Companies
Conversable Launches Faster-To-Market, Customer-Loyalty-Promoting Bots
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Conversable, and automated message and voice platform, launched a collection of omnichannel bots designed to get to market faster without the need for huge technical investments. Launched in 2016, the company provides enterprise-level software-as-a-service technology for developing and distributing AI-enabled messaging and voice services across social media and smart-technology platforms. With bots considered an important element of brands’ capability to promote lasting customer loyalty, only 4 percent of companies “have deployed conversational interfaces, according to the 2018 Gartner CIO Survey. Conversable, which was featured in the Gartner Market Guide for Conversational Platforms, offers its customers a platform that supports more messaging and voice channels than those of its competitors do.
Facebook Lets Advertisers Use AR To Display Products On News Feed
Facebook has announced plans to allow advertisers to display their products on its Messenger and News Feed platforms using new technologies, including augmented reality. Facebook VP for product marketing for global marketing solutions, Ty Ahmad-Taylor, introduced AR-enabled ads that let consumers virtually try on sunglasses and makeup products. Beauty brand Michael Kors was the first advertiser to try AR ads, which include a “Tap to try it on” option.[Image Credit: © Facebook, Inc.]
Consumers
Some Smart Speaker Buyers Ready To Buy Personal Care And Beauty Products Via Voice-Technology Devices, Survey Shows
Among US smart speaker buyers, 39 percent said they are most receptive to shopping for personal care and wellness products using voice commerce, according to a Digitas survey in June 2018 by The Harris Poll. Results of the survey also revealed 38 percent of respondents are willing to buy beauty supplies using the platform. Also, 85 percent of respondents said that sometimes they bought the virtual assistant's most recommended product rather than the brand they initially wanted to buy.[Image Credit: © Photo by Rahul Chakraborty on Unsplash]
Market News
Industry Adoption Of Voice Marketing Still Has A Long Way To Go, Surveys Reveal
Businesses are at the early stage of adopting voice technology-enabled devices as a marketing tool. With 47.3 percent of US consumers having access to smart speakers, such as Amazon Echo, Apple HomePod, or Google Home, according to a recent study, voice technology presents a huge market opportunity for brands. CPG giant Procter & Gamble, for example, has been experimenting with in-home voice technology. It has created an Alexa skill for its Tide detergent brand, helping consumers remove more than 200 kinds of stains. For its part, PR agency APCO Worldwide launched the AI Comms Lab, a department serving as an incubator for ideas, such as early adoption of voice marketing.[Image Credit: © Przemyslaw Marczynski on Unsplash]
Media Brands Can Generate New Revenue By Developing Human-Centric Programming
Media companies can gain access to a potentially huge market opportunity by creating programs that include the voice of small business owners and executives. Based on lessons learned from the experience of blog website HuffPost, media companies should adopt a human-centric model, such as a “native content distributor network” where contributors pay for access to the platform but must be held to the same journalistic standards as professional journalists are. Also, native offerings created for individuals and small businesses can be added to new and current programming.[Image Credit: © William Iven @ Pixabay.com]
Research & Insights
Voice Search And Marketing Can Catapult Brands To Top Of Online Retail World
Results of a study in the UK revealed 85 percent of Amazon customers prefer the recommended Amazon product when voice shopping. Because customers view Amazon as a reliable source of product reviews and suggested products, consumers tend to accept recommended products as ideal for them. Already, marketers and brands are looking at the possibility of advertising on Amazon’s Alexa virtual-assistant platform although the online retailer has repeatedly denied it plans to allow advertising. Results of a test conducted by Bobsled Marketing on Alexa’s basis and logic order for recommending products showed products with the “Amazon’s Choice” badge are top priority. Products from the user’s order history and the first products in the search result for a search term come second and third.
Customer Calls Offer Marketers Trove Of Data, Tips On How To Fine-Tune Targeting Campaigns
Digital marketers, by analyzing the voice of their customers, can gain information about their behaviors, preferences, purchasing, and intent. These data can be used to develop a “seamless omni-channel customer experience.” The author presents four tips on how to manage this process. First, the process should route or send callers to the best destination based on consumer data and the reason for calling. Also, customer service agents should be equipped with insights on callers, by providing them with call analytics solutions through the PC or an audible voice message. Third, the system should deploy voice analytics to gather frequently asked questions from calls received. Finally, the process should use the results of every call received to retarget or exclude callers from the targeting campaign.[Image Credit: © Gerd Altmann]
Search Marketers Have Nothing To Worry About Voice Technology's Implications
Despite the fast-growing popularity of voice-controlled devices, with 53 percent of chief marketing officers expected to invest in voice search in the coming year, according to Internet Retailing, search marketers do not have to worry about its impact on their platform. Voice-controlled devices may be a new channel for searching for information; however, the search marketing techniques that go with them are likely to be similar to those already put in place by successful marketers. With voice-controlled searches gaining more advanced capabilities than before, search marketers need to keep doing well instead of worrying about the new technology's impact on their business.[Image Credit: © CSTRSK from Pixabay]
Voice Technology-Based Commerce Still A Long Way From Widespread Adoption By Consumers, Surveys Reveal
According to The Information, only 2 percent of devices that include Amazon's Alexa voice assistant have been used to buy things online. Data revealed that out of that 2 percent, only 10 percent showed repeat purchases. About half of 491 Internet users in the US and the UK said they have never used a smart speaker to make a purchase, with 20 percent saying they do not have a smart speaker at all. More than half of 500 Internet users across the US and UK, when asked what do they use their smart speakers for the most, said they do not use a smart speaker. Checking the weather was the most commonly cited use for the smart speaker by 12.3 percent of respondents, with voice shopping accounting for 10.4 percent.[Image Credit: © HeikoAL @ Pixabay.com]
Some Factors Limit Adoption Of Voice Commerce By Consumers And Retailers
There are several reasons why consumers and marketers will not adopt voice technology-enabled commerce as fast as some analysts forecast. First, consumers are not going to purchase clothes or electronics because they cannot browse products with voice. Also, retailers and brands still need to address securities issues, including parental control and control of Alexa and Siri through subliminal messages in music. Voice technology is brand-biased; for example, there is a strong probability that consumers' order for batteries will return Amazon Basics-branded products. Without enough competition, voice is not an even playing field at present.[Image Credit: © PhotoMIX-Company @ Pixabay.com]
