Part VIII: Hey, Siri…
Every month in 2022, an estimated 123.5 million adults in the US will use a voice assistant to issue a search query, make a purchase, or request a piece of media. Estimates suggest that by 2025, almost half the population (48%) will rely on voice assistance technology to navigate and improve their online experiences.
In terms of user behaviour, PwC found—perhaps unsurprisingly—a vast majority of queries (89%) are for something the user would normally type into a search engine. And, as connected wearable devices continue to grow in popularity (sales of such devices have doubled in the last three years), queries of this kind are likely to keep increasing. Wearables are particularly well-suited to voice search, and their increasing ubiquity should contribute to an increase in the total number of searches issued via speech.
Interestingly for advertisers, voice assistant usage is spread surprisingly evenly across ages and demographics, particularly when it comes to online shopping and product research. A study by Coupon Follow found that 47% of shoppers who frequently made purchases online had recently done so via a voice assistant—this includes 51% of millennial consumers, 45% of Generation Xers, and 34% of baby boomers.
Implications
Voice-Friendly Ad Channels
The growing adoption of voice search signifies an irreversible trend towards a hands-free future. For advertisers, this means evaluating which apps and customer-facing platforms are most likely to be used by hands-free consumers, and which of those apps offer the best opportunities for the delivery of branded messages.
In real terms, this means looking at workout apps, music streaming apps, and—perhaps most significantly—smart home apps. Revenue in the smart home market is projected to hit £99.84 billion by the end of 2022; by 2026, this figure is expected to reach £168.44 billion. Advertisers who seize this emerging opportunity are likely to realise huge gains in the years to come.
User Intent
Many advertisers rely on written keywords and phrases for targeting their digital ad campaigns, and with contextual advertising experiencing a renaissance in popularity, that approach is likely to become even more crucial. However, those advertisers whose campaigns are optimised for the idiosyncrasies of voice queries will have a distinct advantage, particularly when it comes to paid search and PPC.
The way we frame a search via speech is very different to that via a keyboard. For instance, most of us would enter “weather London” into Google, confident the engine will cope with the truncated formating. We don’t have the same faith in the Siris and Alexas of the world, which is why we frequently use fuller sentences, such as “what is the current weather in London?” Strategists need to explore these natural, long-tail keyphrases for potential low-CPC opportunities.
Solutions
Spotify Advertising
Spotify has some 200 million freemium (ad-served) users of its music platform, all of whom contribute to a huge first-party database of musical tastes, interests, and consumer preferences. The platform has comprehensively adopted voice search technology, releasing its own Hey Spotify feature in 2021.
In terms of real-world targeting, Spotify allows you to choose from a range of contextual settings, including platforms, genres, and real-time contexts. With Spotify’s user base accessing its app within a wide range of local and social settings, this provides astute retail marketers with lucrative opportunities for targeting physical audiences with a digital strategy.
AdvertiseCast
AdvertiseCast offers an industry-leading platform for the purchase and management of podcast ads. Supplying access to over 3,000 podcasts and over 170 million monthly listeners, it is the perfect tool for advertisers that want to take advantage of the burgeoning hands-free trend.
AdvertiseCast has advanced options for targeting, and sells a variety of ad units, including dynamic ads, and host-read ads. You can also target by device, making it easier than ever to reach consumers that are increasingly interacting with their devices on a hands-free basis.
Ahrefs
Ahrefs is an astonishingly powerful SEO toolset, with a range of solutions to help site owners boost organic traffic and monitor the rank of their competitors. Significantly in the context of voice search, it also has industry-leading tools for keyword research and analysis, with full support for both short- and long-tail keyphrases.
When it comes to optimising your ad campaign keywords for voice search, it is these long-tail conversational keyphrases that can offer valuable insights. By identifying these natural phrases and adapting its ads appropriately, a business gives itself a unique advantage over its competitors, particularly if they are able to guide these searches through to the point of purchase without interrupting the user/assistant dynamic.
