Robots look like people on TV and the big screen. Think Rosie on the Jetsons or even, The Terminator. However, robots are already in our home. It’s just that they look more like a Roomba than Arnold Schwarzenegger. The most common home robot is, of course, the smart speaker or digital assistant. You may know her as Alexa, or Siri, or OK Google. Whatever you call her, she’s finding your doctor’s office, playing your music, or laughing creepily – and soon she’ll be responsible for your next marketing campaign.
According to Tech Republic, and other sources, advertising on smart speakers is definitely on its way. With 66% of adults in the U.S. using one of these speakers or text-driven chatbots, it’s only natural. What will these ads sound like? That’s still up in the air. Amazon allows companies like Starbucks and Uber to create what they call “Alexa Skills” that consumers can use to personalize their Echo. Overt advertising on skills is currently banned, except in certain circumstances. Which you might consider ironic since Starbucks’ and Uber’s “skills” are a creative – and some may say sneaky – form of native advertising.
Unless you are building your own “skill,” making sure that you come up high in organic searches is still the best way to have Alexa (or Siri) say your name. For local brands, like restaurants or salons, this means making sure you rank high in “near me” searches. For national brands, this means having a thought-leadership strategy that involves owning the answer to certain questions.
But there’s no doubt that smart speaker advertising is coming to a kitchen counter near you. So, if you’re looking for the next gen of marketing talent, the kind of person who can figure out how to advertise on a platform that hasn’t been invented yet, let us know.
On the other hand, if you’re feeling like all this innovation is a little much for you, you might want to check out Alexa Silver!
If saying “Ok, Google, find me a job” isn’t working for you, check out our job board.
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