How to Make Your Voice App Discoverable

Shelf placement is extremely crucial for brand recognition and product sales. But, things are changing. As we start to shop more and more from the comfort of our own homes, brands must ask themselves: how easily can consumers find my product in a storeless, shelfless, voice-activated world?

Smart speakers—growing a monumental 157% in one year¹—have provided a new channel for engagement between brands and consumers. Almost 50% of smart speaker owners agree that those in their household are spending less time one-on-one with their electronic devices,² which means at-home screentime is decreasing. We are seeing screen-based search make way for voice-first search, and while voice commerce may still be nascent, the opportunities are huge.

Marketers are quickly preparing: 91% of senior decision makers say they will invest in voice by 2020³. In fact, many are already working to make their brands voice proficient, evolving search strategies to be voice-friendly, and investing in the development of a voice app, AI or chatbot.

However, they’re facing a major challenge: how does a voice app get noticed in a sea of nearly 60,000 Alexa Skills⁴ especially when paid search is not yet an option?

The Secret to Discoverability

While a search strategy is important, there’s another way to reach voice-first consumers—and that’s through music. Music is the number one motivation for purchasing a smart speaker,⁵ which means audio advertising is a great way to reach a connected, voice-first audience.

But it’s not only about just reaching a connected audience, you need to engage them too. Our Insights Lab has proven that audio has a longer lasting impact on consumers, meaning its a must-have in your media mix to drive engagement and defend invisible shelf space.

Pandora has been on the forefront of driving voice interactivity in the home. Voice activated device usage is up 25% YoY,⁶ and we have a Connected Home platform of over 12 million unique listeners.⁷ Our logged-in listener base allows us to identify device users across platforms, translating to precision reach with a connected audience—voice innovators who are more likely to engage brands through their smart speaker.

A Recipe for Success

Although it may seem intimidating, the good news for marketers is that the growth in technology presents new and innovative ways to engage consumers. How? Take Quaker Oats for an example.

Quaker Oats has been on the forefront of voice and understanding the power of using smart assistants to help their busy, on-the-go consumer find and prepare simple, delicious meals. When they launched a new version of their Quaker voice app over the 2018 holiday season, they wanted to ensure they maximized awareness and discoverability.

Together, we created and executed a multi-dimensional solution that drove enablement of the new app. By utilizing features such as day parted creative messaging and Mobile Sequential Audio, Quaker reached millions of Pandora listeners and showcased the utility within the app in a uniquely innovative and targeted way.

Here’s why it worked:

• It was personalized. Day parted messaging allowed Quaker to share different recipes based on the time of day (morning, afternoon, etc.)
• It was compelling. Thanks to Mobile Sequential Audio, listeners experienced three unique tips and recipes throughout the day, driving them to a landing page to enable Quaker on Alexa or Google
• It was cross-device. Whether on the phone or at home, there was consistent and seamless messaging across devices.

As smart speakers continue to change the ways consumers search and shop, Pandora can help make sure your brand is at forefront of the conversation. It’s time to get discovered.

Interested to hear more? Reach out to Pandora today!

Sources: 1 The Infinite Dial / Edison Research and Triton Digital 2 Edison Research/Omnicom Media Group/Pandora Smart Speaker Study, October 2018 3 eMarketer Mobile Trends 2019 4 https://voicebot.ai/2019/01/02/amazon-alexa-skill-counts-rise-rapidly-in-the-u-s-u-k-germany-france-japan-canada-and-australia/ 5 Edison Research/Omnicom Media Group/Pandora Smart Speaker Study, October 2018 6 Pandora Internal Metrics December 2018 7 Pandora Internal Metrics January 2019