This is a deck I created and presented to my team about digital assistants, voice search, and what it means for search marketing. Inspired by the Adweek and iProspect webinar: Optimizing for Voice Search: Real Talk About AI and Intelligent Agents (https://event.webcasts.com/viewer/event.jsp?ei=1150834&tp_key=21f37f9d57)

1. Digital
Assistants:
Optimizing for
Voice Search

2. What is a
Digital
Assistant?
A digital assistant is a computer program
leveraging artificial intelligence that can
understand a variety of inputs (text, voice, data)
in order to answer questions and carry out tasks
for an individual.

3. Digital
Assistant
Adoption
710m
people in
2017
500m
people
in 2016
1,016m
people in 2018
1,376m
people in 2019
1,642m
People in 2020
1,831m
people in 2021

4. Types of
Digital
Assistants

5. Types of
Digital
Assistants

6. Types of
Digital
Assistants

7. Types of
Digital
Assistants

8. Global Digital Assistants Use by Platform (in Millions)

9. It’s Not Just
Millennials

10. 1.
Decreased Digital
Overload
For the love of God, not another screen.

11. 2.
Hyper-
Personalization
Custom is the new normal.

12. 3.
Improved Word
Error Rates
I like big butts and a can of limes.

13. 4.
Contextual
Understanding
Your aren’t searching, but conversing.

14. 5.
Simplified Path to
Purchase
Alexa, order my Starbucks.

15. 6.
Relevance
Ain’t nobody got time for that.

16. “By 2020, 50% of search
will come from voice.

17. Correct Listings
Brands must update
and manage local
business listings to
ensure accuracy. This
includes third-party
listings on Yelp,
TripAdvisor, and
Angie’s List.
Local and
Mobile
Calls-to-Action
In your listings, use
strong CTAs like Call
Now, Get Directions,
or Make
Reservations.
Leverage site
extensions where
possible for users to
take action from
SERPs.

18. Voice

19. Keywords used in text and voice search differ in length

20. Make Answers Easy to Find
If a searcher asks their assistant for the
nearest Italian restaurant or the cheapest
place to buy a tuxedo, the digital assistant
will turn to your structured local and
product data to answer the question.
Structured
Data

21. What
next?
Areas digital marketers
should think about in the near
future.

22. Bye, Humans.
Many brands have already invested in and
built bots to provide customer service,
answer questions, or just promote
products.
Bots

23. Digital Assistants Got ‘Em.
Skills are the new apps. Through skills,
companies can connect with
home-speakers, like Amazon Echo and the
upcoming Harman Kardon Cortana
speaker, to reach customers through
voice-based interactions.
Skills

24. Thank You!
Whitepaper
Webinar