We are witnessing yet another tech revolution. One where the humble search bar is finally bowing out to the stage for our booming vocals to conduct a hands-free voice search. 

Forget typing, the future is here, and it is asking us to talk. Now, technology is more accessible with just your voice from "Alexa, play my workout playlist!" to "Siri, remind me to buy milk!" 

It is a palpable paradigm shift. Moreso, since Alexa, Siri, and the rest of the gang can be reached through voice-activated devices—like the smartphone you may be reading this from, dear reader. 

While these voice-activated devices are intuitive on the user side. The technical side of voice search marketing is not so. And, no, it is not just about adapting to a more conversational style.

So,  if you are a brand looking to grow your influence, then this is for you. In this article, we are sharing the ways you can leverage voice search and adapt voice-activated devices for your marketing efforts. 

The Rise of Voice Search

Since the advent of voice-activated devices, they have easily weaved into our daily lives. You could even say that it has become the go-to mode that most people prefer. 

It is so widespread that back in 2020, Statista projected that the number of voice assistants being used around the world is set to reach 8.4 billion by this year—that is just a little over the total human population of 8.1 billion.

To put it into context, more than 50% of smartphone users engage with it. Moreover, 41% of adults use voice search on a day-to-day basis. 

How can it not be? It is convenient, hands-free, and everywhere so long as you have an audio input-output, your favorite smart assistant, and a stable connection. Beyond that though, voice-activated devices are blurring the lines as they reshape how you communicate with technology and businesses. 

Enter: Natural Language Queries (NLPs) and conversational SEO. 

Because of these, voice search is becoming smarter in providing people with answers to their queries. It is not only limited to that. For brands, this enables you to glean insights on how to talk to your target audience, adapt your marketing strategies, and tweak your content to pop up in the search results. 

Why do Brands Need to Adapt?

Most people no longer peck their queries into the humble search bar, they talk to a virtual assistant to access voice search and get their answers. 

This alone answers why your brand needs to adapt. If you do not, then you are essentially ignoring a large chunk of your target audience. 

Challenges and Opportunities of Voice Search

Pros

• Convenient since voice search is often faster than typing, particularly for complex queries.
• It can act as a bridge to digital information and services, promoting inclusivity.
• Using conversational language feels more natural and intuitive than traditional search bars.
• Voice commands enable multitasking and free up hands for other tasks.
• It heavily focuses on local information, which presents you with a major opportunity especially if you have strong local SEO.
• It learns user preferences and offers tailored recommendations, which presents an opportunity to foster brand loyalty.

Cons

• It can still misinterpret commands or struggle with accents and background noise.
• Data collection practices raise privacy concerns.
• Not everyone has access to or feels comfortable using voice technology.
• Implementing voice-optimized features can be costly and require technical expertise, which can be heavy for the wallets of most small-to-medium businesses (SMBs).

Aside from these, there are other reasons why brand adaptation to voice search is crucial for your brand’s survival and success. 

Benefits of Voice Search

Shift Consumer Behavior

As established earlier, people use voice-activated devices for information, shopping, and entertainment. 

With over 50% of smartphone users engaging in voice search and smart speakers, it is going to be hard to ignore this trend. Moreover, it could render your brand invisible to a massive and engaged audience.

Leverage Micro-Moments

Voice search captures "micro-moments," like when you have a specific need or craving. So, even if it is something like "cakeshops near me" or "how to make pancakes," you have the opportunity to engage with your audience through optimized content and voice-friendly experiences.

When you embrace the potential of e-commerce in voice search, you are in a better position to quickly engage and easily interact with them and eventually journey to a successful purchase. 

Build Brand Familiarity

Of course, having consistent positive interactions with voice assistants can build brand familiarity and trust. 

It is kind of like this: when you search for  "healthy meal ideas" or "reliable car repair" you will see one of the top brands near you. While you may not avail of their services right now, you will remember them, and become your go-to eventually.  

Provide a Seamless Customer Experience

Voice search is very convenient. People to access information and services hands-free. For your brand, adapting to this shift can enable you to provide your customers with a seamless and satisfying customer experience—which boosts engagement and loyalty.

Local SEO Domination

Voice searches are heavily concentrated on local businesses. 

So, optimizing for local SEO is not something you should overlook. Claiming your online profiles and ensuring you provide accurate information is crucial if you want your brand to be discovered in those critical moments when people are using voice search.

Targeted Marketing

Voice technology holds immense potential for personalized experiences. So, when you leverage user data and their preferences, you are poised to offer targeted recommendations and tailor their voice interactions for a more relevant and engaging experience.

Strategies for Voice Search Optimization

Now, let us get to how you can adapt voice search to your marketing efforts. We listed below practical and actionable strategies for voice search optimization that you can actually do right now. 

Speak Your Audience’s Language

It is exactly how it sounds. If you want to engage with your target audience, you need to speak their language first. 

In the literal sense, it is kind of like this: You speak Latin and your audience speaks Chinese. No matter how you speak, slower or louder, neither of you will understand each other.

Here are a couple of tips: 

• Ditch the formal keywords and embrace natural language like questions and long-tail phrases people speak.
• Analyze voice search queries related to your brand and industry to understand common user intent and speech style.
• Optimize titles, descriptions, and content with these natural language keywords to ensure they flow naturally within the text.

Claim Your Local Turf

We meant your digital turf, the ones you may have overlooked beyond your website and social media channels: Google Business and Local Directories.

This leads us to our point: Claim and verify your Google My Business listing and other local directory profiles. Also, make sure your brand name, address, contact details, and operating hours are accurate.

Aside from this, here are a couple more tips: 

• Encourage positive reviews and respond to them promptly. Establishing a positive online reputation will also play a role in voice search ranking.
• Optimize your website content for local keywords and highlight your proximity to potential customers.

Answer the Unasked Questions

It is kind of like being an all-knowing mom. Before your target audience even asks, you want to provide the answer already. You anticipate what they want and need to know. 

Here are a couple of ways to do this: 

• Think of the “whys” and “hows” behind each query and answer them all in your content. 
•  Also, create a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) section on your website and include that on your product or service pages to proactively answer people’s questions.
• Organize your structure data markup to help Google understand your content better and more likely display it in informative voice snippets.

Embrace Conversational SEO

For this, the focus is more on your website. You want to make sure it is designed to be mobile-friendly and easy to understand by Google. 

You may go back and redesign your site and landing pages to better cater to smartphones. If your website is dated, then you definitely need to do it. 

Of course, there are ways to embrace conversational SEO.

• Make sure your website render speed passes the Core Web Vitals test and other metrics. Voice search also prefers quick responses.
• Write content that is concise and clear. You aim to provide informative answers within bite-sized chunks suitable for voice assistants.
• Consider creating video and audio content like tutorials, reviews, and podcasts. These types of content are easily discovered via voice search.

Conclusion

The future of voice-activated technology is here and it wants you to talk to it. With that said, one thing is first sure about this trend: 

It has fundamentally shifted how people interact with technology and brands, such as yours. This is not merely limited to a few barked commands to voice assistants. This also extends to the things you may have said or asked in passing then the next thing you know you see targeted ads.

Of course, adapting to voice search is not just for convenience's sake either. It is about forging a deeper connection with your audience through the technology we use. It is safe to say that this new-age dialogue will birth more innovations that will change how you engage with your audience.