enabled devices. Almost every big tech company has built its own voice assistant, from Microsoft’s Cortana to Tencent’s Xiaowei in China.
The truth of the matter, however, is that voice technology in the small business world is still in its formative stages. SMBs have not put their faith in it, and some of them have no idea what to do with it.
Consumers Love Voice Technology
For consumers, voice technology is a game-changer.
Millions of adults in the US have used voice assistants on their smartphones, in their cars, and on smart speakers in their homes. Consumers already use digital assistants and voice technology to find local business info.
Marketers Plan To Spend More on Voice Marketing
The good news is that small and medium-sized businesses are catching up and upping their voice spending. Many SMB marketers said that they are putting aside more marketing dollars for interactive voice channels.
How Are Others Stacking Up Against Alexa?
Researchers want to identify how marketers for small businesses and medium-sized enterprises feel about voice recognition technology in the industry. While most SMBs seem to be waiting for voice technology to mature before they jump on the wagon, it’s clear that a significant number have plans to embrace voice assistants in the near future.
Still, most of the love goes to Alexa, which takes up a place of honor in more offices and storefronts than fellow tech devices. A common second favorite voice assistant is the Google Assistant, with a significant number of marketers saying it has the biggest potential for marketing.
Not to be outdone, Apple’s Siri is another useful voice assistant for SMB marketers. Microsoft’s Cortana and “other” voice assistants shared the spoils, with each garnering favor with their devoted marketing professionals.
Alexa for Marketing and Why Marketers Love It
Interactive voice marketing – the act of using voice assistants to market your brand, product, or service – has huge potential for both big and small businesses.
The benefits of interactive voice channels like Alexa for SMBs are numerous:
- Alexa offers uninterrupted customer service and access. By embracing Alexa skill development, small and medium-sized businesses can provide customers with unlimited access to their information, assistance, and much more around the clock. Interactive voice channels are like your 24/7 sales rep, but they don’t take breaks, nights, weekends, or holidays off.
- Alexa helps build and manage reputation. Alexa-enabled chatbots, for instance, offer 24/7 customer service, reducing complaints and other factors that might ruin your brand’s image and reputation.
- Cost reduction is a major plus. Voice assistants like Alexa take the pressure off of marketers, salespeople, and other teams. This way, small businesses can focus their attention on what truly matters: growth.
- Alexa helps improve productivity. When combined with big data, artificial intelligence (AI), and other new technologies, interactive voice assistants can lighten the load for everyone, improving overall efficiency and productivity.
- Voice technology helps reduce human error. In industries like healthcare, human errors come at a steep cost, both for the consumer and the organization. Voice tech can help reduce this error by a huge margin.
- Interactive voice technology makes marketing and interactions more personalized. Alexa for Business helps SMBs create more robust and personalized relationships and connections with customers. Addressing the customer by their first name, for instance, makes them feel special, thereby improving the overall user experience. The list goes on and on.
Combing Technologies: Healthcare Marketing Examples
Alexa for Business can help with video conferencing, monitor devices (e.g., data centers, medical devices, etc.), reply to and organize emails, track website status, invoice scheduling, and streamline daily tasks. Check out this comprehensive guide on Alexa for Business we put together to help executives like you.
Take Orbita, for instance. This Boston-based voice company has collaborated with Libertana to use Alexa as a healthcare platform to boost adherence to medication regimens by elderly patients.
Amazon Marketing Services and Alexa: What To Know
AMS helps businesses enhance product visibility, drive sales, and increase brand awareness through targeted advertising campaigns in the Amazon ecosystem. Some helpful features for businesses in AMS include Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands, and Sponsored Displays.
Alexa complements AMS by enabling voice-based interactions, potentially driving engagement with advertised products through voice search, promotions, and personalized recommendations, enhancing the effectiveness of marketing campaigns.
Creating Content for Voice Search Marketing
While some small and medium-sized business marketers create content for their interactive voice channels in-house, it’s generally common for companies to outsource the responsibility. Delegating the responsibility to content or creative agencies frees up time for internal tasks, is more budget-friendly, and could even allow for small business owners to take a much-needed vacation.
It’s no surprise that marketers want their Alexa skill development and other voice content initiatives to be outsourced to creative agencies.
Other people who could help create new content for AI are:
- Publisher partners
- SEO agencies
- Media-buying agency
- And more
Ask the SEO agency you’re working with about creating content geared toward voice technology. One smart avenue to writing content voice search marketing is to focus on long-tail keywords. Besides that, you might try keeping content extra clear and listing answers to common questions in a neat, easy-to-understand format.
Marketers Want More Info About Using Interactive Voice
Before marketers see some value in interactive voice marketing, they typically need more info before they invest.
More specifically, some common questions include wanting the following:
- Better insight into return on investment (ROI) and campaign success
- More info on campaign personalization and targeting
- The entry price of the technology lower before implementing it
- To know if Alexa and other voice assistants will align better with their performance goals
- To know if voice tech will integrate into their overall product ecosystem, including their phones, smart speakers, voice-enabled TV, and so forth
Talk to the Voice of Digital Marketing Success
Voice is the future of marketing, and Alexa’s own future is brighter than ever. To put it simply, marketers think Alexa offers the most marketing potential.
It is important for small and medium-sized businesses to start building skills for Alexa and preparing for the future of voice. With more than half of searches being completed with voice-based technology, SMB marketers should also optimize their assets for voice SEO.
To make the most of your digital marketing strategy, we’re here to help. Talk to Digital Authority Partners, and let’s make a game plan.
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