Clear is the New Clever 3.0
Voice commands are coming. Alexa is already a brand icon and growing. But for marketers, the voice isn’t so different from the typewriter.
Dan Tynan writing in AdWeek said that voice is another interface just like a keyboard and a touchscreen. Yet there is less room for error. You must be “brutally simple and intuitive” to achieve success. And you thought the shift from desktop screens to mobile was hard. The next few years are bringing chatbots, augmented reality, natural language processing which will drive more technology-human interaction.
It is estimated that 1 in 4 searches is conducted by talking, not typing, according to Google. And soon those commands will include visual displays of information, not just audio returns of information.
“Hey Alexa, when will voice take over search?”
“In the year 2020 penetration will be at 50% according to comScore.”
Here are 5 tips from Adweek’s “Trending” on using voice command technology:
- Drop the Hard Sell — self promoting my seem overly aggressive
- Make info Useful — people should use more than once
- Analytics — voice apps allow for experimenting, gathering data and learning
- Think Visually and Verbally — the screens will be part of voice sooner than later
- Minimize Friction — good to think about for websites, mobile sites and voice command-generated information
Mark Mathis
Mark wrote his first direct-mail fundraising letter in 1981 for the University of Iowa Center for Advancement. The effort raised a few million dollars in undiscovered wills and legacy gifts. From that day forward Mark discovered a love of the big idea that moves the needle. After 12 years at KWWL, Mark became a business owner as a co-founder of ME&V — rebranded as AMPERAGE in 2015. After 25 years of leading creative teams in video production, graphic design, PR, writing and web development, Mark transitioned out of ownership in 2021. Today he serves in an employee role as special projects consultant. He is creatively ambidextrous — son of an artist and engineer — and famous for distilling complex ideas down to a few words and a few visuals. Mark is a writer. When he found that many nonprofits struggled with complex branding puzzles, he wrote the book, “NonProfit-NonMarketing .” He also wrote a novel called “Reenactment.” Mark is an active blogger OneMinuteMarketer® with nearly 1,000 readers each week on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter. One of his most popular YouTube videos is on “How to Look Good on Zoom.” One of Mark’s fondest business memories was being named to INC 500 two times and attending the INC 500 conference with other winners. Mark is considered by some a Civil War expert (and that explains his novel). Mark also served as an adjunct professor in the business and in the communications departments at Wartburg College. Mark is a graduate of the University of Iowa and is currently vice president of the University of Iowa Journalism and Mass Communications Advisory Board. Mark is married to state Sen. Liz Mathis, and the two love to travel, even when it means being trapped by a volcano in the Czech Republic for three weeks.
