Be honest. How often do you call upon your virtual BFF?

“Hey Alexa”

“Hey Siri”

“Hey Google”

At this point, there’s a virtual assistant in almost every home (or pocket). 

“There were nearly 140 million voice assistant users in the United States in 2022,” according to researcher Bergur Thormundsson in a report shared by Statisa. NPR and Edison Research say approximately 62% of Americans use voice assist. 

There’s been a lot of discussion in the SEO space about how using a voice assistant affects search behaviors. And it makes sense, right? You speak differently than you write. Sometimes because of habit, sometimes in an effort to be more clear for the AI. 

But even more than anticipating the right search terms (which is critical, of course), brands also need to think about how they may be presented in the word of audio.

What Is Audio Marketing?

Audio marketing is the use of marketing content that is presented in an audio or sound format. This ranges from long form content like podcasts or audio books, to radio ads, voice search and signature sounds or jingles.

Why is Audio Marketing effective?

According to a recent study by Amazon, “38% of Amazon Alexa users on connected devices said they paid the most attention to ads while consuming content on a smart device.”

One of the biggest uses of smart speakers is playing music through a streaming service or listening to an audio book or podcast. Integrating audio advertising with content like this through paid ads (or by producing this content for your brand) nearly ensures your audience is paying attention. 

Voice Search and Your Copy

As people continue to look to their virtual assistants for answers, it’s important for you to be optimizing the keywords and anticipating the questions people will ask. It’s also important to think about how your website copy will read out loud. This can be harder than it sounds.

Three few tips to keep in mind when writing for audio:

1. Use short sentences and correct punctuation: don’t let Alexa decide the inflection and pacing you intended; tell her!
2. Write for a 7th-8th grade reading level: this means avoiding jargon and fluffy words, and writing as clearly as possible.
3. Read it outloud before publishing! The easiest way to anticipate if it will sound the way you want it to, is to read it out loud.

Creating a Brand Voice

As you create your brand’s (literal) voice, think about how audio marketing can fit into the strategy. 

• What formats/content types make sense for your brand/industry?
• Do you have value-add content that you could make audio? (Like turning a written article into an audio one or converting a youtube video into a podcast)
• Is your website optimized for voice search?