Dan Galante

I covered Voice Summit last week at NJIT in Newark, New Jersey. Voice Summit is the largest voice tech conference that brings the conversational design ecosystem together in one place.

Last year was the first Voice Summit. It was amazing to see how the industry has advanced in the past year. This year, the conference grew to over 5,000 attendees!

Voice Summit was a great place to network. Many Voice Startups demoed their offerings as well.

Founder Pete Erikson shares the story of Voice in the opening press conference. Pete shared the podium with Voice industry leaders and Newark Civic Leadership.

The conversation in Voice has shifted from should brands have a Voice Strategy to how to effectively incorporate voice technology across the organization. Attendees had opportunities to attend hands-on voice workshops on topics ranging from creating brand guidelines to building a voice strategy from the ground up. I took the Voice strategy workshop conducted by Brett Kinsella of VoiceBot.Ai. We received a workbook that had questions that served as building blocks to build our voice strategy.

I had was able to get a look at the Expo Floor where I was able to meet exhibitors and explore the Amazon Smart Home. It was amazing to see how voice technology has transformed the home experience. In this video, I was able to ask Alexa to play Who Wants to Be a Millionaire and to play music, etc.

Marketers have many opportunities with Voice and Audio Content according to Voices.com research. Content takes the form of short and long-form ranging from Flash Briefings up to Audiobooks.

However, when it comes to smart speakers only, 18% of users discover skills from brand advertising according to Vixen Labs.

Brands need to prepare to change their Marketing and Advertising for Voice. A panel shared their thoughts on how to improve how to achieve this aim.

Edison Research and NPR conducted market research on the topic of smart speaker customer behavior. The number of smart speakers in U.S. homes grew 78% from December of 2017 to December. The research packed with data you can see here.

Brett Kinsella led a panel where Marketers shared how they have developed and implemented their strategy for Voice.

Steve Keller of Pandora shared his thoughts on the topic of Sonic Branding and Sound Business.

On a side note, NJIT was nice enough to provide me with a tour of the start-up incubator and co-working space opening this September. I was able to see areas being built from the ground up just as startups are.

I also was able to see the Alexa Cup which is Amazon’s initiative to pair Marketers and developers to work on projects such as Female Empowerment and Mental Health.

What touched me on a human level was the closing keynote entitled “A journey through a deaf developer’s eyes.” In this keynote, Thomas Chappell of Prudential shared his story. Thomas is unable to speak.

After his talk, I was able to meet him. People communicate with him using Voice to speech technology and American Sign language. I was able to use the technology on a smartphone to have a full conversation with him.

Voice Summit was an amazing conference. I want to thank Pete Erikson, the Modev Team, NJIT, the City of Newark, and the State of New Jersey for having me as their guest.

The 2023 New York Auto Show is happening at New York’s Jacob Javits Center.

I had the privilege of covering the New York Auto Show on press and industry days. The show opened with the World Car Awards Breakfast.

I want to congratulate Hyundai for winning multiple awards with its all-new Ioniq 6 EV including the World Best EV Award, World’s Best Design, and 2023 World Car of the Year!

Congratulations to all of the other finalists as well.

I rode along in the Hyundai Ioniq 6 EV on one of the multiple test tracks at the show. It was an exhilarating experience!

The show consists mainly of EVs and hybrid vehicles. There are two levels including using EV test tracks where you can a do ride-along. There are fun exhibits that I recommend that you experience. I rode along on all of the test tracks experiencing various EVs. 

The Jeep track simulates a mountain and off-road driving experience.

If you are interested in learning about EVs, Charging Stations, and electric power there are displays and resources to explore at the show.

You can find additional pictures posted on Instagram.

There were also some new vehicle roll-outs and major press announcements from Kia, Hyundai, Chrysler, Ram, VW, and many others. You can see some of them below. Kia Press Conference The all new EV9.

Hyundai Press Conference and Reveal Kona N Line, The All New 2024 KONA Electric

https://www.youtube.com/live/oMuxsvlzfW8?feature=share

The Ram 1500 REV all Electric Reveal!

https://fb.watch/jNiJGD2R2b/

VW ID. Buzz Atlas Peak Edition Press Conference 

Chrysler and Autism Partnership

I enjoyed the Subaru Loves Pets campaign at the show. Subaru is partnering with animal nonprofits to get pets adopted, especially pets that are disabled and traumatized.

The show is open to the public as of yesterday at the Jacob Javits Center located at 429 11th Avenue New York, New York 10001. How to get to the Auto Show. The Auto Show runs from Friday, April 7th, through Sunday, April 16th, 2022. The hours are as follows Monday — Saturday from 10 am to 7 pm and Sundays from 10 am to 7 pm. General admission tickets are $21 for adults and $ 7 for children. If you want early access for this Friday or Saturday tickets are $45 for adults and $7 for children. Tickets can be purchased here.

What are you hoping to see at the auto show?

If you have attended the auto show, what was the most exciting thing you experienced?

Share your thoughts.

Free or Low-Cost Trials

When creating a new offering, I would offer a free or low-cost trial of your product to both end-users and industry experts. Consumers look for social proof before they buy a product. If the product is new, then none exists. To lower buyer resistance, you need to make the buyer feel comfortable about their purchase. Offering free or low-cost trials of your product is a great way to build trust and gather feedback. You can conduct market research and product testing using surveys to ask potential customers about their experience.

If your product helps to solve a customer’s problem, they will be happy to share it with others; increasing the chance of converting prospects into paying users. Product testimonials and endorsements help to address product reliability and usability. Customer testimonials build loyalty, brand recognition, and sales for your product.

Loss Leaders

If free or low-cost trials are not something that you can offer, you can use loss leaders. A loss leader is when you offer a product at a loss or break-even point to gain future business. Supermarkets and e-commerce businesses do this when a new product is rolled out.

Another place I saw loss leaders was in dental field sales. Certain customers were loyal to certain types of equipment. When I asked why, they said that these were the tools they used in school and they were comfortable using them. As a result, they did not want to switch. When I called on dental schools and hospitals, I found they were in contract with larger competitors. My larger competitors sold the equipment at cost; practically giving it away. Why would they do this? My competitors were creating life-long customers trained on certain tools who refused to switch.

Connection, trust, and advocacy are essential for customer acquisition. It is your job to turn your customer base into evangelists.

Free, low-cost trials and loss leaders help to increase sales and customer loyalty. The decision on where to offer a trial or use a loss leader is dependent on the specific product, business, and industry.

How have you used trials or loss leaders?

Share your thoughts.

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About Me

I’m a Strategic Marketer with Field Sales, Sales Enablement, Content Creation, and, Classroom Teacher/Trainer skill-sets using Marketing to drive Sales/Growth.

As a Marketer, I’ve worked with Start-Ups, a Political Campaign, and a Digital Marketing Conference.

I’m certified in Inbound Marketing with classes in Marketing, Product Management, Product Marketing, SEO, SEM.

Before teaching, I was an Outside Sales and Marketing Rep. selling and marketing dental products to Dentists using consultative selling, trade show marketing, field marketing, and market research.

I publish Sales, Marketing & Social Media Today a blog covering industry events and trends.

I’m seeking a full-time role in:

Inbound Marketing, Digital Marketing, Content Marketing, Product Marketing, Demand Generation, Social Media Marketing, Sales Enablement Enablement, Sales Strategy, Marketing Strategy, Employer Branding, Recruitment Marketing.

Open on title, industry, company, location, and level. Reach out on LinkedIn or at dan@dangalante.com to start a conversation.