Is voice the next frontier?

https://www.emarketer.com/Article/Alexa-Say-What-Voice-Enabled-Speaker-Usage-Grow-Nearly-130-This-Year/1015812

This year, 35.6 million Americans will use a voice-activated assistant device at least once a month. That’s a jump of 128.9% over last year.

Amazon’s Echo speaker will have 70.6% of users. Meanwhile, Google Home will trail far behind with just 23.8% of the market.

https://www.campaignlive.co.uk/article/just-say-it-future-search-voice-personal-digital-assistants/1392459

In fact, ComScore says that by 2020, 50 per cent of all searches will be voice searches.

https://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2018/04/10/voice-search-statistics-2018

3. 13% of all households in the United States owned a smart speaker in 2017, per OC&C Strategy Consultants. That number is predicted to rise to 55% by 2022.

How to get started:

How to get your AWS hosting for free: https://developer.amazon.com/alexa-skills-kit/alexa-aws-credits

Testing

https://echosim.io/welcome

Blueprints are a way for users to create Alexa Skills without coding. Users simply select from a menu of templates ranging from Q&A, quizzes, or a flash briefing, fill out the information, and voilà, create a skill without coding.

http://alexa.design/guide

http://alexa.design/docs

https://www.twitch.tv/amazonalexa

http://Alexa.design/slides

https://github.com/alexa

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbx0SPpWT6yB7_yY_ik7pmg

AWS Certification

https://d1.awsstatic.com/training-and-certification/docs-alexa-skill-builder-specialty/AWS_Certified_Alexa_Skill_Builder_Specialty_Exam_Guide_v1.0_FINAL.pdf

Icon builder

https://developer.amazon.com/docs/tools/icon-builder.html

Invocation names

https://developer.amazon.com/docs/custom-skills/choose-the-invocation-name-for-a-custom-skill.html

https://www.godaddy.com/garage/7-steps-to-get-your-business-ready-for-voice-search/?isc=nsbloga2&utm_content=190201_4013_Engagement_Other_Promotion_Newsletter_nsbloga2_7t7NNkCRXviP7smB6PK4Y9

In this episode, Caroline discusses the keys to storytelling in your content marketing strategy.

Contently - Joe Lazauskas

https://contently.com/2018/01/05/4-elements-great-storytelling/

Stories make us remember

Neurons that fire at the same time

Content marketing works because our brains are programmed for stories.

1. Relatability

2. Novelty

3. Fluency

4. Tension

Bring someone in through relatability

In this episode, I am a top 10 finalist in the Alexa Multimodal challenge and I'm asking for your help by trying out my entry by saying, "Alexa, launch Running Clothes."

Thanks in advance!

Contest Dates: March 16 - 29, 2019

Facebook is the #1 social platform for product discovery with 78% of responders that have discovered products, and 55% that bought the product online after social media discovery.

Stats from this podcast - https://www.kleinerperkins.com/perspectives/internet-trends-report-2018/

Facebook Blueprints (learn Facebook Advertising for free - https://www.facebook.com/business/learn

More helpful resources:

https://www.facebook.com/business/news/reducing-low-quality-ads-on-facebook

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/top-5-learnings-from-digital-summit-content-social-fall-caroline-dunn/

My Top 5 TradeShow Tips for Exhibitors

https://www.themarketingblender.com/statistics-every-b2b-company-know-boost-sales/

Trade shows remain the top source for most B2B lead generation, with 77% of marketers saying they generate a significant quantity of leads, and 82% saying they generate high-quality leads.

1. Location, location, location.

2. You’re there to generate more sales leads and brand awareness. Brand awareness helps your credibility in your industry. Get yours sales team on board with pre-show training and set measurable goals before the conference. Schedule your sales team to make sure that the booth is adequately staffed at all times.

3. Booth Design: Your booth is a great opportunity for branding, even if they don't stop by, they saw your logo and that establishes credibility in their mind. Few prospects are brave enough to use the signage to explain what you do preferably with pictures or in as few words as possible. People aren't going to read a paragraph that you've posted on your booth as they walk by. Be succinct.

4. The more pre-show promotion you can do the better. Make sure all of your current customers, past, and prospects know you will be at the show. Have your sales team set appointments before the show.

5. Give people a reason to scan their badge at your booth. By scanning their badge, they are giving you their contact information. You want to use this opportunity to add their information to your Salesforce database, you want to add these people to your mailing list, etc… for example, offer a drawing of a high ticket item, or a nice choskey for scanning their badge

6. Develop a strategy for continuing the conversation after the show. Ideally you want to write down something specific that you discussed, and then follow up with a thank you note with specific information. Assign leads to specific sales people for them to follow up. If nothing else, follow up with a general email thanking them for stopping by your booth and offering up some useful information or resources.

In this episode, I boil down SEO into 2 key points: Technical and Creative

SEO requires creative good quality content. Content is still king, but technical is now queen.

Technical includes page load time, mobile optimized website, and more.

https://www.websitemagazine.com/blog/5-reasons-visitors-leave-your-website

https://www.business2community.com/seo/50-tips-for-website-seo-success-02120778

In this episode, I'll share with you some surprising stats on B2B marketing buyer's journey.

B2B buyers are typically 57% of the way to a buying decision before actively engaging with sales.

84% of CEOs and VPs use social media to make purchasing decisions.

(Source IDC)

63% of consumers need to hear company claims 3-5x before they actually believe it.

Most B2B buyers say they rely heavily on white papers (82%), webinars (78%), and case studies (73%) to make purchasing decisions. Close behind are e-books (67%), infographics (66%), and blog posts (66%).

In a typical firm with 100-500 employees, an average of 7 people are involved in most buying decisions.

Sources:

http://www.curata.com/blog/the-buyers-journey-demystified-by-forrester/

https://www.forbes.com/sites/ryanerskine/2017/12/28/how-to-turn-b2b-buyers-into-sales-leads-according-to-data/#718fbc015a18

https://www.b2bmarketing.net/en/resources/blog/building-brand-trust-b2b-authenticity-table-stakes

https://www.themarketingblender.com/statistics-every-b2b-company-know-boost-sales/

https://www.themarketingblender.com/statistics-every-b2b-company-know-boost-sales/

Trade shows remain the top source for most B2B lead generation, with 77% of marketers saying they generate a significant quantity of leads, and 82% saying they generate high-quality leads.

In this episode, I discuss the differences and provide examples of digital, traditional, and experiential marketing.

In this episode, I talk about one experience I had as a UI tester, and the lessons I learned that day.

In this episode, I discuss the difference between Product Management, Product Marketing, and Marketing communications / Marcom