Why should you have a voice search digital marketing strategy?

You are out running errands, and suddenly the mood strikes … you want a fancy boba tea. Where is the closest one? Modern technology has given you the option of simply picking up your phone and asking. While it seems like a magical feat for a small piece of equipment that measures about five inches by three to supply you with random bits of information, influencing the decisions of millions of people is not an overly complex process. The most effective first step is to engage in intelligent digital marketing strategies.

Asking a device for information, weather, and directions encompasses the thinking behind home devices, such as the Amazon Echo and smartphone technology with Apple’s Siri and Samsung’s Bixby. With 42% of Americans using their phones for voice search compared to only 8% using a “stand-alone” device in their homes, it is essential to the growth of your business to take advantage of marketing that millions of individuals use on a daily basis. There are specific manners in which you can master marketing with smart speaker technology.

Why should you optimize your website for local voice searching?

With eCommerce projected to reach $40 billion by 2022, it can only benefit your company to commence on a mission to discover the best ways to address the demands of every type of consumer. It would be best if you found ways to get creative in reaching your target markets so that you can offer the solutions for which they are looking.

Perhaps a homeowner asks how to get stains out of their carpet. This is the perfect place to insert an ad for carpet cleaning or sales. It is also an excellent placement for ads regarding carpet shampoos and other cleaning products. Thinking outside the box is what will set you apart from your competition.

Local optimization is most prevalent on voice search platforms. Many people are gathering information; however, 50% of them have used voice search over the past year in the hopes of finding a local business that fits their needs. Guess how many use smart speakers, whether on a home device or a phone, weekly to find a local business? 74%! And most of those are through voice searches on smartphones.

How can you ensure the best exposure for various voice search platforms?

Apple Siri has 36% of that market share, but you do not want to put your marketing eggs all in one basket. You want to optimize for all platforms since they are all vastly different. The central tenet to conform to is consistency. Wherever your business appears, ensuring that it projects the same information — such as an accurate address, phone number, and email — will increase consumer confidence and, ultimately, traffic. It cannot be stressed enough that people will use your website more often if it is optimized for mobile searching. So, what are some algorithm examples of how different platforms display their ads?

• Apple Siri taps into Apple Maps Connect for their local business data, which gets their information from Yelp. This means that you will best serve your business to claim your listing and optimize your Yelp and Apple Maps information. Four main factors influence Siri’s response:
  • Distance
  • Number of Reviews (Yelp)
  • Star rating
  • Pricing (Number of dollar signs)

• Google Assistant pulls their information from Google My Business, including photos and reviews. This in-depth product offers too much to list here but optimizing your business on Google translates to increased traffic.

• Amazon’s Alexa gets local business data from two sources — Yelp and Yext. If you are a customer of either, you will appear on Alexa searches.

• Microsoft Cortana is embedded in Windows, Xbox, and Microsoft Office. It finds its information from Bing Places, so optimizing that listing is essential to be found on that platform. It does take 20% of the market share in voice search, so it is worthwhile.  

Do you need to optimize your website for smartphone voice searches? Yes!

Adapting to ever-changing technology will help you thrive in your industry. While you may be used to cramming keywords into your information for SEO optimization in articles and blogs, a different process exists to achieve mobile optimization. You still need keywords, but not in such abundance. Using the appropriate words and phrases allows your website to decipher the specific objective of the request. As a local business, you want to be at the top of that search and optimizing your website will help you achieve that goal. Additional steps will further enhance your website for smartphone voice searches that include:

• Creating a FAQ page.
• Offering informational content that people can relate to and is simple to understand.
• Securing your website with HTTPS (security improves consumers’ trust levels)
• Improving your mobile site speed.

How can you best use smartphone voice search to advertise?

With the vast increase in voice searching combined with the growing number of people owning smartphones, you want to reach everyone no matter where they are located. You want the person in the big box store standing in the aisle comparing prices on their phone to access your information. Your goal is also to appear at the top of a search when they are driving and need local information.

So, what are the most effective methods of letting people know where you are?

• SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
  • SEO is the most common concern for businesses, and for a very good reason. You can achieve the coveted top positions of a Google search with constructive and concise advice. You will increase your traffic if you can ensure that your keywords are appropriate.
• Skills and Actions
  • Providing various tools — such as recipes, do-it-yourself instructions, and learning new languages — will increase your brand recognition.
•  Advertising in different manners will draw customers.
  • Branding – creating a positive reaction to your products and services when someone sees your logo or hears your name.
  • Direct advertising – ads that appear when someone is using their voice search. They can be placed strategically to hit the desired market.
  • Indirect promotion – this is performed by promoting your wares through already-featured companies.

With millions of consumers of all ages trying to take advantage of the latest technology, it would behoove you as a business to do the same. Keeping your name in front of potential and current customers will raise your brand awareness and keep you competitive. While various forms of advertising benefit each industry differently, you can market to millions of people with the help of voice searching on smartphones.

It may seem overwhelming to try to institute the most effective methods of digital marketing with technology constantly evolving, but HourGlass Media keeps up with marketing trends and helps make the process easy. We allow you to continue to do your job while we get to work growing your business. For 15 years, we have provided the advantages of multi-channel marketing to over 3,000 small to medium-sized businesses. We sit with you to determine the most effective strategy for your business and desired results to figure out how to deliver tangible results. We create custom plans so that each client’s goals are attained. Feel free to reach out to us at 330.605.4716 or shellie@turntimeover.com.