5 tips for marketing with voice assistants

The voice as a new channel: Voice-controlled assistants are undoubtedly one of the most important trends. Amazon, Apple and Google are currently in a race to integrate their AI-based assistants into every conceivable smart device. And the new technology is also becoming increasingly popular with consumers: according to Adobe Digital Insights, sales of voice-controlled assistants have risen by a whopping 103% year-on-year. The Echo Dot was the best-selling product in the Amazon webshop during the 2017 Christmas period.

Completely new possibilities

With voice assistants reaching consumers in cars, via loudspeakers, TVs and numerous applications, marketers have a channel that is larger than anything that has existed before. However, it is also clear that it will not be easy to exploit the potential of this new technology. John Watton, Senior Marketing Director at Adobe, explains what is important in his "5 tips for marketing with voice assistants".1. create customized, customer-engaging experiences with voice analyticsThanks to the power of AI analytics, voice assistants can assess the tone and mood of the consumer's voice and understand their likes and dislikes better than any traditional phone.2. thinking outside the box of the appIf voice assistants are linked to all favorite brands, consumers will not have to log in to a specific app every time they want to access information. Applications from individual providers will therefore become superfluous in the future.3. take customer service to the next levelWhether social media or chatbot: customers today expect modern customer service. Voice assistants are an essential part of this. If the voice assistant recognizes that a customer is angry, for example, brands can make a targeted decision on whether to make them a better offer or contact an employee personally.4. use SEO for marketing.If companies want to market their products and services via a machine, they won't get far with psychological branding methods. Data input is crucial. One effective option is to refine search engine optimization (SEO) so that the voice assistant selects your own products first.5. get to know the target group as well as possibleWith multiple users sometimes sharing a device, voice assistants may be confused as to who they are actually talking to. To ensure that voice experiences are as personalized as possible and consistent across locations, marketers need to contextualize their voice-driven experiences. "2018 will be increasingly about marketers learning the new possibilities of voice-driven consumer engagement and ensuring that it is fully integrated into the customer experience. Those who treat voice as an add-on and don't use data to create consistent experiences across all channels will lose out. Without taking voice assistants into account, it will be increasingly difficult to remain competitive and relevant in the future as the technology is integrated into more and more devices," says John Watton, Senior Marketing Director at Adobe.