This morning, Google launched the localised version of Google Assistant for Belgium in a press conference. What’s the latest marketing news? It’s only one of the things you can ask the Belgian Google Assistant on your phone or Google Home as from today. You can use the Assistant for example to listen to the latest marketing news via the ‘Media Marketing’ chatbot, to get the latest weather prediction or to hear about the latest Belgian football results. All by simply asking Google Assistant and by using voice commands on your iOS or Android device.
You activate the Media Marketing chatbot by simply saying “Okay Google” to any suitable device, followed by “praten met Media Marketing” or “parler à Media Marketing”. The Google Assistant will respond with some suggestions for marketing news articles. You can then listen to the articles that interest you most, read out loud by the Assistant. Very convenient for those moments when you can’t read on your phone, but can talk and listen: for example in the car or while jogging.
Marketing news without using hands
The Media Marketing chatbot, which works exclusively through the Google Assistant, is one of the first ‘Actions on Google’. That’s a platform Google made available for developers and companies to help them connect their content and services to users with the Google Assistant. In other words: any company or brand can develop a chatbot and deploy it on Google Assistant.
The Media Marketing chatbot is also a true pioneer in Europe, as it’s the very first personalised chatbot for a brand. This means that the voice of this specific Action on Google has been created in an artificial way, for the exclusive use of Media Marketing. This voice cannot be heard anywhere else.
Fourcast developed the chatbot for Media Marketing together with our partners Wavemaker (Media Agency) and Acapela Group (custom voice builders). To develop this voice bot, we used Google Cloud’s powerful Dialogflow technology.
Google Assistant, Belgian as from today
Google is launching the Belgian version of Google Assistant today gradually on iOS & Android devices (Android 5.0 Lollipop or higher). You can immediately use the Media Marketing voice chatbot on it, both in Dutch and in French. For now the Belgian Assistant still uses the voice accent from the Netherlands, but the functionality and personality of the Assistant have been adapted to our country.
In addition to the latest new marketing articles and searches, it’s now also possible to use the brand new Belgian Google Assistant for example to sing you a Belgian song, to hear a joke typical for Belgium, or to request the latest scores in the Belgian football competition.
From keyboard to voice commands
The fact that Google Assistant is now localised for Belgium is good news for Belgian brands that want to keep on track with the latest consumer trends. Any brand that keeps up to date with the way people interact with products and services will realise soon, if they didn’t already, that there is a huge opportunity that opens up here. As the way people interact with the internet shifts from commands with the keyboard to voice commands, businesses have to be prepared for this next digital evolution.
Indeed, now that the Belgian Google Assistant launched there will probably be more and more people who realise how convenient the Assistant can be. This will spark the usage of the Assistant, mutually reinforcing the increasing popularity of Smart Speakers like the Google Home. If you look at how the adoption of these Smart speakers in the homes of people went through the roof in the US, we think there is a similar trend coming to Belgium soon.
And as not a lot of marketeers realise the potential of people active on this voice channel, the good news for innovative marketing departments is that the competition in this field is still very low.
The breakthrough of Voice Marketing in Belgium?
So how to be prepared? The answer is simple: by starting a voice marketing strategy. Voice marketing can consist out of many different things, but in general it’s the adapting of your marketing efforts and campaigns to the fact that people use their voice to interact with your brand.
A few concrete examples of what you can do as a business with voice marketing are these:
- Develop your voice chatbot(s) as Google Action(s), so people can easily use it through the Google Assistant on their phone or Google Home
- Adapt your SEO efforts to voice search: it’s not hard to imagine that as the popularity of the Assistant grows, more and more people will perform their Google searches by voice instead of by typing them in the Google search bar. This will have an effect on the keywords and search terms your business wants to be found for.
We’re happy Google Assistant now officially arrived in Belgium, and can’t wait to see this Google product evolve in the coming months. For Belgian brands this definitely opens up a huge potential of getting closer to their customers and interact with them in a more engaging way through the use of voice.
Want to get started with a voice chatbot project yourself? Download our Chatbot white paper, or talk to us! We’re happy to discuss your specific needs and challenges.
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