Say it don’t type it – Brands that are embracing voice search

20/01/2020

Voice assistant devices such as Amazon’s Echo, Google Home and Siri have left the era of new and novelty, and have entered mainstream. Over the past two years in particular the devices, and more importantly the software behind them have become more and more sophisticated. Rather than just doing what you ask, they now also predict what you want, and seamlessly present this back to users in a natural and helpful way.

The voice activated era is a big game changer for brands because it’s pushing them to think outside of the typical search box to launch innovative marketing campaigns. With over 1 billion voice searches per month in 2018, brands have embraced the challenge to capture more audiences using voice assistants as more people use voice to run search engine queries.

We’ve pulled together some quick case studies of brands embracing voice search.

Esteé Lauder

A virtual beauty expert called  “Liv” was created when global beauty brand Esteé Lauder and Google Home collaborated to help answer people’s questions about all things beauty related. She offers customised skincare routines and often recommends Esteé Lauder products in her replies. In Google search world, when you type in a basic question you will get thousands of answers, but when it comes to voice search queries, consumers would normally get one answer and in this case Esteé Lauder wanted to make sure they were the only voice being heard.

Dominos

Ordering food on the go has never been more fun and engaging until Domino’s launched their voice order strategy called “Dom” with Amazon’s Alexa. Customers could interact with “Dom” who would reply back in fun ways. Using the voice-controlled device, you can have pizza delivered to you without lifting a finger, however users are required to have an Easy Order profile in the Domino’s App first. It will be an interesting space to watch as devices speak back and attempt to upsell, or other brands vie for space for you to upgrade your order. eg: “Would you like a Coke Zero with that?”

Whirlpool

Whirlpool collaborated with Amazon’s Alexa and Google Assistant which allows the brand’s smart home appliances to be activated by voice control. This allows families to activate their appliances where-ever they are in the house through simple voice commands such as preheating the oven or starting a load of laundry. They can care for their loved ones better, faster and smarter. This is a key example of how the search giants will gather niche data such as laundry habits and patterns that can be used to create hyper targeted markets for advertisers to target consumers.
https://youtu.be/yGZXs_TYKis

Kayak

Travel search engine Kayak paired up with Amazon Alexa to help consumers look for flights, book hotel rooms and car rentals by using their voice. Similar with Dominos, Kayak must enable the Kayak skill in the Alexa App and link their Kayak accounts. It’s a great tool for travellers to both plan and manage their trip in a natural conversational way.

Voice search queries have gone up over the year and for 2020 it’s been predicted that 50% of all online searches will be done through voice activation. It is crucial to understand these developments and apply them into your digital marketing strategy. Although not everyone is on the same page about them, it’s important to accommodate the people who are engaging in voice searches as it is a popular growing technology that will only keep getting bigger.

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