Although voice isn’t going to account for half of all searches by the end of this year, as has been quoted almost everywhere, it is still growing in importance. In the UK alone, 21.1% of households now have a smart speaker – according to voicebot.ai. For Germany that figure stands at 11.6%, with the Republic of Ireland coming in at 9.6%.
Despite the opportunities that this presents – more about that later – voice search also poses one problem for affiliates. What is that, I hear you ask? Well, there isn’t a clickthrough button.
But fear not. That needn’t be a hindrance to your efforts to drive traffic. You can use this to your advantage, as will be discussed below.
Beyond long-tail: voice opportunities for affiliates
When it comes to the likes of Alexa and co., you need to keep in mind that brand-building is the name of the game. You’re not allowed to facilitate gambling through features such as Alexa Skills.
But even though players can’t buy something there and then, you can use this feature to set yourself up for future profits. One way you can do this is through Google Assistant, which allows the conversation to be moved from speaker to phone. From here, a purchase can be made. This makes the entire consumer journey more seamless than if they had to type in the search term, rather than say it, to begin with.
Another way that voice can help you to build a larger audience is through creating a more interactive experience. This is something that has already been discussed by industry experts. For example, John Campbell – Rabbit & Pork Founder & MD – said the below at the 2019 Digital Marketing Forum.
“For affiliates a voice app which makes recommendations or generates stats on sporting events could be a good way to engage with potential customers and then send them a link to click to get that all important click.”
By doing the above, users would benefit from being able to make more educated betting choices ahead of a certain event. It also means that they would have to do less reading in order to obtain this information as they would for, say, a betting preview. Thus, they can make a quicker decision as well.
Final thoughts
No click = no problem. If you put some serious thought into it, there are countless ways that your brand can benefit from voice.
What’s particularly exciting is that there’s still plenty of room for this new form of technology to grow.
And because it’s so young, not many of your competitors will be in the field yet. So, if you begin developing a robust strategy now, you’ll already have the upper-hand when they follow suit.
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