10 Voice Marketing Take-Aways From Voice22 Conference
These voice promoting and advertising and marketing take-aways from Voice22 will improve your promoting and advertising and marketing.
Voice22 (aka: Voice Summit) has been on the forefront of rising Voice AI know-how since 2017.
As an vigorous member of this Voice AI group since mid-2019, I’ve moved previous the newbie stage at an accelerated payment. I achieved this by participating extensively inside the world digital conferences, voice specialties and foci.
By way of the pandemic, the worldwide voice group was vigorous and productive as a consequence of lockdowns world broad. Consequently, collectively, we accelerated our learning and work by the use of cooperation.
Since most entrepreneurs haven’t however added voice to their mix, you proceed to have time to hitch this thrilling issue that can doubtless be on the coronary coronary heart of Web 3.0 and the Metaverse.
To face as much as hurry with voice promoting and advertising and marketing, use these 10 Prime Voice Marketing Take-Aways from Voice22.
1. Assemble a strong, open and sharing voice group all through geographies and specialities
To know the vary and depth of information all through the voice group some members have actively researched and contributed to this space starting sooner than Apple launched Siri, Amazon launched Alexa and Google launched its Assistant.
A lot of the OG labored on IVRs and related utilized sciences inside the Nineteen Nineties and earlier harking back to Wally Brill (presently at Google). Attending Mission Voice 2020 in Chattanooga in January 2020, I met many members of the colorful group.
When the world shut down due to the pandemic the members of the voice group remained devoted to staying associated to 1 one other. Among the many many key voice boards all through numerous voice specialities had been:
VoiceLunch Foundation ![]()
Michal Stanislawek and Karol Stryja started this group as a weekly Worldwide Meeting on Tuesdays and it expanded all through every kind of specialities and geographies all through the entire week.
Held on Zoom, the conferences had one basic rule: “What’s said in VoiceLunch remains in VoiceLunch.” Recordings and screenshots of shows had been prohibited. The flexibility of these pointers created a deep sense of perception amongst members. Consequently, they felt open to ask questions on their work after they’d have in another case remained silent.
In addition to, these conferences had an vigorous chat and left time for viewers to ask questions.
Earlier this 12 months VoiceLunch Worldwide went on hiatus. However the US/Canada Voice Lunch, run by Alan Firstenberg and Michael Novak, continued to go sturdy on Fridays at 1:00pm NYC time.
At current, VoiceLunch is inside the midst of a relaunch.
VUX World
Led by Kane Simms, VUX World presents a weekly podcast/videocast. Whilst you attend it reside, you presumably can ask questions in precise time. They broadcast reside on LinkedIn and YouTube every Thursday at 6pm GMT VUX World posts the videocasts on their website online and YouTube.
VUX World brings collectively the brightest minds who’re pushing the boundaries of voice and conversational AI, and NLP utilized sciences. They share their insights, learnings and steering to help create the best way ahead for AI-driven purchaser experience.
Voice Den
Canadian Dr. Teri Fisher ran the month-to-month Voice Den. These conferences attracted the Who’s Who of Voice.
In response to Dr. Fisher:
“I noticed that VOICE is the next, and most pure, working system recognized to us individuals, as social animals. We’re coming into an interval as soon as we’ll doubtless be talking with pc programs and I needed to help educate the group regarding the potential of voice. “
Together with a gamifed current with 3 to 4 pals, the viewers posed questions that acquired voted up. Teri moreover carried out with NFTs (Hat tip: Ian Utilie of Attn.Dwell) and hosted a digital after social gathering on Spacialweb.web the place attendees may switch spherical a bar by the water and communicate to 1 one other using their exact voice. It included tailored sonic branding by Audrey Arbeeny’s Audiobrain.
Sadly, these events stopped abruptly on the end of 2021.
Useful Learning
Actionable Voice Marketing Take-Aways
- Assemble a gaggle by persistently exhibiting up on an on a regular basis schedule. Choose an on a regular basis time to help members to point up.
- Generously current price and assist in your group with out anticipating reciprocity.
Useful Learning
2. Create Ought to-Attend Events To Enchantment to The Who’s Who of Voice Marketing
No matter being post-pandemic when people are slowly returning to in-person events, Voice22 attracted people from all through the US and Europe.
Whereas many promoting and advertising and marketing conferences depend on the power of influencer audio system to draw paying attendees, Voice22 attracted the Who’s Who of Voice from world broad required cautious planning and networking expertise.
For Voice22, Pete Erickson tapped the well-connected networking diva, Janice Mandel. If there’s any person inside the voice or related rising fields, Janice will uncover a method to affix with them and persuade them to work collectively together with her. In addition to, Pete had an unimaginable workforce behind the scenes along with Jaimey Strolling Bear and others to keep up audio system and exhibitors inside the loop.
To convey the right in a selected space collectively at an event or conference requires better than giving an skilled or influencer a slot in your stage, whether or not or not it’s free or paid. In another case, they’re gone as quickly as they make their presentation and meet with the people on their non-public agenda.
Towards this, the Who’s Who current as a lot as spend top quality time with and to assist each other. They didn’t take care of this current as a fly-by look.
Among the many many Who’s Who of Voice had been:
- Heidi Culbertson – Amazon
- Deborah Dahl – Conversational Utilized sciences
- Lisa Falkson – Amazon Alexa
- Alan Firstenberg who on a regular basis wears his Google glasses (Ex-Google)
- Colleen Fahey of Sixieme Six and author of Audio Branding
- Rupal Patel – Veritone (beforehand of VocalID)
- Shyamala Prayaga – Nvidia (beforehand of Ford Motor Agency)
- Noelle Silver – Microsoft
- Otto Söderlund – Speechly
- Michal Stanislawek – UtterOne (beforehand of VoiceLunch)
- Jon Stine – Open Voice Neighborhood
Actionable Voice Marketing Take-Aways
- Get the right people to attend your conference. Previous non-public connections, this often requires the help of a helpful useful resource who’s correctly associated and excels at networking.
Useful Learning
3. Location, Location, Location
Whereas location interprets to place, one in all many 4Ps of selling, it’s surprising what variety of conference and event organizers overlook this important problem.
Certain event locations are expensive and difficult to work with.
As a New Yorker, I know that every event or conference faces high rental prices combined with required union labor to even add an extra plug. Further, attendees pay nosebleed prices for sleeping accommodations, food and transportation to and from the airport.
Voice22 chose to hold its event at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City, just outside Washington, DC. It offered a free shuttle to Reagan Airport, one of the airports that serve DC. This made it easy for European and West Coast travelers to get to the conference.
Even better, the hotel was reasonably priced by DC standards. (It was less than New York City, Boston and San Francisco.)
As a result, the conference encouraged people to bring their teams as well as attracting newbies.
Actionable Voice Marketing Take-Aways
- Consider the location of your next event. Since attendees and their businesses consider the fully loaded price for each attendee.
Recommended Reading
4. Voice Marketing Moves Past Web 2.0
At my Voice22 talk, “Voice Marketing Made Easy: How To Attract, Nurture and Grow Your Audience”, I not only made the case for including voice marketing in your marketing strategies, but also showed attendees how to accomplish this using my Voice Marketing ABC Method.
To be clear, Voice Marketing is NOT an extension of Content Marketing.
The Seismic Shift in marketing has made the emergence of voice marketing possible. Marketers who embrace Voice Marketing will move towards Web 3.0.
► A stands for Audience
These are the prospects, customers, purchase influencers, end-users and local community you want to reach with voice marketing. These people use a variety of voice-enabled devices as shown by NPR/Edison Research 2022.
They view the voice experience across your organization as seamless. This includes your website, web chat, real life sales rep, web conferencing and 800# or IVA (aka: Intelligent Voice Assistant.)
Most importantly, their daily life and habits have changed. As a result, their content consumption habits and patterns have changed. Now you must meet customers and prospects where they are and provide help when, where and how they need it.
Recommended Reading
Actionable Voice Marketing Take-Away
- Understand your audience’s current needs and wants and what they expect from you in terms of voice-enable services. This includes when, where and how they use voice devices, not just voice assistants.
Recommended Reading
► B Is For Branding
Extend your brand beyond text and visuals to include sonic elements in a consistent manner across your organization. Your goal is to increase your brand’s memorability and to increase its value to your business’s Balance Sheet. Also add these to your brand guidelines.
Among the sonic branding questions to answer:
- Who will represent your brand?
- Will you use synthetic voices?
- What does your audience expect of your voice brand?
- How do you extend your marketing persona?
- How do you think of voice/audio holistically across your business?
To-date the most in-depth sonic branding case study is Mastercard. They viewed their sonic brand as part of a larger initiative to create a more holistic relationship with consumers.
According to Raja Rajamannar, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer:
“We started work on our sonic DNA journey three years ago. It began with a melody, a sonic logo and a transaction sound.”
► C Is For Context
Context modifications voice from several types of promoting and advertising and marketing harking back to content material materials promoting and advertising and marketing. It offers a third vector to your enterprise.
Context defines the the place, when and the best way an individual needs and/or needs to utilize voice. Usually, the particular person’s expectations are set by the machine used.
So the question you must reply in your enterprise Is:
“Is your brand available and findable and in a format your audience can use?”
Given the excellence between models and their walled gardens of findability, you will need to enhance your definition of search and voice search particularly. It is important to ponder the models and quite a few platforms used primarily based totally on the particular person’s context on the time.
Actionable Voice Marketing Take-Away
- At a minimal make certain that to utilize “Google My Business” to help findability by way of Google and its models.
Useful Learning
5. Lengthen Your Event’s Offering Previous Shows
Whereas many conferences and events current a full schedule of shows blended with an exhibit hall and never lower than a spot and shutting social gathering, Voice22 went extra.
► Conference Inside A Conference
They offered a conference inside a conference. All through Voice22, VUX World’s Kane Simms and his workforce scheduled a full program tailored to the conversational AI identify coronary heart.
The VUX World Agenda included a combination of know-how and kinds to point attendees how producers use these AI-powered voice promoting and advertising and marketing devices inside the identify coronary heart with sturdy, measurable outcomes.
To put the VUX brand front and center, Kane and his team dressed in bright yellow sweatshirts and t-shirts. Additionally, they gave attendees VUX yellow branded swag bags.
VUX Panel at Voice22 with engaged audience. Note: VUX’s Yellow branding!
Of note: No traditional customer service, IVR and web chat companies were present!
► Relevant Training
Before Voice22 kicked off, the team programmed a series of educational offerings. This training got into the details of voice, conversational AI and voice technology.
For example:
- “Smooth Operator: The Not-So-Secret, Yet Overlooked Keys to Conversational Success”
- “Going Beyond Hello World: Building a Custom Alexa Skill”
By contrast, many conferences charge fees for this type of educational presentation.
Actionable Voice Marketing Take-Away
- Add education to your conference offering. This brings attendees up-to-speed and gives them another reason to attend.
6. Market Research Required Beyond Proof of Concept
In her talk entitled, “Humanizing Speech Technologies”, Shyamala Prayaga, author of Emotionally Engaged Digital Assistant: Humanizing Design and Technology, spoke regarding the need for know-how to get previous the need for “Proof of Concept”.
If you get hold of “Proof of Concept”, you proceed to don’t know in case you’ll be succesful to find an viewers in your product.
Shyamala Prayaga spotlighting her new e-book
For example, at Voice22, I spoke with an attendee that created a “Proof of Concept” product that was terribly worthwhile.
Translation:
Yielded great measurable outcomes. As a substitute of selling or in another case monetizing the product, they let it go.
Actionable Marketing Take-Away
- Do potential purchaser evaluation (aka: promoting and advertising and marketing) sooner than you finish your Proof of Concept. Having attended many voice shows, I’m on a regular basis amazed at what variety of technologists overlook this key step.To stipulate the viewers for a model new product, a Fortune 100 agency I labored for fielded a $100,000+ market evaluation survey. They didn’t need to full the market evaluation given that market evaluation company had trouble discovering a reliable check out market. Finish outcome: Don’t make the product!
7. Most important Producers Use Voice Marketing; It Is Not Merely Side Mission
Pete Erickson and Janice Mandel labored behind the scenes to ensure that a wide range of producers and non-technology firms confirmed how they put voice into movement for numerous sorts of corporations.
Conversational AI Producer and Voice AI Neighborhood, Davar Ardalan, confirmed how sound could also be part of the long-lasting Nationwide Geographic mannequin as its photographs and cinematography. Fortunately, Nationwide Geographic believes that voice and automation ought to moreover disseminate details about our planet, oceans, forests and night skies.
To grab the Earth one sound at a time, Nationwide Geographic created Soundbank, a pilot audio database gathered by its explorers and photographers on activity world broad. To-date, Soundbank consists of the sound of bats from Colombia, birds and restored rainforests in India, and scenes aboard the expedition that discovered Ernest Shackleton’s long-lost ship Endurance off the coast of Antarctica.
Furthermore, Nationwide Geographic collaborates with Dolby Atmos and Ott House Audio to create 3D audio episodes. Their goal is to spice up the best way ahead for audio storytelling by embracing spatial audio.
The entire Nationwide Geographic Voice Marketing workforce
Actionable Voice Marketing Take-Away
- Start with a small voice promoting and advertising and marketing check out to make the case to your administration workforce.
Useful Learning
8. Exhibit Hall Attracts Attendees In Additional Than Swag
Exhibit Halls create stress at conferences because of:
- Conference producers view the exhibit hall as a critical provide of conference earnings;
- Exhibitors see the exhibit hall as an funding which ought to yield top quality product sales leads; and
- Attendees bear the exhibit hall in search of the right swag.
The essential factor to swag success:
Select devices that people want and may use over time in order that they hold seen of their locations of labor.
At Voice22 the clear swag winner was the latest Amazon Alexa Echo Dot.
Being a espresso snob, OneReach.ai gained my vote by bringing their very personal espresso barista, Spencer. He labored inside the lobby of their office developing. Previous brewing an unimaginable latte, he had a zen top quality that calmed visitors prepared on line.
Heidi Cohen and OneReach.ai’s Barista, Spencer
In addition to, OneReach.ai gave visitors to their gross sales area a selection of to-go mugs and prolonged sleeve t-shirts. In addition to, the conversational AI specialists swooned over their fine quality workbooks for designing conversations. I snagged two for myself.
Entrepreneurs take observe:
To attract people to the Exhibit Hall After Social gathering, WillowTree’s Emily Banzhaf carried out classical music on her violin.
Emily Banzhaf performs classical violin at Voice22 Exhibit Hall Social gathering
({Photograph} by Janice Mandel)
Actionable Marketing Take-Aways
- Hold a party in the Exhibit Hall to attract attendees. Offer free alcoholic beverages to entice people to attend.
- Take photos of your exhibit hall booth and visitors. Post them on social media and owned media with the show’s hashtag. Use your booth as a background for your photos and videos. At Voice22, I showed Appen exhibitors how to spotlight their booth.
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Recommended Reading
9. Use Conference To Create Content Marketing
A number of speakers and attendees took advantage of the opportunity to create content marketing for later distribution.
► Live Stream Your Conference
In addition to live attendance, Modev livestreamed and videotaped many conference sessions. This allowed Modev to create a real-time virtual event at the same time as the in-person conference. In addition, they collected footage that can be converted to webinars and other forms of video and voice content.
Actionable Marketing Tip
- Livestream all conference content for future use. Even if you don’t offer a real time livestream of your conference, either free or paid, create a record of your event with relevant metadata for future use in any format.
► Interview The Who’s Who
Experienced interviewer, Ian Utile, interviewed the Who’s Who of Voice on a stage opposite the Check In center. Ian brought his own team to handle the recording and logistics. All of Ian’s interviews were prescheduled.
Actionable Marketing Take-Away
- Take advantage of the presence of OG and experts in your field to create quality content. Interviews are a highly sought form of video and voice content since they keep listeners engaged.
► Podcasts Go Live
Notably Alan Firstenberg, formerly of Google and visible by his Google Glasses, and Mark Tucker of the “Two Voice Devs Podcast” held a live session at Voice22. This allowed them to field questions in real time.
Alan Firstenberg and Mark Tucker of Two Voice Devs Podcast
(Photo: Janice Mandel)
Other podcasting voice experts, like Brett Kinsella of Voicebot.ai ,used the opportunity to record future segments of his podcast while at Voice22.
Brett Kinsella Interviews Rupal Patel of Veritone (Photo by Janice Mandel)
Actionable Marketing Take-Away
- Gather podcast input at conferences for future episodes of your podcast.
Recommended Reading
► Other Forms of Conference Content
SapientX took videos of visitors to their booth interacting with their avatar, Fern.
Many attendees took photos of each other to memorialize meeting each other in real life and to share on social media. (Hat tip: Janice Mandel!)
Actionable Marketing Take-Away
- Encourage attendees to share their photos via social media to expand your reach. Include your event hashtag.
Recommended Reading
10. Self-Regulating Industry Organization Takes Center Stage: Open Voice Network
Starting small as a post-Project Voice meeting in a non-conference location, Jon Stine worked to build this non-governmental organization under the Lotus Organization. He has gotten help from people with deep experience in various aspects of voice, conversational AI and technology,
At the helm of the Open Voice Network, Jon has led the group to publish fairly just a few key white papers on voice-centric topics in the middle of the pandemic.
At Voice22, the Open Voice Neighborhood moved to the first event. They created a 4 hour tutorial presentation all through the breadth of their key pillars. Known as “Voice Bootcamp”, it aimed to help attendees get up-to-speed using voice of their corporations in a technique that performs correctly with totally different corporations and regulatory organizations.
In addition to, the Open Voice Neighborhood had a presence inside the Exhibit Hall to attract new members and sponsors.
Janice Mandel and Jon Stine at Open Voice Neighborhood Gross sales area
10 Voice Marketing Take-Aways from Voice22 Conclusion
For entrepreneurs, the most important and clearest message from Voice22:
Voice promoting and advertising and marketing has come of age and is the path to Web 3.0.
Don’t think about voice promoting and advertising and marketing as an extension of your content material materials promoting and advertising and marketing or totally different promoting and advertising and marketing effort in any other case you’ll menace being left behind.
In distinction to many alternative sorts of promoting and advertising and marketing which have developed given that introduction of the Internet, voice promoting and advertising and marketing has a strong group of know-how, conversational AI and others behind them ready to provide assist along with friendship and gratifying.
Faucet into your group that can assist you to add voice promoting and advertising and marketing to your enterprise. Even greater, group is a key issue to place the inspiration in your enterprise to evolve within the course of Web 3.0.
Heidi Cohen with Voice Neighborhood Associates Larry Aronson, Michal Stanislawek, Emily Troutner and Janice Mandel
Happy Marketing,
Heidi Cohen
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