THE VOICE - 04 / NUMBERS DON'T LIE Voice and B2B: the stats
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04 / NUMBERS DON’T LIE 08 / YOU TALKIN’ TO ME? 10 / VOICE 2.0
Voice and B2B: the stats Voice and UX The future of voice
MAY / 2019
Volume One / Issue 1
THE
VOICE
ISSUE
Any sufficiently
advanced
technology
is equivalent
to magic.
Arthur C. Clarke
02
HELLO, IS IT ME
YOU’RE LOOKING FOR?
Can you hear that? It’s the sound of To understand the future of voice search trends are shifting, and I think
voice search making itself heard search, it’s important to know what’s voice is going to impact the industry
amongst the din of new technology. currently happening and examine for the better.”
what it means for the B2B industry.
In the past few years, voice search From a marketing perspective, voice “Voice devices offer untapped
has seen a surge in popularity, and is changing the way people search opportunities for brands to engage
many predict that it’s going to take for products and experiences. Voice with their consumers. A great
the marketing world by storm in technology could improve the way B2B example is the creation of flash briefing
years to come. companies interact with customers, skills, which provide Alexa customers
streamline internal processes and with news headlines and other short
Arguably the most popular claim to transform inbound marketing strategies. content. This readily available audio
be thrown around is that by 2020, platform should be leveraged to
50% of all searches will be conducted What devices are out there? How is promote brand stories, repurpose
via voice. Attributed to comScore, this user experience considered? How existing content and guide new
statistic is one of many predications could SEO search be affected? How prospects along the buyer journey.”
that point towards a revolution in will voice affect content?
voice search.
BDB director Matt Smith believes voice
But here’s the thing about the future: search is going to play an important
no one knows what’s going to happen. role in the future of B2B marketing:
Half the fun of being in digital marketing
is debating potential trends with all the “There are a lot of contrasting opinions
paranoid determination of a conspiracy about the direction of voice search.
theorist. After all, new technology is But there’s no denying that it has
exciting and FOMO makes us want to become more popular. It’s crucial for
know more. B2B businesses to be aware of how
THE knowledge
03 THE VOICE ISSUE
04 Sources: Stone temple, ComScore, Microsoft, Think With Google, Buzzfeed News, Gartner,
SECONDS OUT. MEET THE
HEAVYWEIGHTS OF VOICE
When Siri was first introduced, interactions. One of our favourites Our frustration with Siri’s limitations
the idea that information could be is taken from a list of epic Siri fails reflects our desire to hear machines
found through voice recognition that involved someone asking ‘Play communicate with us in a human way.
was a novelty. a good song.’ That’s why user experience is so
crucial to voice search software.
It provided a fun approach to searching Siri answered with ‘Sorry, I couldn’t
with your phone, but it had its limits. find a ‘good’ song in your music.’
Search queries were misinterpreted, Who knew virtual assistants could
leading to a variety of memeable be so sassy?
THE knowledge
05 THE VOICE ISSUE
2011
Siri April Introduced in 2011, Siri is one of the
first mainstream apps to use voice
search queries.
2013
Cortana April
Released in 2013, this voice assistant
differentiated itself by being able to
recognise natural voice without
a keyboard.
Alexa
2014
November
Considered a major step forward in
voice search capabilities, Alexa can
carry out various functions, including
streaming podcasts and weather reports.
2016
Google Home November
Linked to software called Google
Assistant, this device allows for voice
integration with other services like
Netflix, YouTube and Spotify.
2017
Apple HomePod June
A high-quality speaker that works
in combination with Siri to provide music.
06
Words mean more
than what is set
down on paper. It
takes the human
voice to infuse them
with deeper meaning.
Maya Angelou
THE knowledge
07 THE VOICE ISSUE
YOU TALKIN’
TO ME?
Let’s talk about UX. As voice search becomes more the Marriott created a customised
accurate, businesses will have more experience for each guest in the area.
Many voice search systems require opportunities to capitalise on the Alexa also used Yelp for local search
specific phrasing to activate them. platforms that customers are using to queries, which helped guests find the
Despite technology introducing search for products online. This means attractions they wanted to see.
more sophisticated search queries, there will be a greater focus on voice
like ‘Alexa, what is the IMDB rating search optimisation (VSO). When optimising for a VSO
for [movie]’, there is still a need for strategy, businesses need to consider
improved communication. Voice search and SEO the difference between how people
speak and how they type. Imagine a
We expect voice assistants to intuit our VSO is already on the radar of many customer wants to buy a new phone
commands and be able to carry out any companies big and small. For example, online. When using a search engine,
exchange. When the response is ‘I’m the Marriott teamed up with Amazon they might type ‘smartphones,’ while
sorry, I don’t understand the question,’ to launch Alexa for Hospitality, which with voice search, they could ask ‘what
or ‘Sorry, I can’t do that yet’, it’s easy to acted as a personal concierge system. is the best smartphone to buy?’ It’s
become frustrated. Guests can control hotel devices, order essential to think about the types of
towels, find local attractions and even questions customers might ask and
A key factor in the appeal of voice check out. Alexa for Hospitality was determine relevant keywords.
search is that it’s meant to be faster optimized for specific phrases, such as:
than typing a command on a computer. BDB’s Head of Technology, Oliver
The natural language barrier highlights • ‘Alexa, order room service.’ Brewood believes although voice
that voice search technology must • ‘Alexa, call the front desk.’ search won’t completely replace
become more accustomed to realistic • ‘Alexa, help me check out.’ traditional methods, there is a lot
human speech. of potential from a B2B perspective.
By ensuring the sentences were
geared towards the hospitality industry,
08
“Voice search is definitely growing brands should think about how to which users can click on to find more
and improving its accuracy of maximise the connection. Voice search information. To take advantage of this,
understanding. It’s surprising how content needs to be tailored to the kind brands should think about questions
much voice assistants can already do: of questions that people are asking. they are asked the most and publish
I (somewhat jokingly) asked Google them so they can be picked up by
how much it was to fly to Barcelona. It’s important to remember that voice voice assistants.
I was surprised when it told me a cost, search assistants provide users with
then asked me to narrow down my a single answer as opposed to a list Vocal personas
dates and checked if I wanted to be of suggestions. Therefore, featured
kept up to date with price changes – snippets should be a key part of a VSO Persona creation has become a key
a great example of progressive search and content strategy because they are part of voice search content. When
in action.” likely to contain the best answer that we hear a story, we want to be
B2B prospects are searching for. entertained. We want to be absorbed
“There’s a way to go with complex in the experience of how a story is told,
searches and subjective searches, e.g. Featured snippets exist at the top of which comes down to tone and delivery.
best marketing automation platform, a Google results page and take away
or best rock band. In time, you’d the need to click through to find the A mechanical, flat voice isn’t going to
expect it to be able to provide information that is being searched grab anyone’s attention. That’s why
recommendations/suggestions in for. To rank for them, brands should voice assistants like Siri have been
these areas. At present, such a consider developing conversational given a human persona to better
request will usually surface a content that can be easily read by the connect with users.
featured snippet or direct you to search engine. This can be achieved
search results, so traditional SEO with a simple FAQ (Frequently asked Siri has a female voice delivered with
remains of vital importance.” questions) section of a website. FAQs an enthusiastic and professional tone.
display relevant, highly targeted Listeners can recognise an introverted
“In the near future, it’s still hard to questions that can be detected by or extroverted personality and they are
see voice replacing traditional typed Google and picked up by voice devices. more likely to be engaged with a voice
search from a B2B point of view. There that matches their personality type.
is a huge depth of research needed. But marketers can go beyond a simple
But it isn’t hard to envision a future FAQ page by having Q&A style blog In the future, voice assistants may be
where we can ask “who are the best posts. The blog title could be a question able to carry out more sophisticated
B2B marketing agencies in my city” and the answer might be featured in the conversations. They may be able to tell
and actually get an answer.” body. By targeting the right keywords stories that customers invest in, so it’s
for FAQs style blogs, search rankings worth thinking about how to optimise
Voice search content may improve. content for voice search.
With voice search comes a new In addition, FAQ content appears in
method of accessing content and the ‘People Also Ask’ section of Google,
THE knowledge
09 THE VOICE ISSUE
WHERE WE’RE GOING,
WE DON’T NEED ROADS!
As voice search technology becomes Electrodes in the device detect “Last year, I worked on a project where
more advanced, it seems likely there neuromuscular signals in the jaw a forward-thinking council adopted
will be a greater emphasis on new and face that are caused by internal voice search to assist local residents
integration techniques like being speech. AlterEgo also comes with with checking and booking their waste
able to make phone calls through bone-conduction headphones that collections. The aim was to simplify
voice activation. deliver vibrations to the inner ear and everyone’s lives, particularly the elderly,
allow for information to be conveyed. who struggled accessing the web
This could also extend to other The wearer is able to speak silently to portal and preferred using a phone.”
devices, such as headphones or the device and be connected to apps
fitness apps. Imagine being able to and AI assistants. There’s still a lot of work to be done
have a conversation with a fitness before voice assistants reach their full
device and it giving you an accurate Dimo Stoychev, a digital account potential. Nevertheless, it’s important
reading of how many calories you’re manager at BDB, feels voice could for B2B brands to be aware of voice
burning off in a real time. create a brighter future for people technology and examine how it can
with disabilities. support business growth. The earlier
Subvocalisation is another growth you start researching what’s out
area within voice search. This refers to “I think voice search definitely has a there, the better prepared you’ll be.
internal speech that is typically carried place in the world and it will become By understanding the evolving uses
out when reading. MIT researchers increasingly popular as companies of voice technology, your brand can
recently developed a wearable device adopt and develop the technology become a thought leader and stand out
called AlterEgo that can transcribe further. I think the biggest value it among competitors in a space that is
words a user verbalises internally and can add is assisting people with sure to expand in the years to come.
doesn’t speak out loud. disabilities, especially those with
vision impairment issues who might
struggle to use traditional devices
like phones and computers.”
10The future
belongs to
those who
prepare
for it today
Malcolm X
THE knowledge
11 THE VOICE ISSUE©2019 B2B|IMG Published by Barrett Dixon Bell. All enquiries: weareb2b@bdb.co.uk
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