You’ve published your Alexa Flash Briefing, and you understand why voice is important.
Good move: smart speakers are the fastest growing consumer technology since the smartphone, and Amazon has a 61 percent market share.
Amazon Echo Dot was Amazon’s best-selling product sitewide, across any category during the 2017 holiday season. (Source: Slate) Photo by Andres Urena on Unsplash
But before you start, benchmark where you are now-what gets measured, gets managed.
Record how many listeners are using the Amazon Developer measure tool.
Then track the increase you’ll see over the next month as you implement these steps.
Read on for the best ways to grow your Alexa Flash Briefing audience.
So, how do you get people to listen to your Alexa Flash Briefing?
Tip: Batch your recording sessions. Come up with fifteen content ideas, then record them in one sitting. Batching is an effective way to be more productive because it lets you avoid task switching costs.
Just like a product listing on Amazon, take advantage of every field on your Alexa Flash Briefing skill’s page (it’s essentially a product detail page as far as Amazon SEO is concerned).
Sharing on social has the best ongoing effort-to-reward ratio (it doesn’t take much time and can reach lots of people). Try it two ways:
“Tune into today’s Flash Briefing to hear about the greatest marketing trick of the century. How to listen: 1) Enable the Skill here: [LINK TO SKILL]. 2) Say “Alexa, what’s my Flash Briefing? on your Echo or in your Amazon app.”
Any smartphone can become an Alexa device and play Flash Briefing – no Echo needed. Source: Emily Binder, iPhone screenshot
And that last part: yes, bonus! Users don’t need an Echo to hear your brief.
Anyone can turn their phone into an Echo device by downloading the Amazon shopping app.
The circle in the top right of the app activates Alexa. Try it!
(Smart move, Amazon.)
Reddit hosts communities with people who have an interest in Amazon Alexa and Echo.
Publicize your skill in a few of the top groups.
But remember, don’t just self-promote.
First, help others. Try their skills then leave reviews on Amazon.
Interact, introduce yourself, and ask people to enable your skill and provide feedback.
Here are some general Echo and Alexa groups on reddit:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Alexa_Skills/
https://www.reddit.com/r/amazonecho/
https://www.reddit.com/r/alexa/
Find niche groups based on your topic. For example, if you focus on meditation, you could hang out here.
Look for similar interest groups on Facebook. Then rinse and repeat.
Create a shortlink to your Alexa Flash Briefing Skill (use bit.ly, Googl, or a custom-branded one, which is even better).
Do this immediately to reserve the shortest and clearest custom link.
Make the shortlink easy to read using words that easily separate. Make it easy to type and use all lower case (shortlinks are case sensitive). For example, mine is bit.ly/beetleflash (for Beetle Moment Flash Briefing).
You can then easily share the shortlink:
Use the same formula from above and give people an accessible, easy way to hear your content anytime.
Copy any MP3 URLs from your past briefs and add to blog posts with clear titles and ideally a bit of introductory text.
The faster, the better.
Begin to rank for your keywords before the Alexa ecosystem becomes more crowded.
Join a Facebook group related to Flash Briefings (for example, Effct users have a private group where creators ask questions, get tech support, and help one another).
Or use reddit groups to connect with others who might review you.
We all operate on the reciprocity norm.
Leave reviews for new contacts from these groups or fellow creators you’ve found on Twitter.
It’s easy to reach out to almost anyone through Twitter or LinkedIn.
If you enjoy a briefing, tweet the creator and let them know. That puts you on their radar, and they’ll be more likely to return the favor after seeing your review.
Archive and host past briefings on your website or blog.
Benefits of doing this:
Have a page of your website called Alexa Flash Briefing and post each brief or a handful of your best ones.
For example, here’s my Alexa Flash Briefing page with some of my favorite briefs.
If you publish daily, this could get cumbersome, so feature the top ten.
Put a big clear button or link to “Enable this Flash Briefing Skill” at the top and bottom of the post(s).
Use your skill icon, make it clickable, and you’ll be on your way to showcasing your Alexa Flash Briefings and gaining a wider audience.
Emily Binder is the principal consultant at Beetle Moment Marketing. She helps businesses drive revenue using purposeful digital strategies, especially social media. Emily also focuses on voice technology and is active in podcasting and smart speakers. She founded PersonaBay.com, marketers’ one stop shop for buyer personas. Emily speaks and writes about marketing, loves rollerblading, and her InstantPot.