Consumers Search in a New Way

You may already write your website content to be friendly to search engines like Google and Bing, hoping they index your pages and rank them high on results pages. This is without debate a good online business strategy, but did you know B2C shoppers and B2B buyers are finding information about you in a new way? That new way is with their voice. People are now leaning into Alexa and other devices to help them research, shop, buy, and even manage their entire lives. It’s not just about checking the weather or shopping lists anymore. Someone asking Siri a question could be your gateway into a whole new channel of revenue.

If you’re still not convinced this is an upward, future-rich trend and not simply a fad, these statistics speak for themselves.

• Voice search is the number two reason people use their mobile phone, only one behind web browsing, according to Perficient.
• 50% of Americans prefer to use voice assistants while driving (Voicebot.ai).
• According to 99 Firms, 71% of smartwatch users say they will leverage the benefits of vocalized queries this year.
• By next year, according to Statista, eight billion devices will be enabled with Google Home or similar operating system.
• Three-quarters of businesses have realized quantifiable benefits from voice- or chat-assistant initiatives, per Capgemini.
• Voice-driven shopping, as reported by Siteefy, is set up to exceed $40 billion in 2022.

With the explosion of shopping online in the past 2 years due to the pandemic and, in addition, a large influx of new products in the marketplace, experts predict more demand for voice-centric consumer experiences. In due time, asking Siri a question will be the new gateway to ordering your favorite gadget on the Internet. We’ll move beyond asking about recipes and stock performance and will be buying high-end products with a simple, “Hey Google!”

We are not quite there yet though because many people still have reservations about the “Big Brother” aspect of these products. Effective marketing is based on trust, so this hurdle will have to be cleared before we have mass adoption. Having said that, people are getting more and more comfortable with the idea, so it’s time for your company to research what’s possible and start making plans for when we hit the tipping point and this all becomes second nature to all of us.