Take 5
3 Things You Can Do Right Now to Market Your Business on Alexa
With Kevin Tengan
TRT 4:04
Transcribed


Kevin Tengan directly addresses camera:  Remember when smartphones came out and you discovered all those cool apps? It completely changed the way we interacted with technology and with each other. With that in mind, Alexa skills and Google actions are doing for voice what apps did for the smartphone.  They offer a new way for consumers to interact with real estate professionals. 

I’m Kevin Tengan, director of marketing for Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Verani Realty in New Hampshire and a digital and technology trainer. Let’s take five minutes to talk about voice assistants and how you can use them to connect with prospective customers.

Voice assistants allow consumers to ask questions and get real time information where they want it and when they want it.  Here’s an example. I was playing around with my Google Home and asked, “Hey Google, what’s my home worth?” It immediately came back with, “What’s your address and what state do you live in?” Then, boom, it was able to spit out an estimate of what my home was worth. 

Here are three ways to leverage voice assistants.

First, voice technology allows you to multitask. If you’re like most people, the first thing you do when you wake up in the morning is you grab your phone, and you check messages, respond to emails, maybe schedule a meeting here or there. Sometimes you make a note about a great idea you had while you were sleeping, or you check the news and weather. After this, you take your shower or get dressed. 

With voice technology, you can just wake up and, rather than grab your phone, you can ask your voice assistant to read your text messages, send an email, schedule a meeting, make a note, play news briefings, listen to a podcast and much, much more. And, you can do it all the while  getting dressed or showering. It frees up your hands and allows you to multitask. You’re no longer tethered to a screen and keyboard.

Another way to leverage voice assistants is to create meaningful content. The easiest way is through podcasts. Not sure what to talk about? Start with a day in the life of a real estate professional. Perhaps you’re heading to an inspection today. Record a podcast about all the things a homebuyer should look for in a home inspection and explain the report that they’re gonna get, while large, isn’t necessarily that scary. Think about the questions buyers and sellers might ask and answer them in your podcast. Showcase your community, give potential buyers the inside scoop –– talk about events, places, businesses and all the people who make the community so special.

Along with podcasts, take advantage of Flash Briefings. Flash Briefings are available on Alexa enabled devices and are short informative bits of audio, such as a daily real estate tip or a top 10 list. They are easy to record and free to setup on Amazon. When people enable your flash briefings  on their device, it will play each time they say, “Hey Alexa, play my flash briefings.” They will hear your content, in your voice, and you can use Flash Briefings to drive your audience to your bigger pieces of content. 

Third, take advantage of voice search. Some tips include focusing on certain phrases, questions, and long tail keywords, which are those three and four keyword phrases which are very, very specific to your market, niche or target audience. Make sure they’re geographically relevant and commonly-phrased questions. Also be sure you are receiving reviews and rating from your clients. These will be to your advantage when people ask their voice assistant questions such as, “Who is the best real estate agent in Jacksonville, Florida,” or “What is the best real estate company near me.” So be sure you have full profiles, ratings and reviews on sites like Google, Yelp, and even Facebook.

Because voice assistants is an emerging technology, the possibilities for use are still developing. I’d love to see questions such as “What is my home worth?” followed up with “Let me give you some more information about the community.” or “For tips on getting your home ready to sell be sure to subscribe to my podcast.” Taking small steps toward interacting with consumers on voice will position you for success down the road.