With the rise of voice virtual assistant, Alexa, and hardware Amazon Echo and Dot, you might be wondering what that means for your business. Earlier this year, Amazon opened up building skills to everyone — which means its the perfect time to start experimenting.
First, let’s talk about what storytelling using Amazon Alexa is. It’s not repeating an ad message. It’s serving a function for users as an engaging, modern storytelling strategy.
It’s a prime example of content marketing (which the Content Marketing Institute says produces three times more leads than traditional outbound marketing).
Instead of pushing products to consumers, good storytelling on Alexa develops a trusted, expert voice that develops brand loyalty and converts consumers.
Here’s an example of Alexa Skills storytelling:
Talisker, a scotch brand, is using Amazon’s Alexa to give drinkers a tasting experience, much like you might get on a distillery tour and tasting IRL — but this is from the comfort of your home.
The head of tech and innovation said: “Voice is the perfect technology to do just this and provide an enhanced brand experience by putting the consumer, product and brand at the centre of a tasting, in a completely seamless and non-intrusive way.”
How to determine your Alexa skill content strategy: Enhance an experience
While the scotch company might be building digital ambassadors and brand loyalty with their virtual, self-guided tasting, it also smartly considers how it can enhance an experience that’s already happening: People drinking scotch, maybe their product, at home.
Ilker Koksal wrote in Forbes that brands should think about how people are currently engaging with their brand and translate it to voice.
For example: People use Food Network in the kitchen. When their hands are messy, it looks up recipes. Starbucks allows a hands-free ordering service for commuters on the go. “Focus on the experience for similar ideas to translate your brand to voice marketing,” he writes.
Alexa Skills marketing for businesses who sell products and services to consumers:
Some examples that Hubspot mentions in its guide is brand-building efforts by Purina (ask about the best dog breeds for kids) and Tide (whose stain-removal instructions voice storytelling positions them as an expert in removing stains).
Hubspot writes: “Your Alexa Skills plan should complement your company’s existing content strategy and should be a natural extension to the queries your customers are conducting in other formats.”
How to get started with Amazon Alexa Skills
So what does this mean for small to medium local organizations without a fleet of developers? Like with anything, you’ll be investing resources with time or money, but if you have an organizational modern storytelling strategy, you can determine if it’s right for your business by whether or not it fits in as a tool to meet your goals.
If you want to learn more, The Amazon Skills site has resources for marketers, trainings and more.
Decide it’s a yes? These components in a good strategy would help you decide on your Alexa storytelling:
SEO research: What do people look for most in your industry or area?
Website analytics on your site that determine most popular content — and least.
Social media analysis that shows how people engage with your business and brand now.
Audience analysis that looks at your existing customer base.
What customer problems you can solve from the discovery process.
Need help in creating your strategy?
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