Smart speakers appear in more American households and offices every day, creating an exciting new channel for marketers to reach consumers.

It should come as no surprise that smart speakers are taking up a larger share of the market every year as consumers become more aware of their benefits and their uses. In fact, smart speaker sales will soon outpace other relatively new technologies like tablets and wearable bands, showing just how fast the market can shift.

Advertisers must be aware of this sales growth and aim to reach the rising number of consumers and businesses who use smart speaker technology every day, not to mention the already sizable audience who use voice assistants through their phones and other devices.

The rapidly expanding smart speaker market

Just how popular are smart speakers? Their market share is growing every year, and it is estimated that consumers will purchase 94 million of these devices in 2019. Worldwide, that means 207.9 million units will be active in the very near future.

In the United States, smart speaker sales have increased by 46% between 2018 and 2019, according to data collected by technology market analyst firm Canalys, showing that people are buying these products and want to use them to make their lives easier.

As for the types of devices, people are buying, Amazon Alexa has a very clear lead, holding between 61% and 68% of the market share, depending on the data being used. By comparison, Google Assistant has about a 25% market share, and other smart speakers, such as the Apple HomePod, are between 7% and 15%.

Smart speakers are displacing other devices

Another trend we’re seeing is smart speakers taking away from the sales of devices like tablets and wearable technology like smartwatches. Smart speakers are poised to overtake wearable brands in sales in 2019, and estimates by Canalys suggest they could pass tablets by 2021.

This shows a definite transformation in how consumers use technology. In recent years, consumers were likely to sit on the couch at night with their tablets, reading emails, watching videos, and accessing news articles. Each of these activities allowed advertisers to reach their target market through traditional visual advertising.

As smart speakers becoming more prevalent, however, we could see consumers access their news and videos through these devices, creating a shift in how advertisements will work. Audio advertising will become more important, as will enabling voice interactivity through technology like the Voice Activated Call to Action.

Why this growth matters to your marketing

Despite more smart speakers flying off the shelves and entering households than ever before, only about 20% of people in the United States own one. At the same time, about 80% of the population is aware of these devices. These numbers suggest that there is tremendous room for growth in the coming years for those who offer interested parties a reason to finally buy a smart speaker.

Voicebot.ai reports that, as more casual users install smart speakers in their homes, the average usage frequency is declining. This trend means these users are buying the product but aren’t sure how to get the most from it. Currently, only 47% of smart speaker owners use their devices every day.

No one buys a piece of technology without a desire to use it. For marketers, this presents an opportunity to give smart speaker owners a reason — an excuse, even — to use their devices again. If your product encourages consumers to use their voice-activated devices, you can expect greater interaction and ROI in the future. It’s a nearly empty marketing channel where brands have nothing to lose and engagement to gain.

Using smart speakers to your brand’s advantage

Advertisers should explore every method technology offers to reach their desired consumers. By using voice-activated devices to your advantage, you make it easier for potential customers to find and engage with your product.

This technology is also highly adaptable, and there are ways to integrate offline marketing techniques with smart speakers and voice assistants. For example, a Voice Activated Call to Action allows you to present ads via direct mail, newspaper, radio, television, or any other kind of offline advertising, yet give them the option to respond via a smart speaker or any other voice assistant.

Respond Fast makes it easy to set up your first voice response campaign and to integrate a Voice Activated Call to Action into your offline marketing. We allow you to decide how your offer is delivered but provide the support need to refine the effort on the go. Contact us to see how we can provide the desired results on your next campaign.