How Smart Speakers Impact Local Radio

Smart speakers have been taking the world by storm. According to a study, 27 percent of people own a smart speaker, two times more than the year previous. What is it about this new technology that is speaking to the masses?

The Age of On-Demand

As we see from the rise in Netflix, Hulu, Youtube, etc, people want what they want, when they want it. 70 percent of people stream on a daily or weekly basis. This is a clear indication of the age of on-demand. The ease of access and use is seriously appealing, especially to millennials.

Voice enabled devices have created bold new opportunities for radio stations and their business partners alike. People like the familiar on-air talent and the comfort of community connection, but want to access it differently...they want it all through today's most innovative listening technology.

Smart Business

In this awakening of smart speakers, and VSO (voice-search optimization), businesses that advertise through radio need to be excited about this changing landscape!

The Smart Audio Report, conducted by NPR and Edison Research, found that 70 percent of people are consuming more audio since getting their speaker. Radio has a huge chance here to tap into this extra listening time, and our business partners have a huge opportunity here to increase impressions.

Radio is alive

Listening in the car is trending up and smart speakers are a chance for people to access the wholesome radio content more often, and in a new, modern way. Alexa is a great resource for local news, commentary, and FREE music.

With the upturn in usage of this new technology, more people are listening to radio, and accessing the radio is easier than ever. It is on-demand.

Enabling the Radio Ability

In order to access the radio ability, users must enable the skill on their smart speaker. You can do this by going to the Alexa app on your phone, clicking the three stacked lines icon, and clicking on skills. From there you will be able to ask smart speakers to "Play 94.7 KCLD" or whatever station you're looking for.

Radio is Changing

As all good things do, radio is changing and expanding. Stepping into this arena of smart speakers is a great opportunity for local radio stations. Research shows that people enjoy listening to the radio, so, making it more available and modernizing the process is a win-win-win for stations, businesses, and listeners alike.