May 28, 2019 By:

You know what brands such as McDonalds or Nike look like. Only by seeing the logo or color themes you can identify the brand.

But have you ever wondered, what a brand sound like?

Yes, I mean the literal sound.

Ok, you probably know what Apple and Google sound sounds like. Thanks to Siri and Google Assistant.

But what about the others?

Don’t you think, in the technically advanced world that we are living in, every brand should have a voice?

Well, I think so. And therefore, today I am going to share my knowledge on how to give a voice to your brand.

Before I start, let me ask you a few questions?

  • How important it is for you to connect with your customers?
  • What is the importance of establishing a personalized connection with your customers?
  • Do you need to buck up and meet up the fast-moving technological advancement?
  • Are you up to date with the latest trends and technologies?

 

In case, if you are confused or even missing out on anyone answer then trust me, you are far behind in the race.

You will get the answers to most of the above questions in my previous articles.

Here, I am focusing only in the last one.

Are you up to date with the latest trends and technologies?

Do you know what is trending in the digital world?

Ok, no more guessing games, I’ll come straight to the point.

The latest trend is…

Voice or conversational commerce

Voice or conversational commerce is the door of opportunities opened by the technological revolution.

Customers are no more lured with flashy ads and commercial videos. They want a more authentic and human approach.

With millions of brands swimming in the sea of trade, customers today want to be sure of whom they are engaging with.

There is a famous saying, “Do not believe on anything you hear, until you see it from your own eyes.”

I guess it is the time that this, saying needs to be changed.

Today, when it comes to shopping, customers wants to be sure about both, what they see and what they hear.

They want to trust the brand.

personalised approach

And what can be a better way to earn their trust, than a personalized approach?

Do you know, which was the first mode of communication?

No, no, I am not talking about the inventions. I am talking about the most common and basic mode of communication.

It is voice!

Humans feel more attached to having a conversation with a voice, rather than texts.

Giving a voice to your brand, you get the unprecedented opportunity to build trust and loyal relationship with your customer.

According to the numbers:

  • 2018 saw an 78% growth in number of smart speakers in US.
  • Almost ¼ of the adults in US have access to smart speakers and the number is likely to rise to 75% by 2020.
  • Currently around 1 billion devices have access to different voice assistant.
  • It is being speculated that by 2021, the number of smart assistants will surpass the number of humans on earth.
  • It is being predicted that, by 2023, voice and conversational commerce will rise to $80 billion a year.
  • By 2020, 30% of all the search query on the Internet will be voice based.
  • Today, 32% of the businesses and brands are using voice commerce
  • Out of them 35% of the marketers have described their voice commerce to be soiled.
  • While, 27% of them call their voice commerce strategy; dynamic.

 

Voice assistants are so much into trend that the experts have even invented a new term for it – Hyperadoptation.

Hope you get it why voice commerce is in trend.

Some quick features of voice and conversational commerce are:
With the fast moving world, people have become all the more busier and lives are practically revolving around gadgets.

In this voice has become a more approachable option over text.

Adopting the voice commerce is a smart move for your brand because:

  • It is faster than writing texts
  • Efficient
  • Convenient
  • Accessible alternative
  • Easy to use
  • Healthy

 

I know, the last point may be confusing. But yes, using voice commerce is beneficial even from the health’s point of view.

How?

I will explain.

Nothing is actually possible today without the daily gadgets you use. Even to drink a glass of water, you have a reminder app installed in your phones.

Everyone is literally getting addicted to them.

getting-addicted

 

In this scenario, executing work with the help of voice assistants ‘uncouple’ you from the gadgets. In order to speak to your phones or voice assistants, you do not have to be glued to the screens

Is it not healthy?

With so many plus points, now have a look at…

Trends and stats around the voice commerce industry

You must be aware of ‘Alexa, Siri, Google Assistant, etc.’ If not, you must be living on some other planet.

Immediately upgrade your knowledge. Keep reading, I think this will help.

Do you know, who is the hero behind this voice and conversational commerce?

It is artificial intelligence – AI.

AI is the force that drives this entire phenomenon.

Let me quote Niraj Dawar, professor of the marketing at the Ivey Business School. In his statement to the Harvard business review, he said that, ‘AI assistants will transform how companies connect with their customers. They’ll become the primary channel through which people get information, goods and services, and marketing will turn into a battle of their attention.”

Every technological revolution is taken for granted at its commencement. Take the Internet for example.

Did you know?

Before the internet came on the global platform for everyone to use, it was a military communication project.

In its early life, the internet was not taken so seriously by everyone. But today, life on earth is almost impossible without the Internet.

Same is the case with voice and conversational commerce. It may not seem important for now, but it is the next big thing in the digital world.

Voice assistants are the next way how businesses are going to lead the role and connect with the audiences.

Voice assistance for business

 

In 2017, a new skill of Alexa was launched, known as “Kathy’s Thoughts”. This featured the inspirational quotes and thoughts of Kathy Bloomgarden, a pioneer in using the voice assistants to communicate with both, internal and external audience.

On the invention of Kathy’s Thoughts, technical expert Tejas Totade, Vice President of Innovation and Technology said that, “We are passionate about voice-activated content and this new Alexa skill, speaks to the future of how our industry will engage with customers and brands.

If you are still not convinced that voice commerce is the future, keep reading, maybe you will agree with me by the end.

Examples of top-notch applications for voice and AI assistants

According to Dr. Bloomgarden, “The brands that will be best equipped to succeed in this massive new marketing channel, will be those that provide interesting and unique content.

Did you get the secret tip here?

Even though with voice assistants, your content has to be interesting and unique.

Let me list down some examples that are already into this voice and conversational commerce.

Pharmaceutical Giant Bayer-

Bayer’s science studio is a skill learner that focuses on science skill development for children along with their parents.

It includes educational kid-friendly content like how to make elephant’s toothpaste or how to create Alka-rocket etc.

Science studio by Bayer

Science studio by Bayer

The exclusive quality of this application is, each teaching is accompanied with voice based scientific explanation to each step.

This way it becomes interesting and entertaining for the kids to learn and grasp the concept faster.

This skill development app was launched in last November. Since its launch, the positive feedbacks from the educators and thousand of students using this service are flooding Bayer’s inbox.

Thanks to voice commerce.

Another example is…

Dominos Pizza-

This brand needs no introduction.

Domino’s, successfully launched an ‘Amazon Skill’. This was basically introduced to make order at Domino’s smoother and interestingly unique for the customer.

The brand announced that, all that it takes to order their favorite pizza is – 6 words.

Dominos Pizza

“Alexa, ask Dominos to feed me.”

Woof! The work is done, no more searching through menus and scrolling down apps. Just say these six words and Amazon skill is at your service.

The new Dominos skill by Amazon Alexa is a fast easy way, to make sure, you never go hungry again.

The initial order numbers confirmed that, Dominos had put the money on the winning horse.

What more could you wish for?

I have yet one more to go, to get you fully convinced.

Google-

Wouldn’t it be wonderful, if the voice assistants perform real world tasks?

Your wish just got granted.

Google Assistant is a high profile voice assistance that caught people’s attention. This assistant can perform real time tasks like making phone calls, booking appointments, etc.

Google's CEO, Sundar Pichai's Google Assistant demonstration

Google’s CEO, Sundar Pichai’s Google Assistant demonstration

These calls are so human like that it is almost impossible to distinguish, if it is a human or a machine speaking.

These were some examples of some of the major brands using voice and conversational commerce.

You want more…?

Ok, here it is…

These voice assistants have answer to almost all your questions, even how to remove stains. Have a look.

Steps to remove stains with Tide - alexa

Steps to remove stains with Tide

Now that you have seen what others are doing, it’s time for you to understand the…

Best practices for shaping your own voice commerce strategy

There is no doubt left that, voice and conversational commerce is the next big thing in the market.

And I am sure you do not want to be the talk of the past. So why waste any more time?

Here are some points to consider, while shaping your own voice commerce strategy.

Know your customers

Your customers are everything for you and if you are going an extra mile to make customer journey and experience better for them, you better know the inside out of their interests, preferences, etc.

You need to do comprehensive research about your customers, which region they belong to, what is their age group, etc.

According to the research, the core users of voice assistants are older millennials.

In addition to the age group, there are some other factors as well that you need to keep in mind while shaping your voice strategy, like:

  • Lifestyle
  • Shopping preferences
  • Habits
  • Income, etc.

Voice user experience is important

Voice user experience is different from mobile or website user interface and experience. And you need to understand this minutely if you want your voice commerce strategy to be successful.

These tips might be helpful:

  • While designing a voice experience, you need to keep the dialogue format as the base. Unlike the website or application interface, it is like an actual conversation.
  • Do not give many options because it can be difficult to memorize and choose from many options. Up to three options should be sufficient.
  • Keep it as human as possible. The user should feel as comfortable as talking to a human.

Voice optimization is also equally important

Just like you practice search engine optimization for your website, voice search optimization is also equally important.

Voice optimization is also equally important

 

While optimizing for voice search you should:

  • Go for normal everyday language, rather than a complicated one.
  • Keep it question-based because people usually ask a question while searching through voice assistants.
  • Since it has to be conversational, use more of long tail keywords.
  • Do not miss out on featured snippets.

Align omnichannel and voice commerce strategy

Like to reach out to your customers you practice sale approach on multiple platforms, same is to be done for voice commerce strategy as well.

Integrate Both strategies. Even if your customer is placing an order through the voice assistant, it should have the flexibility to do the same from other platforms as well.

Align omnichannel and voice commerce strategy

 

The main aim is to provide a cohesive experience for the user around all platforms.

It will be a smart move to be well prepared in advance for future competition.

Because not very far from now, voice and conversational commerce will be the talk of the town.

If you start optimizing and practicing this technology right from today, you will be a pro, by the time it becomes a must for everyone.

Act smartly, adopt the voice and conversational commerce strategy right away and map it in your marketing plan.

Good Luck! Will be glad to hear your feedbacks and knowledge on what you think about, giving a voice to your brand.

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