Have your clients heard? Interactive voice marketing could be the next new thing to help them stand out from their competitors. A new survey released by Uberall explains how the format works and how you can help.

The Power of Smart Home Assistants

Smart home assistants are a feature in many consumers’ homes. And U.S. adults have shown their comfort level in communicating with these devices. It should come as no surprise that marketers are already using these devices to promote products and services to consumers. Now, small business owners are thinking about whether this form of interactive audio marketing can help them.

SMB Response

The Uberall survey of 300 SMBs reveals that 24% believe interactive voice marketing could be very valuable. About 25% say the format is somewhat valuable, while 28% claim it is slightly valuable.

These operators are well aware of which providers control the marketplace for voice assistant marketing. Nearly half, 48%, give the nod to Amazon’s Alexa as the service that shows the most potential. The other providers ranked as follows:

• Apple Siri 17%
• Google Assistant 29%
• Microsoft Cortana 3%
• Other 3%  

SMB Budgets and Intentions

One way to gauge true SMB interest in new marketing formats like interactive voice technology is to check out budget plans. This year, about 9% of SMBs are significantly increasing their budgets for this format, while 26% are slightly increasing their spend. 

Marketers say they’d invest more in this form of marketing if they understood it a little better. For example, 53% of marketers want to see the connection between their investment in interactive voice marketing and the success of the campaign. More marketers, 47%, would open their wallets if they had access to data that helped with campaign targeting and personalization. 

SMBs also have opinions about who should control the content design for this form of marketing. About 40% say the brand should be in charge, while 28% say the creative/​content agency should take care of this issue. Adimo reminds businesses that interactive voice marketing will not take the form of straight-​up advertising. Instead, the power of marketing through this technology will include answering users’ questions and providing tips. Alexa, for example, encourages the use of ‘skills’ (voice-​based apps) that may contain ads, promotions or expert advice.

Show your clients who's using smart home assistants by checking out the AudienceSCAN profile available on AdMall from SalesFuel. Then, you can start a conversation about interactive voice marketing.