Connected screens
#Paid Social

''Hey Google, what's the weather forecast today?''

The way we search for things continues to change and adapt to the latest technology, and the next stage of this evolution is voice search.

With ComScore and others forecasting 50% of searches will be voice activated by 2020, it’s easy to be sceptical of these bold new claims. However, as I find myself talking to inanimate electrical devices more, it’s becoming easier to believe these stats. As marketers, how can we capitalise on this change for clients today and in the future?

The reason we use our voices to search for information is because it’s easy, so we need to make sure that this ease of use isn’t disrupted if we’re going to be putting ads into the mix. 

Enter Connected Screens. These open up possibilities that offer added value alongside voice searches while being non-intrusive and relevant.

Picture the scene: a person asks their voice assistant if it’s going to rain today. It responds by saying that it’s going to be sunny with no chance of rain. Great so no need to take an umbrella. However, what if we take this information from the search and then show an ad on the user's Connected Screen for sunglasses, with a written call to action of ''Ask me if you’d like to know more.''

That’s an easy way in for marketers as it allows us to display relevant advertising triggered from a voice search.

Here's an example of an ad featured on a Connected Screen. 

Google weather 

Conclusion 

For now, Connected Screens are a relatively rare sight in someone’s home, but that’s going to change quickly. This isn’t going to be driven by the traditional assistant devices with built-in screens such as the Echo Show or Lenovo’s Smart Display. It's going to be something that is already in 95% of homes already i.e. the television. Sony and LG have recently released a range of TVs with Google Assistant built in and Amazon’s Alexa is available through the Fire Stick and Fire TV Cube.

When we see the main screen in each household become connected, we’ll start to see these changes come to life.

You can also learn more about the future of voice search by downloading iProspect's latest whitepaper, Turning Up the Volume on Voice Search.