10 Reasons Why Voice Search is Becoming the New Norm for Your SaaS Marketing Campaign
Mobile devices are really changing the way we look up information online, whether it’s for a SaaS marketing campaign or if we’re trying to buy a new pair of shoes. The voice search function on a mobile device has also changed the way users interact with their devices. Instead of typing on a screen, they now just talk to the machine with a push of a button.
With voice search, people are more likely to formulate their search query in a more natural, spoken language. And today, voice assistants like Apple’s Siri, Google Assistant, and Amazon’s Alexa can track context better than ever before.
When people search online for something on a mobile device, they are more likely to use a voice assistant instead of typing than ever before.
According to Media Post, 30% of searches will take place without a screen by 2020, as more people turn to smart speaker devices such as Google Home and Amazon Echo. In addition, 50% of all searches will be voice searches according to comScore.
Since voice searching has become more accurate with each passing year, data from Google indicates that more than half of users between the ages of 13-18 and 44% of adults are using voice search at least once a day.
But why is voice search becoming the new norm for marketing for all businesses, including the SaaS industry? Consider these reasons:
1). Time
Studies have revealed that Smartphone users turn to their phone when looking for information or answers to their questions, and more importantly, to voice search. These users want to gather their information in minimal time.
All a user has to do is hit the Google Now button on Android, or talk to Siri to get their answers. Although, the actual searching time has roughly stayed the same but voice search has made things easier for users by eliminating time taken to type.
“Humans can speak 150 words per minute vs type 40 words per minute” according to Katherine Watier.
2). Google
In the past weeks, Google has made announcements signaling their move towards mobile. You can see signs of this mobile push as early as the removal of Google’s paid ads on the sidebar.
At the same time, they added one more ad to the traditional 3-Pack at the top of the page. Now they are increasing character counts for titles and descriptions.
Google released a hefty bit of data at their conference that shines a light on their move towards mobile. Mobile is no longer a secondary option to the desktop. It is a primary for the consumer. With voice searches on mobile increasing, it is imperative to take note.
3). Online Travel Agencies have made good use of generic terms
I think it’s safe to say that online travel agencies (or OTAs) have become a featured distribution channel for many hotels. You may not enjoy the negotiated rates but you can’t deny the fact that they do drive business for you.
How does this play into voice search? Well, one of the many benefits of voice search is that it allows for (forces at times) auto-correction.
Many OTAs tend to have a generic keyword bidding strategy. In other words, they use a blanket approach when choosing their keywords. They can do this because they have huge budgets.
You can’t afford to use a blanket approach. Since voice is coming up, you can count on autocorrect to spell words so that you can focus on fewer keywords. Find the optimal CPC to pay for these voice search queries, and you can get in front of the right customers.
A smarter strategy is always better than a blanket approach. The generalized strategy worked well when the desktop was the primary search vessel, but it needs to be adopted now that mobile has become the top choice.
4). Personalization
If you deal at all with marketing, then you know that personalization is always on our wish lists. What better way to provide a personalized experience than by talking to the guest in the same language that they use when they talk into their phone.
Doing a voice search on your phone is a real and personal form of search. If you look in your search terms report in Google Analytics/Search Console and segment by mobile, you can see what people are talking into their phones.
It is going to take a little bit of digging into the data, but if you can pick up on the patterns, I’m sure that you will reap the rewards for years to come.
5). Rise of Personal Assistants/Digital Assistants
In addition to Apple’s Siri, Amazon and Google now have their voice-activated personal assistants. While each has some differences from each other, there is one thing that these systems have in common. The companies that make them all have massive amounts of data on their users.
Getting ahead of the competition is just a matter of understanding how these companies will tie in a user’s query to its result.
If a SaaS company worked with companies in the consumer packaged goods (CPG) sector, it is a good idea to focus a bit more on Amazon Echo because Amazon is the largest online retailer in the world. And given Google’s recent dive into travel as well as their massive warehouse of data, it is essential to focus on its system. Regardless of sector, it is still important to focus on all personal assistant systems as a company matures.
6). Ease of use/Better Artificial Intelligence (AI)
This blog may have been completely different if it was written 2-3 years ago when voice recognition was not particularly effective. But today, people find it much easier to speak queries to a smartphone or to a computer.
Think about how often people use their smartphones to find directions to a restaurant, or reviews about a movie. It is no surprise that one in every five searches made on Android in the U.S. is a search query! Understand your guests and artificial intelligence should come naturally to you.
7). Opportunity
There are many untapped opportunities out there when it comes to voice search. If you can set up your website to answer the specific questions that customers are asking, you stand to gain a competitive advantage.
Try to work in a question and answer style questions on your website. When a user performs a voice search for a hyper-specific query you have a good chance of showing up. If you give them what they are looking for, the hotel has an opportunity to gain a new customer.
8). Accuracy
Being able to get the right and accurate information from the web either when they’re using voice search or typing a keyword directly into Google search box, is the ultimate goal of every search user.
With over 2 million blog posts being published online per day, how do you ensure that the information is accurate and reliable?
All businesses, not just SaaS companies, must understand that search users are tired of receiving too much information already. What they care about now is accurate information.Therefore, you need voice search to eliminate inaccuracy in search results.
In the past, voice searching was not very accurate. But times have changed. According to KPCB’s Internet Trends 2016 report, the accuracy rate of voice search is up to 92%. With voice search becoming more accurate, users will enjoy the benefits and use it even more.
9). Convenience
The main reason why people use voice search is that it is convenient, especially when their hands and visions are occupied. According to venture capitalist Mary Meeker, 79% of voice search is carried out in the car and at home.
10). Voice search implies urgency
“Act Now! Only a few items left!”
These are the words that trigger urgency in people, especially when marketing messages are concerned.
Copywriters understand that including elements of urgency in their copy is a powerful way to persuade ideal customers.
In addition to driving conversions for your campaigns, voice search makes “urgency” easier when you’re looking for information on the web.
This is another reason why voice searching is becoming the norm. Most users have micro-moments or flashpoints that drive them to carry out an urgent search on the information they require.
Time to adjust your SEO strategy
If you can figure out how to use voice search to your benefit, you can reap the rewards before anyone else. The reasons outlined above are just a few. The early adopters of voice search understand its value. And the earlier you begin to take advantage of voice search, the greater your competitive advantage.
Remember that when you run a SaaS company’s marketing operations, you need to take advantage of new opportunities and trends. That will make a lasting impact on your bottom line. Contact 99MediaLab today for a free consultation where we can discuss how you can improve your site in today’s world of voice search.
