Where do people learn about their smart speakers?

Most users learned about new smart speaker skills through friends and family, receiving emails from smart speaker brands, and searching their smart speaker app, according to a new report released by NPR and Edison. Publishers can proactively take steps so that their content gets discovered via voice.

The best way of optimizing for voice is to ensure webpages have speakable schema properties in their structured data. Speakable schema singles out pieces of information that would work best for audio. Webpages with these properties are easier to distribute on voice-enabled platforms. Optimizing for voice in this way benefits organizations that already have skills on smart speakers and those that do not as well.

Additionally, creating specific content is essential for generating interest and engagement. Many publishers have started working towards this end. As of last week, The Atlantic became the most recent publisher to distribute content specifically for smart speakers, providing listeners access to the publication’s segment “The Daily Idea.” NPR created a shorter, smart speaker friendly version of its popular Planet Money podcast, called “The Indicator“.

The goal of smart speaker's? Make relevant, content that is smart-speaker centered, easy to use and becomes habitual for listeners. Taking those steps will generate one of the tried and true ways of learning about something new: word of mouth. Despite the ever-changing technology, 45 percent of smart speaker owners reported learning about new skills on their smart speakers this way.