Voice Assistants for your business

What are the most common uses and how can I take advantage of them to grow my business?

Alexa, Google Assistant, Siri, Cortana, Aura, lots of names and models are available. These assistants facilitate us from shopping to making calls, playing with family, keeping up with social networks and creating wish lists or purchases. In 2018, the market for voice assistants has been revolutionized and those of Amazon and Google lead it with their integrations, which include smart speakers and vehicles.

There are many opportunities to discover and take advantage of. Over the next few years we will see more and more integrations with vehicles, lights, televisions and other appliances. While users of this technology are limited, they belong to a rapidly growing segment. Therefore, it is essential to consider virtual assistants as an opportunity for your business.

It is a matter of looking for what can be offered: making reservations, shopping lists, banking operations, weather forecasts, games; the possibilities are endless, and if you find a way to take advantage of them, surely the attention of these consumers will be captured.

Globaly, 73% of the population has a smartphone and half of them use a voice search engine. The most searched site is Google, so the function of the search engine is the most prevalent use. Voice search was installed as the second among the most used methods to search for things from the phone, because it is still more customary to write the search in the Internet browser.

In addition, as the Digital 2019 study shows, the uses that we give Alexa (Amazon's virtual assistant) are still limited compared to the wide variety of applications or skills available. It is used mostly for google searchs, to play videos or music on YouTube, for checking messages and notifications on Facebook and making purchases or sales in Amazon:

Beyond the content or devices available, another vital factor is that the application must be user-friendly. An easy to use app that also generates friendly conversations is crucial. Understanding your customers' needs and making the best possible interaction are key points to make the conversation as natural and fluid as possible. Offering answers with poor quality and unwanted delays will cause users to quickly leave the conversation, stop interacting with the assistant feeling a very bad experience in the flow of use, which can also make them feel let down by the product and the brand as well.

Another issue that is common among users' concerns is security. In the post-conflict context with Facebook and Cambridge Analytica, this is one of the questions that appear the most and which brands strive to answer. It's simple, attendees are always waiting for you to say the command as "OK Google", "Alexa" or the name you choose. Otherwise, they don't listen. Additionally there is the option to mute the device that deactivates the microphone circuit directly. In this way it is impossible for anyone to hear private conversations.

Like everything else, this technology has its advantages and disadvantages, but it is a matter of knowing how to capitalize them and find the applications that work best on a daily basis. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate all the available options to discover which one may work best for your business, be it, for example, a complement to an e-commerce platform or a game to interact with your customers.