Hey Siri, is voice search really the next big thing in marketing?

Marketers are constantly being bombarded with thought-leaders claiming that certain tactics or techniques are the next big thing. It can be tricky to know which marketing trends will pass in a few months and which will become part of our daily lives.

There's been plenty of noise around voice search over the last couple of years, but is it really the marketing 'silver bullet' some claim it is? The data collected around local voice search seems to think so.

Local voice search, also known as voice-enabled search, allows consumers to use voice commands linked to their eclectic devices to easily search the internet, a website, or an app for information about local businesses. Popular examples of voice search include Siri, Alexa, Google Assistant, and Cortana.

46% of people who use voice search on their smartphones look for local business information one or more times per day. These are people who have not done research on which business they prefer and oftentimes, they go with the first or second option recommended by their voice search. If your business isn't one of them, that could become a huge problem.

This guide will walk you through the types of questions consumers are searching for, explain the different voice search channels, and teach you how to optimize your online business listings for search.