As always, technology is here to keep the human population — and marketers — on their toes. Voice-powered technology has made it easier than ever to abandon traditional search methods (and thus, traditional avenues for marketing) in favor of performing a voice search.
The statistics associated with voice search are staggering — showing that over 50 percent of users searching for their products through voice-activated search. This number is only on the rise as smart speaker systems such as Alexa or Hey Google enter homes.
As you can imagine, this opens up a huge opportunity for marketers. The space to reach consumers is slightly shifting — no longer can advertisers rely on search scrolling by their ads. Now, the advantageous move is to be one of Alexa’s, Hey Google’s, or Siri’s search suggestions. The question is, how can it be done?
The technological transition has long begun, and now, we are amidst another one of its user-interface evolutions. Hop on board now to capitalize on the marketing opportunity that is available for your brand through voice search positioning.
Adapt Marketing Strategies Instead of Starting Over
Unless you have a subpar marketing strategy as is, there’s no sense in starting over with your strategy. Instead, you can use what you have and adapt it to the voice search.
How to Adapt
Some of the prevalent needs you’ll run into are needing to optimize for local search, optimize for questions, embrace video, and establish easy-to-access answers on your site or through other forms of advertising.
The status quo of voice search marketing is different from other types because it is largely catering to an on-the-go audience. Consider the times you speak into the phone product or service information — how often is it because you’re physically on the move and unable to operate the phone to type in your query? Most readers will answer that this is the case most often.
As a brand, your marketing has to cater to your audience under these same pretenses: assume the audience is on the go, and your voice-powered marketing is here to help them find what they need.
It’ll take a bit of restructuring and diving deeply into consumer search behavior, but the pay-offs will be big and continue to grow as voice search evolves and takes precedence in the market.
Here are a few of the ways you can start adapting your strategy to voice search.
Enable Voice Search
First things first, be sure to enable voice search on your website. This will help consumers find the answers to their questions as they browse your site. It will also help Google locate important answers on your website that voice search engines can use to share with consumers on the go, or those at home hoping to make purchases or get updates on upcoming events.
Optimize for Questions
The way consumers search for voice technology is different from traditional search queries. In-text search, consumers string together 2–4 words to pull results on their topic of interest. With voice technology, the search becomes more familiar and conversational. Instead of a shopper typing “dry clean Los Angeles,” the searcher asks, “Alexa, where’s the closest dry cleaner?” Alexa, Siri, or another AI voice can facilitate the search and send the user on their way immediately.
Knowing that consumers are asking full-length, conversational questions, you’ll want to reassess your SEO strategy and replace traditionally short, fragmented keyword phrases with long-tail keyword questions. You can turn to a professional for guidance on which questions to include, use a software search or conduct your own search by speaking brand-related questions into your AI and seeing what results show up at the top. This will give you an idea of your competition and how consumers are searching.
Embrace Video
Voice search is not only for consumers on the go, but it’s also for early technology adopters. This group is hungry for innovative media and most likely interested in seeing the content you share through video. Not to mention, search engines highly rank a video, meaning that your video content is most likely to be pushed to the top of a search.
If you haven’t embraced video as a part of your content strategy yet, now is the time to get started. Take a look at the content you have on your website and blog, and choose a few pieces to upload as a video. When producing, be sure to use high-quality equipment and a platform with enough bandwidth to seamlessly stream your video.
Establish Easy-To-Access Answers
If a consumer is accessing the internet through voice search, they want to find answers as soon as possible. You can help facilitate an optimal search by making the answers to their questions easy to locate when they head over to your site. This might include using headlines or sublines that clearly explain the answers to questions users want. Bolding, enlarging, and showcasing these areas make the experience easy and enjoyable for the user.
Use Localized Search Options
If a searcher is on-the-go, they’re most likely looking to fulfill needs where they are currently located. Updating your local SEO is paramount to your success in voice search. Along with adapting keywords to conversational questions, you’ll want to dive into the depths of optimizing your page for prominent local placement online. Reach out to our team to learn more about upgrading your local SEO strategy.
Identify Achievable Goals
Before you activate your voice search strategy, take the time to establish your goal in reaching consumers. Are you aiming to be their top, go-to source for local and timely information? Do you want them to stop into your store for their product or service? By identifying your goal in reaching consumers, you can do a better job of researching, implementing findings, and tactfully choosing the keyword questions that are the most relevant to your consumer goals.
Benefits of Using Voice Search
By getting used to voice search, your brand can adapt to evolving technology and remain a reliable source of information for consumers into the future. Along the way, you’ll naturally boost your SEO and learn about your target consumers’ habits.
Here is a glimpse at some the benefits you’ll gain through voice search:
- Become a source for on-the-go products and services
- Improve local and general SEO
- Remain a leader in your market
- Capitalize on local purchase opportunities
- Gather information on your consumers
Send Us Your Tips
Have you played around with voice search or started optimizing your site? If so, we’d love for you to share your helpful tips and insights with the Rosy Strategies community. Let us know what you’ve learned in the comments below.
Reach out to Start Marketing Through Voice Search
If you’re ready to start optimizing your marketing efforts for voice search, get in touch with our talented team at Rosy Strategies. Our experts are here to help you identify which resources you need to get ahead, and then to help you get there. Reach out when you’re ready to boost your marketing strategy, and we’ll be happy to help.
