Your business is probably already familiar with the importance of artificial intelligence. It’s everywhere: chatbots to organize finances, software to automatically monitor your company’s tasks & activities, and now, voice.
Voice technologies are slowly taking over the world of search engines as people’s lives get busier and creating convenient solutions becomes the new differentiator in business.
Amazon’s Alexa is one of the top smart assistants out there and if you’re going to get ahead of the game, you need to consider building an Alexa skill for business.
An Alexa skill is an user experience free app that a user can enable inside of their Amazon Echo app which will make Alexa perform specific tasks triggered by a simple question. An example of this would be connecting a voice assistant to your heating system, which will in turn allow you to change your thermostat temperature by voice (think Ecobee, Nest and more).
Tens of millions of people all over the world are already using these simple voice-enabled skills and if your business processes can be simplified with a voice assistant, customers will be even more excited to buy your product.
Still not sold? Here’s five reasons why your business should build an Alexa skill in 2019.
1. Voice technology will be huge this year
Google has already revealed that almost 20% of searches made on their platform are made via voice.
It’s way too easy and convenient nowadays for people to ask a digital assistant for answers to their questions than it is to start typing on a phone, or have an in depth conversation with someone. And Comscore predicts that by 2020, 50% of all searches will be voice-enabled.
Artificial intelligence marketing is something you need to look into and go ahead with in order to ensure your business remains relevant to the 21st century consumer.
The best place to start is to look at your business and pinpoint the ways it fits into everyday life, then try to improve them with the use of voice technology.
2. Adding a skill will create further brand awareness
Simply creating an Alexa skill will not only help boost your reliability in keeping up with the times, but get the word out about your company too.
Creating voice skills will give people another way to interact with your brand, and if you do something different from your competitors, word will get around.
The best marketing techniques are the ones that get people talking, and collaboration with a voice assistant does exactly that!
Still not convinced? It is possible now to reach an audience of around 70 million people via voice skills, which is a huge amount to reach through a marketplace that we haven’t even scratched the surface of. Hint: that number is derived from the total sales of Amazon devices currently sold in the US.
Adobe conducted a survey which found that 71% of voice assistant users in the US use their devices at least once a day, which gives you and your business the chance to become a much bigger part of people’s day to day lives.
You also have to consider that most people are comfortable using their voice speakers whilst other people are around. If someone is using your business’ skill in front of friends and family, chances are they will be impressed and want to give it a go, too. Word of mouth will soon become your biggest friend.
3. Leading the way will put you in front of your competition
Showing your business is not afraid of new technology will also make you stand out of the crowd in 2019.
Going ahead and trying out something that isn’t guaranteed to work will put your name at the top of the list by the time your competitors catch up with you, because you did it first.
Alexa is now compatible with over 30,000 skills, which means you should get yours out there now.
4. Amazon is dominating the voice market
Around 61% of people who use a smart speaker own an Alexa, according to a 2018 Strategy Analytics Consumer Survey. These smart speakers really are used everywhere from the everyday home to doctor’s surgeries.
According to HealthcareWeekly, Nearly 1 in 5 European Physicians use Siri and Alexa to tend to patients. These speakers help to optimise the care a physician can give as well as keeping business moving.
Amazon’s market share is huge, meaning that this is not only the number one platform to choose for popularity, but also for profit.
Amazon has created in-skill purchasing, which works similar to in-app purchasing through a mobile phone.This allows your business to make money in a few different ways.
Firstly, you can charge for your skill. If it sounds impressive enough, most people will be happy to make a one time purchase to access it.
There’s also the option to create ongoing subscriptions for users which will give you a steady income weekly, monthly or yearly. People who love your skill are also likely to pay for premium features.
5. Future proof your business
There’s always going to be a new trend, and it’s important not to ignore them and keep up with your audience.
Voice assistants are now found everywhere from mobile phones to laptops to speakers. Halfords is now looking to sell a £1,000 smart bike with an inbuilt Amazon Alexa, and voice speakers will soon be available in cars and other appliances.
Your business needs to prepare for voice technology to hit the market hard in order to keep growing.
So how do you create your own skill for your business?
First off you need to register as an Amazon developer and create your own Flash Briefing skill by following their guides.
You’ll need to set up the skill in the developer console and use voice design to create a model which works with interaction. It’s also important to test your skill thoroughly before sending it to be certified.
Bottomline
Sure, creating a skill will take a lot of time and money. However, done correctly you’ll be reaching a whole new audience in no time and reaping the benefits of word about your business getting round. It’s important to strike now while the iron is hot to get ahead of your competition and make sure you can offer something new and exciting to the millions of Alexa users out there.