Virtual Assistants- The Future of Marketing as Programmatic Advertising

Technology is not just a tool of convenience, human beings are inclining towards the technology and electronic devices and now it has become a “Way of Living!” Cognitive Technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML) and Internet of Things (IoT) are revolutionizing the Technology domain and with its development, enterprises and industries across the world are trying to leverage these technologies to increase Efficiency, Productivity and to enable automation in various operations of any business. The involvement of Technology into the businesses and its operations has such an impact that both the 3^rd and the 4^th Industrial Revolutions were driven on Technology and Data!

While the Technical Experts and analysts believed that the operations that would remain least impacted by AI are creative areas and marketing, it turns out that the technology is targeting every aspect of it! An AI by Alibaba named Luban is already catering Graphic Designing services! IBM’s Watson is already been used to design a movie promo and to write a book! And now, Google is taking this one step further by using its AI virtual assistant, an invention that is Natural Language Processing (NLP) extraordinaire!

While Google allows applications and appreneurs to use this tool to integrate their applications like you can book an Uber with Google Assistant, you can book an appointment or you can book a table at your favourite restaurant! But, the platform is used by brands across the world now to leverage this amazing Virtual Assistant to market their products via Google Assistant!

You can create your own commands and constructive conversations using the Actions centre and publish it on the platform. If your conversation is approved by Google, then it will be available for billions of users who use Google Assistant on their Smartphone, Google Home, Google Mini and all those that are integrated with Google Assistant! To help you understand how constructive the conversations can be, here are three examples!

• Ok Google, Launch the ALL New Santro:

When you give the above mentioned command to your Google Assistant on your Google Home, Google Mini or your Google Assistant on your Smartphone, then Google Assistant will brief you with the features of the new Santro 2019 model and ask if you wish to Test Drive it! If you respond with a yes, then it will book a Test Drive for you.

• Ok Google, Talk to DTV Shredder:

DTV Shredder is one of a kind all terrain and all season vehicle! When you command your Google Assistant with the above mentioned command to your Google Assistant, it will start the conversation and the magic will unveil!

• Ok Google, Talk to Nesterzweb:

Yup, we are capitalizing on this phenomenon as well! When you give the above mentioned command to Google Assistant, the Google Assistant will brief you about our services and expertise and if you move forward, it will help you schedule a call with us.

The technology is still in its infancy and there are certain flaws when it comes to NLP and voice recognition. But, it gives a great promise to the marketers to leverage programmatic advertising to reach their target audience and prompt them to take right action.

After thoroughly analysing the Technology, here is how NLP and Voice Search can shape the future of Advertising and why it is effective:

• Spot-on Advertising:

For decades, marketers have said that the best way to market your product is to reach the right audience at right time and with right product. While the other methods are just a speculation, using Voice Assistants to market a product is the best alternative of reaching your Target Audience with your products/services right when they are searching for it!

• Amazing Guerrilla Technique with High Conversion possibility:

First of all, listening to an AI branding for a company is fascinating! Secondly, you can make the conversations interesting and if you hit the audience with right content, the possibility of them responding positively to your conversation is higher than all the other marketing gimmicks! Thus, AI and NLP can be a great method for brands to prompt customers to take favourable action.

• Omnipresence and Cost-effective method:

There are literally billions of users accessing Google Assistant and other voice assistants currently and the number as well as the dependency of users on Virtual Assistants is increasing daily! Thus, this holds a great promise for marketers to reach larger audiences and they can use that too at the least possible cost!

• Great way to create Brand Image and to trigger Brand Recall:

Since the conversations are currently activated by pre-determined and programmed commands, the technology can be used to create various conversations and leverage on it to create a positive brand image in the minds of the users and it is also the best method to create a brand recall as Virtual Assistants will respond instantly to user requests as and when it is made!

• AI and NLP, the marketing future:

The technology is still growing but with the rise of the number of users and when it will be perfected with passing time, Virtual Assistants are going to be the future of marketing as it is one platform where you can reach billions of users easily and with right information.

What do you think can be the next development in the field? There are people claiming that with AI, marketers are entering your Living Room! What do you think? And How cool is “Talk to Nesterzweb”?  Do you have any suggestions on how we could improve it? Let’s start a conversation in the comments section.