Digital marketing experts are constantly looking to the future because the present seems to become obsolete so quickly. It was not that long ago that it would have been impossible for anyone to imagine a situation where doing an Internet search with a keyboard could be in jeopardy of going extinct. But with the rapid rise of voice searching, it looks like the keyboard and screen could be going the way of the pencil and paper.
It is estimated that 50 percent of all Internet searches will be done using voice search devices by 2020. In that same time period, Internet experts expect that three out of every 10 web browsing interactions will take place without a keyboard. With more and more people buying Alexa and other voice search devices, the need for keyboard searches continues to dwindle.
The technology for voice searches was first introduced on desktop and laptop devices because those were the primary ways people interacted with the Internet. But as time has gone on, smartphones have rapidly overtaken desktops as the primary computing platform to use voice searches. The technology to turn your smartphone into a voice search device has developed at a rapid pace, which makes digital marketing experts wonder if anyone will be using a regular desktop PC or laptop in the next decade.
The first problem with voice searches, and the most obvious, is there is no visual medium to display links or ads of any kind. While there are ways of making advertising messages part of search results, people can generally filter those results out and avoid the hassles of listening to an ad.
Another marketing challenge created by voice searches is how to point the search results for a query towards a client’s website. The visual cues such as keywords and geographic indicators made it easy to get a client’s website seen in search results. But with voice searches, the process is not so easy.
People communicate more naturally when they speak. The search phrases of the past worked because people would type what they felt they needed to type to get results. But when people use voice search, they use their natural voice and all of the regional vocabulary words that make their search results seem more natural.
When you can format your marketing material to match the way people speak, you are going to gain more credibility with your audience. You can also help break down your audience into segments that include ethnic origin, geographic origin, and other basic marketing categories that can help to make your content much more powerful.
The digital marketing world was just getting used to advertising on small smartphone screens when it was given the dilemma of voice search. The idea of using voice search as a marketing tool is still in its infancy, but it is proving to be a very powerful way to deliver compelling marketing information that helps members of a target audience to make buying decisions.
