One positive that’s come out of the pandemic for tech companies is that voice technology has experienced tremendous popularity.
This option to engage with brands in a contactless manner prompted Adobe to conduct research recently to learn even more. The firm learned that nearly a third of those surveyed cited the contactless advantage as the reason they use voice assistants. 77% added that they anticipate using voice tech a lot more frequently in 2021.
Last spring, a year before the pandemic, Capgemini Research Institute conducted an in-depth study. The research arm of Capgemini, a global transformation, technology, and consulting firm, talked with more than 12,000 consumers already using voice and/or chat assistants as well as 1,000 executives from the financial services, retail/consumer products, and automotive industries to better understand the market and trends.
Capgemini’s pre-pandemic findings were that the number of consumers researching and purchasing products, receiving personalized product recommendations, creating shopping lists, and even making payments would increase their voice usage by 15% by 2022. Combined with Adobe’s findings, experts now expect usage to escalate even higher and faster and are recommending that consumers invest in multiple digital voices.
Investing in multiple digital voices will help ensure a more pleasant and meaningful customer experience because different tones will be required for various situations. A cheerful voice would welcome visitors and even accomplish things like confirming an appointment or booking an airline or dinner reservation. However, that same tone would likely turn off a customer with a complaint or inquire about a brand’s return or refund policies.
To be effectively employed and accepted, digital voices must reflect the appropriate tone for given situations. No one and probably two tones can be applied to all situations. Brands using digital voice need to acknowledge and identify the different situations in which voices will be used and then determine the best one that should be used for each.
Another important decision is that marketers need to be sure that the tone and style of their voices are consistent with and match the persona they’re trying to create for the brand.
The most successful and appealing digital voices are those that consumers can instantly identify. They find them engaging, consistent, and memorable on all the brand’s platforms and devices.
Achieving and employing a successful digital voice strategy will likely require retaining an experienced partner. One using the latest deep voice technologies like DNN (deep neutral networks) will deliver human-like, high-quality voices for every customer interaction identified and assigned by the brand.
What’s also important in selecting a partner in ensuring that the firm respects and will protect sensitive personal data. Quality assurance and data privacy must be key factors in the selection process.
In summary, how consumers seek out information and products for either their personal or business lives will see more digital voice applications. How, as well as the tone in which these voices are employed to address situations for customers visiting a brand, will go a long way towards ensuring superior customer service and fostering their loyalty.