We recently shared news with you that by the end of 2018, more than half of U.S. households would have a smart speaker like an Amazon Echo or Google Home. Smart speaker ownership doubled from 2017-2018 and shows no sign of slowing down.
This creates a significant opportunity for brands--small business, nonprofits, and large corporations alike--to code their websites for smart speaker search.
A Big Opportunity for Brands
At Harrison Edwards, our digital marketing team are experts in voice search coding and are working with clients of all sizes to ensure their sites are able to capture a larger share of relevant search traffic. Initial results have been strong. One client whose business is heavily web dependent has seen a recent increase in conversions of over 20% and an increase in overall business of similar numbers.
What Are People Searching For?
Right now, most people are searching for news and entertainment. In a study highlighted recently in Business Insider, 84% of smart speaker users play music and 38% access news content (although only 1% say that news content is the most important function). It is noteworthy that the majority of those who receive news content via smart speaker say they feel better informed.
And what are those news sources popular with smart speaker users? CNN, The President's favorite, leads the pack, followed by NPR and ABC News.
With recent audience decay on Facebook, we wonder if smart speakers will become a primary news and information source for consumers?
We'll be watching the numbers.
Jennifer Newman Galluzzo is Director, Digital Marketing at Harrison Edwards.