Do You Have an Alexa Echo Marketing Strategy?
As competition gets stiffer, it becomes imperative for a business to reevaluate their annual business goals and emerging market technologies, and voice bots are today’s hottest technology. Voice controlled devices are redefining how a business communicates not just internally but also externally with its customers. Each voice-controlled assistant operates within its unique ecosystem.
For Alexa voice assistant, it’s the Amazon marketplace. So, as a marketer, why should you care about an Amazon Alexa Echo marketing strategy? Well, in case you haven’t heard, Amazon Alexa Echo Dot emerged as the top sold product on Amazon in 2017. What does this mean? Considering the fact that the Amazon marketplace takes a staggering 43% of all U.S. online sales, this is a pretty big deal.
Is Investing in Alexa Skills Worth Your Time?
So, Alexa sounds cool, but is building Alexa skills worth your time? The answer is quite straightforward. Yes, it is definitely worth your time. When creating a marketing strategy, brand anthropomorphism is a powerful technique to connect with consumers. If you are a believer in staying ahead of the curve, be among the first to make a move towards this new technology. While a majority of questions asked by consumers to Alexa involve music and the weather, a good 26% indulge in voice commerce.
Remember, Alexa skills marketing is still in its infancy. Meaning it is the perfect time for your brand to get into this space. Often, marketers get caught up in being overcautious and delay when making a move towards new technology. However, being a first-mover presents you with an opportunity to capture the attention of Alexa users before your competitors. Though not all your customers will engage in voice commerce through Alexa, you might want to maintain a brand presence for future purposes. If a brand doesn’t have a presence on Alexa, then they are silent when consumers engage in voice commerce.
The Importance of Alexa Skills
Ready to develop audio content to expand your brand’s reach? If so, Amazon provides an Alexa skill kit with step-by-step instructions to help ambitious brands and businesses to create and launch skills. Therefore, as voice search grows and improves, the best way to reach potential customers utilizing voice search is through Alexa skills. So, what can you make a skill about? With Alexa skills, you can dream up any type of intent. In fact, you even have the option to add a visual component to the skills. Moreover, Alexa skills facilities training the voice search algorithm. In other words, you can teach it how context changes the meaning of your intent as well as how humans search.
Leveraging Alexa Skills
Below are examples of existing creative ways some brands have utilized interactive Alexa skills in marketing:
Flash Briefings: BuzzFeedNews
Typically the Flash briefing skill allows you to get a quick overview of content providers and daily news of your choice. You simply have to ask Alexa “What’s the news?” or “What are my flash briefings?” In addition to the obvious outlets such as the BBC, CNN and the New York Times, you can access daily content from other brands such as BuzzFeedNews and Disney. Therefore, when your brand creates a flash briefing skill, its content has a chance of reaching consumers on a daily basis. Not so long ago, BuzzFeedNews created “Reporting To You” a cultural debrief and daily news source for Alexa users. Listeners can now receive an audio roundup of day’s most important new straight from BuzzFeedNews.
Ask Purina
This is a creative skill that provides users with comprehensive information on various dog breeds. The brands intent for this Alexa skill is to help dog enthusiasts find the perfect breed that fits their preferences based on the specifications they provide. Users can ask things like “Best guard dog breed” and “ Find breeds that are less noisy.”
Dunkirk – The Movie
In 2017, to promote the release of Dunkirk, a World War II movie, the “Dunkirk” skill was introduced. It offered a quite interactive experience that went beyond just listening.
Johnnie Walker
This skill provides insight for serving tips, guided tasting and more for whiskey lovers and aspiring drinkers alike. The skill also provides users with the option to learn more about whiskey, recommended uptake and choose a label based on their preference. This skill is a perfect example of how a brand can maintain topical relevance while providing content that engages customers.
Hellman’s
Of course, there are numerous food websites that provide recipes. But having to go through them all can be a daunting and time-consuming task. Hellman’s takes recipes to a whole new level. It gives Alexa users different ways to find recipes. For instance, users can match recipes based on ingredients available. What’s impressive is that users receive an email with a link to their chosen recipe. From a marketer’s point of view, this is an excellent way to reach customers.
Zyrtec
Allergies can be annoying as well as embarrassing. Zyrtec, an allergy medicine brand came up with a skill to help allergy sufferers evaluate allergens as well as the weather in their area before they leave home. The skill has an allergy impact score that provides users with information on how the day’s allergens might make them feel. As a marketer, you can clearly see that this is a smart move to provide a helpful resource to users while at the same time encouraging them to pick allergy meds on certain days.
Adopting Your Approach for Alexa Echo Marketing Strategy
As you create a voice marketing strategy in 2018, it is imperative to understand Alexa skill. Don’t rush to create a Skill for the sake of having one. Take your time and research on the wins and fails of different skills being utilized on the market. This will provide a clear picture of how an Amazon echo marketing strategy can grow your brand’s reputation in the Amazon market place. When creating a skill, remember that consumers have a way of figuring out when a brand is being duplicitous.
The Future of an Alexa Echo Marketing Strategy
Voice commerce is expected to skyrocket in the near future, from the current $2 billion to more than $40 billion by 2022. Based on this data, it is evident that more brands will create Alexa skills and join the Amazon marketplace. Therefore, don’t wait until it’s too late to start considering having an Alexa marketing strategy for your brand or business.
Leading brands are already coming up with creative ways to make use of Alexa skills to connect with consumers. From now on, it will be Alexa’s world. It’s up to you to decide whether or not you want to be a part of it.
For more innovative ways to reach and engage with your customer, contact us today.
Blend Local Search Marketing PTE. LTD.
1557 Keppel Road, #03-07
Singapore, Republic of Singapore 089066
Tel: 6531384048
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Do You Have an Alexa Echo Marketing Strategy?
Perry Stevens is the founder and CEO of Blend Local Search Marketing Ltd. He’s a tea drinker, cocoa grower and a frequent traveller.
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