How Voice Assistants Are Building Brand

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When you hear of Voice Assistants, the first thing you probably think of is the device that shuts your lights off. That’s good. That was the goal of Amazon and Google, to get this thing in your house that you will get accustomed to using every day. One of the key features of a Voice Assistant is the abiilty to get information from Amazon or Google and relay it back to you. You can imagine that after 20+ years of being retail and search giants, that these companies have enough data to be able to use it for instances like this.

Voice Assistants thrive on the ability to get you an answer quickly. Customers relate speed and accuracy to trust. If your Alexa Skill can get customers an answer quickly, they will begin to build trust with your brand.

How to figure out what questions need to be answered

One of the most basic principals in creating a Voice Assistant is to figure out what it is exactly your customers will gain by using your skill. Here’s how to do it:

Is there something that can be referenced?‌‌
This could be a restaurant menu or services that your company provides.

Do you have items that can be ordered?‌‌
This could be food items or physical items that can be picked up or delivered.

Do you have promotions throughout the year?‌‌
Give your customers something to look forward to each week that would make them re-engage with your Alexa Skill. This also helps to ensure you have a consistent content strategy.

Tried and True Alexa Skill ideas

Generic Informational Alexa Skill

Nothing too crazy here, just a simple skill that give your customer basic info such as:

• Directions from popular routes
• Ameneties at your establishment (if local)
• Services offered and how to purchase or inquire
• Menu items for eateries

You can even deep dive into any one of those topics and create an even more immersive experience such as “Do you offer any gluten free items?”.

A great example of this is the RJ Media Demo Skill:

Educational Alexa Skills

You’re a business owner, which means you’ve been through so much to get where you are, share your industry knowledge with your customers in order to build trust with your brand. After all, customers visit your location to learn things anyway, so why not help them at their convenience and offer delivery along with what you just told them. A few examples of this could be:

• Tips for your customers as a musician
• Home repair tips as local repair shop
• Cleaning tips as a local dry cleaner

Yes, I know, you sell products and services so that customers come to you for this stuff. Well guess what, they will still come to you anyway.

My agency consults businesses on what to post on social media, yet we still have an Alexa Skill out there to help with this, simply because it exposes our brand, and 99% of the time, it’s great to hear education but most people don’t act on it. Again, building trust without exposing your business as not needed anymore, the best of both worlds.

Demo the skill here:

Weekly Announcements Alexa Skills

If you’re a restaurant or local eatery, this one’s for you. With an Alexa Skill that becomes your Hostess at Home, your customers will always be in the loop on what’s going on inside your establishment. Here’s what you can announce:

• Weekly Specials
• Chef’s Specials
• Monthly Events
• Limited Time offers

This is just the tip of the iceberg, you can announce anything you’d want!

Demo a similar skill like this we created:

I hope this article gives you a better idea of how a Voice Assistant can build your brand inside the home of potential and current customers. They really are underestimated at this time, and your brand could stand out from the crowd.