Voice search adoption has increased dramatically in recent years, and this trend is expected to continue until 2024. Consumers are increasingly adopting speech to perform search engine searches, locate local companies, make purchasing decisions, and so on. And when consumers use their voices to find local businesses, they frequently contact those businesses in the same way—by phone.

Below, we’ve compiled the most important data for digital marketers to understand in a voice-first future.

1. The worldwide smart speaker industry was worth $6.4 billion in 2023 and is expected to grow at a rate of 32.5% to hit $110 billion in the next ten years. There are a large number of potential customers waiting to be reached directly in their homes, ready to engage with your brand through natural conversation (Source: Fact.MR).

2. By 2024, global smart speaker sales will surpass $30 billion. Smart speakers will soon be among the top-selling consumer electronic products (Source: Global Market Insights)

3. Over half of US residents (58.6%) have tried voice search at least once in their lives. This is a growing trend that marketers should consider when crafting their digital marketing strategies to reach this expanding audience (Source: Yaguara). 

4. One in five people (21%) use voice search regularly, making it a part of their weekly routine. Knowing that people use voice search for local information and tend to act quickly on those searches highlights the importance of local SEO (Search Engine Optimization) for voice search marketing (Source: Learn.G2).

5. 75% of households are expected to own smart speaker devices by 2025. Marketers need to prepare for a future where voice commerce plays a larger role in consumer buying journeys (Source: Statista).

6. 34% of people who do not own a voice assistant are interested in purchasing one. Late adopters are poised to grow the smart speaker market (Source: Global Web Index).

7. The number of voice assistant users is expected to surge in 2024, with an estimated 8.4 billion people using them, compared to 4.2 billion in 2020. This presents an opportunity to expand their reach beyond traditional channels and connect with consumers who are increasingly adopting this technology (Source: Yaguara). 

8. While voice search isn’t the top activity, it remains a popular choice, ranking sixth among all voice-related tasks. Unsurprisingly, making a call and text were the top two (Source: Blogging Wizard).

9. 65% of 25-49-year-olds speak to their voice-enabled devices at least once per day. The 25-49 year old demographic is the most likely to perform daily voice searches, followed closely by 18-24-year-olds, and 50+-year olds, respectively. Though 25-49-year-olds are the most active voice searchers, the 18-24 demographic is credited with helping to drive early adoption of the technology (Source: PwC).

10. 61% of 25-64-year-olds say they’ll use their voice devices more in the future. The 18-24 demographic mirrors this trend, with 57% saying they’ll increase their voice device usage in the coming years (Source: PwC).

11. 56% of smartphone users rely on voice search to find information about brands and businesses. In comparison, significantly fewer users (only 28%) use desktop or laptop voice search to find businesses (Source: Yaguara). 

12. 71% of wearable device owners predict they’ll perform more voice searches in the future. Though wearable users are the most optimistic, tablet and speaker users are not far behind (Source: PwC).

13. 52% of people keep their voice-activated speakers in their living rooms. 25% keep them in their bedrooms, while 22% keep them in their kitchens (Source: Google).

14. 93% of consumers are satisfied with their voice assistants. The top benefits consumers cite for using voice speakers are the ability to multitask, get instant answers to questions, and make their lives easier (PwC).

15. 65% of people who own an Amazon Echo or Google Home can’t imagine going back to the days before they had a smart speaker. For many people, smart speakers are not just devices, but part of a lifestyle (Source: GeoMarketing).

16. In 2023, 20% of web browsing sessions were screenless. This created a shift in how consumers interact with brands online (Source: Magenest).

17. Nearly 20% of all voice search queries are triggered by a set of 25 keywords. These consist mainly of question words like “how” or “what” and adjectives like “best” or “easy” (Source: seoClarity).

18. Voice is expected to be a $45 billion channel by 2028. Today, voice shopping accounts for over $3.3 billion in consumer spending. In order to take advantage of this revenue-driving growth opportunity, today’s marketers must understand the voice of their consumers (Source: LinkedIn).

19. Up to 43% of voice-enabled device owners use their device to shop. Consumers across age groups are using their devices to assist with making purchases—a 41% increase in 2018 alone (Source: Narvar).

20. 51% of those who shop via voice use it to research products. 22% of those consumers make purchases directly through voice and 17% have used it to reorder items (Source: Narvar).

21. 11.5% of smart speaker owners make purchases by voice monthly. This equals nearly 5.5 million US adults making purchases via their smart speaker on a regular basis (Source: Voicebot).

22. 52% of smart speaker owners are interested in receiving info about deals, sales, and promotions from brands. Consumers are open to building relationships with brands via voice channels (Source: Google).

23. Most voice search results come from the top 3 of traditional web searches. For voice search, ranking high in regular searches is a big advantage! (Source: Learn.G2)

24. 76% of smart speaker users perform local voice searches at least weekly. 46% of users perform voice searches to look for information on local businesses on a daily basis (Source: BrightLocal).

25. 58% of consumers use voice search to find local business information. Voice searches are often used to research and locate local businesses because of their convenience for on-the-go customers (Source: Search Engine Journal).

26. 51% of consumers use voice search to research restaurants. This is the most commonly voice-searched business, though consumers research a broad range of businesses on their voice devices, from hotels to doctors to insurance companies (Source: BrightLocal).

Read Also: The Future of Shopping: Voice Commerce Trends and Predictions

27. 28% of consumers go on to call the business they voice searched for. This is the most common action following a voice search, since it allows consumers to continue interacting with brands via their voices (Source: BrightLocal).

28. Calls will influence over $1 trillion in US consumer spending this year. In our mobile-first world, calls are often the most convenient way for customers to convert (Source: BIA/Kelsey).

29. Phone calls convert to 10-15x more revenue than web leads. Calls are one of the most valuable conversions marketers can drive from voice searches. By tracking the calls driven by voice searches, you can measure your full ROI and optimize accordingly (Source: BIA/Kelsey).

30. Callers convert 30% faster than web leads. Calls provide a more immediate return on your marketing investment (Source: Forrester).

31. Caller retention rate is 28% higher than web lead retention rate. Driving calls from voice searches is also profitable in the long-term — callers are more loyal than web leads (Source: Forrester).

32. 84% of marketers report phone calls having higher conversion rates with larger order value (AOV) compared to other forms of engagement. Phone calls are often the most valuable conversions for marketers (Source: Forrester).

33. 41% of organizations report having increased phone conversion rates by 25% or more in the past 12 months. Not only are consumers calling more due to COVID-19 — they’re also calling with higher intent to make a purchase. Both the volume and value of calls are increasing for many businesses due to COVID-19 (Source: Forrester).

34. 85% of marketers believe inbound calls and phone conversations are a key component of their organization’s digital-first strategy. Marketers plan to tap into phone call data to better understand their customers and inform their voice search strategies (Source: Forrester).

35. 48% of marketers have provided or expect to provide enhanced customer experiences as a result of scaling conversation intelligence across the enterprise. With conversation intelligence data, marketers can enhance voice search rankings and experiences based on the content of phone conversations (Source: Forrester).

36. 43% of marketers have improved or expect to improve customer acquisition and retention as a result of scaling conversation intelligence across the enterprise. When you tailor consumer experiences based on the content of their phone conversations, you better meet their needs and earn their loyalty (Source: Forrester).

37. Marketers who have scaled conversation intelligence across the enterprise have seen or expect to see improved analytics efficiency, increased business efficiency, improved employee productivity, and seamless integration with existing systems. Conversation intelligence allows marketers to get smarter insights into their consumers and make more informed decisions to drive efficiency (Source: Forrester).

38. 72% of consumers say they only engage with marketing messages that are customized to their specific interests. Marketers who take into account their consumers’ past brand experiences — online and over the phone — have more success (Source: SmarterHQ).

39. 80% of customers say the experience a company provides is as important as its products and services. If you fail to provide seamless experiences that make your customers feel valued and known, they’ll likely take their business elsewhere (Source: Salesforce)

40. 83% of consumers say they require a positive experience to remain loyal to a brand — regardless of the channel they’re engaging on. Marketers will lose out on lifetime revenue if they fail to provide seamless call experiences (Source: Glassbox Digital)

What is the Voice Marketing Strategy?

Voice marketing is a growing trend in digital marketing. Nowadays, brands seek to be more comparable to the habits that consumers have in their daily lives, i.e., to use people’s natural language to improve interactions.

So, voice marketing is a technique that employs speech recognition to deliver a brand’s message to its target audience in a more effective manner, resulting in new sales and improved business results.

Have you ever wondered why, despite technological advancements, radio continues to exist as a medium and thrives in the face of new trends? The solution is simple: the closeness established by a third party’s voice fosters intimacy and confidence in the listener, increasing the likelihood of adopting a service.

Marketers understand this, which is why they developed voice searches, which make consumers’ lives easier by eliminating the need to type to obtain information.

Many people believe that voice marketing is more complicated than it actually is. All you have to do is ask the assistant a question, and it will convert the question into a query that will be sent to the search engine to get the best answer based on the situation.

In other words, it does not matter what your customer’s requirements are. Voice marketing allows you to answer to their demands in less time than you might expect, as if you were speaking directly to their ear.

4 Reasons to Incorporate Voice Marketing

There’s little doubt that voice marketing is a growing trend in digital marketing. Screens, keyboards, and mice will remain crucial, but they must now compete with digital speakers as an increasing number of people utilize voice searches to access information.

So, if you want to develop a better connection with your target audience, you should consider the following factors:

1. You reach people’s day-to-day lives.

First of all, you get closer to people’s everyday life. We know that nowadays users are busier than ever, so if you manage to get a space in their agenda you will have a lot to gain. 

You will achieve this more easily if you use voice, because it has been proven that listening to a third party generates a sense of proximity that is difficult to match with any other alternative. 

2. Penetrate a community in general

It’s true that by speaking you reach the user’s ear, but keep in mind that you can reach thousands of people with your voice. This way, you reduce costs because you don’t have to copy and duplicate your copy hundreds of times to place it in the different channels where your brand lives. 

3. The proximity of the recognition devices gives many possibilities

Closely related to the first point, the feeling of proximity produced by voice searches makes users more predisposed to perform an action indicated by the assistant. 

Apply it and you will see how the conversion rate will increase significantly.

4. Many benefits for users with specific disabilities

In our marketing strategy, it’s important to involve people from the same niche, but we should not forget about those who have a disability. With voice marketing, you can help those with visual or mobility problems to understand your message so they know how you can help them improve their quality of life.