Although businesses cannot advertise directly through smart speakers, there are ways you can reach out to potential customers using this technology.

A study by Juniper Research suggests that 55% of all homes in the United States will have smart speakers by 2022. In addition, there will be 175 million of these devices active in the country, providing nearly endless marketing opportunities. With so much attention up for grabs, of course, advertisers want to use this technology to reach potential customers as soon as possible.

Unfortunately, smart speaker manufacturers like Amazon and Google have put a spike in that dream. They do not allow direct advertising on their devices. You cannot purchase ad space on them today, and there are no plans to add this feature in the future.

So how can you use smart speakers to market your brand?

Here are five ways you can use smart speaker technology to engage consumers, bring attention to your company, and increase your sales.

1. Identify your target audience

As with anything in marketing, connecting to your audience through smart speakers starts by figuring out whom you’re trying to reach.

Which devices are your targets using?

How are they using them?

What kind of content do they consume online?

Put out a few surveys to your customer base to learn more about how they use voice-activated devices, then use those insights to reach like-minded people with your advertising.

2. Create relevant content

Content is vital to your visibility on voice search.

People often use their smart speakers to ask questions, so the AI assistants are constantly looking for concise, complete answers to read back. If you’ve answered a common inquiry on your website in plain fashion, there’s a better chance the technology will find your answer and read it to curious users.

For example, if you operate a paint shop, customers might commonly ask, “What’s the most popular color to paint a door?” Putting the answer to this question somewhere on your website could lead to voice search engines finding it and creating a bonus interaction with potential customers.

Writing your website content in a conversational manner, which means writing shorter and using terms that are common in casual speech, will provide the best results.

3. Start a podcast

Smart speakers allow you to talk directly to potential customers, and the best way to do that in the long-form is through podcasts.

The trick is to create a podcast that provides real value while promoting your company or product as a solution to some of the problems identified.

Keep in mind that starting a podcast is a big undertaking, and it will take time to build a base of listeners. It might make more sense to sponsor an already-popular show to get your name out there without having to go through the effort of growing an audience.

4. Design an Amazon Skill or Google App

Although neither Amazon or Google allows marketers to buy direct advertising to consumers through their smart speakers, you can create apps that present targeted information to listeners or perform actions for them.

But if you’re providing a useful service, they should want to use it in their daily routines.

Amazon Routines is a daily set of tasks that Alexa carries out for users. If the skill you’ve developed becomes part of a user’s routine, you could see it generate sales.

5. Integrate offline marketing with voice commands

One of the newer ways to use smart speakers in marketing is by making them part of your offline marketing campaign.

Traditional offline marketing makes it difficult to engage customers because it may take multiple impressions before an individual remembers to visit your website for an offer or more information. By combining offline methods with smart speakers, however, you can make it much easier to present an offer or provide additional product details to the consumer.

For example, if a stay-at-home mom hears a radio advertisement that she finds interesting, she might plan to visit the website later to learn more. There’s a chance, however, that she’ll forget about what she heard after her long day and not follow through.

The solution is a smart speaker technology that she activates by voice to text her a link to the website in real-time. That way, she doesn’t forget. The radio advertisement might include a special code, so all she has to do is say the code into the device to receive the offer on her phone.

Respond Fast provides a service that combines offline marketing with smart speaker usage to help clients get the most from this service. Smart speakers are everywhere and leveraging them is important for advertisers who want to take the next step. Contact Respond Fast for more information on what this technology can do for your business.