Voice search usage has started to take off in certain contexts, but only a few brands have developed innovative strategies to take advantage. This presentation looks at the ways in which people use voice search, why they use it, and how brands can deliver the right content to fulfil these needs.

2. BUILDING CONSUMER CONNECTIONS IN
THE AGE OF ASSISTANCE
Clark Boyd, 26th
July 2018

3. Hi! I’m Clark Boyd
- Trainer and consultant on
digital marketing and leadership for Google
- Previously Head of Global Accounts at iProspect
- Worked as digital strategy lead for American
Express, adidas, and General Motors
- Editorial Associate at Towards Data Science
- Author of the postgraduate diploma in search
marketing at the Digital Marketing Institute
- Columnist for ClickZ, Search Engine Land, and
Experfy
- Earned BA and MA from the University of
Cambridge
Clarkboyd15@gmail.com www.linkedin.com/in/clark-boyd-digital/

4. - The history of speech recognition technology
- Where we are today
- The key players
- Usage statistics
- How does this affect digital strategy?
- Case studies
- Tips to avail of digital assistants today
- Predictions and summary
- Further reading

5. The History of Speech Recognition Technology
https://medium.com/swlh/the-past-present-and-future-of-speech-recognition-technology-cf13c179aaf

6. The world’s largest technology companies are banking on voice-activated, AI-driven digital assistants to
usher in a new era of brand-consumer relationships.
These assistants link together a hardware ecosystem and provide personalized recommendations to
users through a voice-based exchange.

8. ● 47 million voice-assisted devices in use in the United States, and it is estimated there will be 67 million
voice-assisted devices in use in the U.S. by 2019.
● Gartner: screenless browsing will account for 30 percent of browsing by 2020.
● ComScore: 50% of searches will be conducted through voice technology by that same year.

10. Do you use a
digital
assistant? If
so, when do
you typically
converse with
it?

11. “Our goal in Speech
Technology Research is
twofold: to make
speaking to devices
around you (home, in
car), devices you wear
(watch), devices with you
(phone, tablet) ubiquitous
and seamless.” - Google

12. Does the idea of an
always-on microphone
concern you?

13. Digital assistants: Who
uses them, and what for?

16. These
interactions are:
- Personalized
- Fast
- Accurate
- Dynamic

17. How do you
feel about
digital
assistants? In
which contexts
will their use
really take off?

18. How does this shape
digital strategy?
Meeting the
assistants halfway

19. Some tips for digital assistants
today
• Focus on speed.
• Create conversational content.
• Allow consumers to customize their experience.
• Use structured data on all landing pages.
• Think beyond the website: chatbots, apps, and social media.
• Use SDKs for Amazon, Apple, and Google.

20. Focus on speed

21. Focus on speed:
Voice results load much faster than the average
webpage.

23. Create natural-language content:
- Answer common questions
- Write in an appropriate register
- Don’t worry about length. The average piece of content used for voice search
results is 2,312 words long.

24. Allow Consumers to Customize the
Experience

25. The Alexa Skills Kit (ASK)
o Makes it fast and easy for you
to add skills to Alexa.
o Enables designers, developers,
and brands to build engaging
skills and reach customers
through tens of millions of
Alexa-enabled devices.
o Leverage Amazon’s knowledge
and pioneering work in the
field of voice design.
Embed the Google Assistant in
any device
o Hotword detection
o Voice control
o Natural language understanding
o Google's smarts
and more to your devices.
Use Alexa and Google SDKs

26. Matt Pritchard, VP of Digital
Marketing, explains that
Campbell’s has always shared
recipes with consumers,
whether the medium was
magazines, books or the
Campbell’s Kitchen app.
“Alexa is simply a more
modern way to get those
messages across.”

27. ● Patron tequila helps consumers access personalized cocktail recipes
● Domino’s allows pizza-lovers to order from the comfort of their couch without
having to pick up the phone or even place an online order
● PayPal users can engage Siri to send money to friends, family, or businesses
● Nestlé created a skill that provides voice cooking instructions as you cook
● Tide provides advice about removing stains caused by over 200 different
substances
Some Interesting Brand Case Studies

29. Thinking Beyond the
Website
Websites are typically a rather
static resource.
Digital assistants thrive when
they can take on a
conversational tone, but
conversations are hard to
pre-empt in their entirety.

30. Smart displays allow for multiple choice and
multimedia answers. This could open a host of
new voice opportunities for brands.

31. Some tips for digital assistants tomorrow
Speak: Embedded voice clips within websites could be served by digital
assistants. Today, they turn text to speech and respond in their own voice.
However, for branding purposes, it would be more effective to have the
assistant act as a vehicle for the company’s own voice.
Having a voice is an essential part of building any brand. Voice-activated
assistants will make this a very real requirement, in every sense.
Listen and Learn: All of the phrases people say to your app that aren’t
understood can be saved. You can help train the AI model on new phrases
you want to trigger existing actions, or you might create an action that
helps explain to the user why it can’t do a common request that you’re
seeing. Even more than that, you can see what people are requesting and
use that to build your future roadmap.

32. Monetization
Remains A Work
in Progress…
Google admits it
may be years
from effectively
integrating an
advertising
service via voice
search.

33. How do you think
Google/Amazon/Microsoft/
Baidu will monetize their
voice searches?

34. Key Points and
Predictions

35. ● Search will adopt a more natural, conversational tone, both through text and voice.
● We will be able to report on voice queries through SQR reports and Search Analytics, with digital assistants
sharing their data.
● Long-tail keyword terms will become the focus of content strategy, as voice queries tend to be longer and
more detailed.
● Content will provide direct answers to questions - but the focus will be on accuracy, rather than just brevity.
● The importance of being the one, correct answer to an informational query will grow.
● Optimized videos will see a rise in the search results, as this medium fits well with the voice search results
interface on smart displays.
● Google will experiment with new ways to monetize its Home product, albeit in subtler ways than the Beauty
and the Beast faux-pas.
● Amazon, in particular, will use augmented reality to tie together its offline stores with its e-commerce
experience.
● Google may experiment with augmented reality to provide a voice search interface that allows for paid ads.
● We will see the continued rise of query-less search, where digital assistants answer our questions
pre-emptively. Think Google Next, rather than Google Now.
● Brands will use voice to convey their own messaging, tone, and style.
● Interactions will move beyond the static website and into a more dynamic ecosystem of apps, chatbots, and
smart displays.
Digital Assistants: Key Points and Predictions

36. Further Reading
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180718005537/en/Strategy-Analytics-
Smartphones-Sold-Virtual-Assistants
https://medium.com/swlh/the-past-present-and-future-of-speech-recognition-technol
ogy-cf13c179aaf
https://econsultancy.com/blog/70201-the-state-of-natural-language-conversational-s
earch-in-2018/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=econ%20
blog
https://www.captechconsulting.com/blogs/captech-research-a-profile-of-smart-spea
ker-users
https://www.techrepublic.com/article/google-assistant-the-smart-persons-guide/
https://www.wired.com/story/siri-why-have-you-fallen-behind-other-digital-assistants
/
https://searchengineland.com/google-assistant-gets-more-helpful-302231
https://backlinko.com/voice-search-seo-study

37. www.emeritus.org