How Voice Search is Changing Digital Trends? 

Continuously riding the wave of the next ‘big thing’ in social media is definitely a roller coaster ride, and now we are at the intersection of another big change. Voice search has recently gained immense popularity. It started to have a profound effect on how advertisers can influence people to know, like, trust and eventually buy from a particular brand.

Today’s social media landscape is driven by text and images but this is already shifting as more and more people opt for voice over searching for text. That makes absolute sense to me. The average human can speak 150 words per minute but can write only 40 words during that period. Voice conveys emotion, tone, and subtleties that text can not provide. It allows users a true hands-free, eye-free experience.

More than %50 of all searches will be conducted by voice in 2020, according to Comscore. Gartner estimates that %30 web browsing sessions will be performed without a computer again in 2020. It means voice search has already taken its space in the most important SEO strategies. 

Essentially people want their digital assistant to find places and buy things. Standard desktop searches can indicate that people are simply searching for information, while smartphone searches and voice searches are more likely to come from people who try to do something unique with the information they have to hand over.

So voice is growing and it’s louder, but how is that likely to impact the social media? We only need to look at the likes of HearMeOut, a voice-based social network centering on 42-second voice recordings, to get an idea of the revolution we are about to encounter in how we consume social media.

HearMeOut has already targeted the Connected Car space which they believe to be a natural fit for a voice-based social network, and as the voice infiltrates our homes and continues to push text out of the way in our messengers it seems only normal that it is now becoming interactive.

Voice is also beginning to impact advertising, as we see voice-based advertising emerging. Unlike static text or image ads, you may actually have a conversation with voice ads. This promotional strategy is immersive, engaging, and highly effective as a competitive differentiator for brands. It’s possible that early adopters of this voice-based social trend will see some surprising effects.

Let’s take a closer look at some of the key factors which will enhance how voice search allows customers to discover and engage with a particular brand.

Voice content is perceived to be more personal and even more informal than text-based content, and the user’s voice inflection adds nuances that mere text, though accompanied by emojis, can not actually convey.

Although voice search is quicker, more convenient and more reliable, marketers need to bear in mind that voice search is focused on conversation. Therefore content must have a natural-sounding language. There is still some way to go in picking up different accents and intonations and brands that refine this will be able to engage quicker and more readily.

Better utilization of the long tail keyword

Voice search queries are usually longer than text searches and are generally characterized by a question. Usually three to five keywords long and starting with who, what, where, where, why, and how. 

Harnessing this change in search means shifting from an emphasis around a particular keyword such as “skis” to long-tail keywords such as “Rossignol giant slalom men’s skis.” When a marketer uses a long-tail keyword such as this, they can more accurately predict the searcher’s purpose and better understand what the user is looking for.

Opportunity To Earn Featured snippets

Creating high-quality content that is viewed as sufficiently insightful and trustworthy for Google to pick will create an opportunity to be the response to voice searchers ‘ questions. It starts with knowing the purpose of searching to create content that responds directly to the search queries. 

AI is now able to track what kind of questions people tend to search for, allowing it to customize user responses accordingly. The marketer’s key task is to find out what people want and repurpose it in ways they will consume the content, regardless of platform, device or format.

Keeping up with expectations

There is no question that voice is going to become the key point to multi-step, more complex activities. Voice search queries typically fall into four categories; general information is %30, personal assistant is %27, local information is %22 and entertainment and fun is %21.

To make the most of this for marketers, the user experience needs to be considered throughout the entire journey. This means being at least a step ahead of the customer, anticipating their “on-the-go” situations in order to adapt their messages to suit what the user actually wants. 

There is already a new era of flexible, agile marketing emerging to keep pace with these consumers.

Final Opinions

Voice search can significantly improve the way advertisers can reach consumers effectively and, as a result, reduce media wastage. Connecting consumers with the brands they already love and helping them find new ones with which to engage is about ensuring that the voice of your brand is clear, concise and always listening.

Through technology breaking down the barriers between brands and customers, speech is one of the most impactful ways to close the gap to date. It does mean advertisers need to re-use the way they want to connect with customers on an ongoing basis or they might miss a golden opportunity.