The Content Marketing Game Changer: Apple’s Siri and What you to Need to know!

I am a huge Apple fanboy.

Have been ever since I was 13.

I just had my bar mitzvah and was the proud recipient of manhood…and an Apple IIe.

Technology has progressed at an incredible rate since then and Apple has always been on the forefront of simple, easy to use, cutting edge design.

When they recently released the iPhone 4s, on the outside, it looked much like my iPhone 4.

On the inside it had an even better camera, a much faster processor, and an operating system upgrade that made easy, even easier.

Certainly not the complete redesign that everyone hoped for or expected.

Then why the heck has this been the biggest iPhone release since the original iPhone???  I can sum it up in one word.

Siri.

This piece of  software  that is incorporated into the iPhone 4s is Apple’s attempt at integrating some artificial intelligence into a smartphone.  And it has done an incredible job of doing so!

Apple is not first to market with a voice activated phone, but once again Apple has trumped the competition.  Siri doesn’t just do voice dictation.  It understands what you say and it knows what you mean.   Here are just a few examples:

So How Will Siri Affect Content Marketing?

Initially you might think that your inbound and content marketing efforts would be fine in a Siri driven world.

Ask Siri a question and she spits out the familiar search engine results.  Right?  Wrong!

You see, Siri acts as a filter of search.  If the software can provide your answer from a website database, it will provide those results instead of offering web results.

Currently Siri is pulling information from sites such as Yahoo, Yelp, and Wolthram Alpha.

What this means is that your page 1 ranking may eventually no longer have the same weight in Apple’s view of the world.  Right now the database driven answers are somewhat limited, but expect to change as Siri is still in “beta”.

A Real World Example

I don’t know what it is with me and using plumbers as examples, but let’s see how they fair in a Siri based world.

Let’s say I’m hanging at my house in Philadelphia and one of the pipes burst.  I could go scrambling for the oh-so antiquated Yellow Pages, or fire up my computer and type in a google search.  No need for either since I have my iPhone with me and say to Siri “I need a plumber in Philadelphia”.  Siri has found 16 plumbers for me (from Yelp).  Within seconds I have an answer and the phone is dialing!

Now lets take a look at the same search term if Google had provided the results from the same search:

Lastly, how most people are searching for the term on Google based on their Adwords Keyword Tool.  I typed in “plumbers Philadelphia”.

What Did We Learn?

Saying is Not Typing

For me, I wouldn’t say “plumbers Philadelphia”, but that is how I would type the search, and according to Google, how most people are typing the search.

Eventually I might even tell Siri what type of problem I am having instead of the solution.  That does work to an extent now.  If I tell Siri I have a flat tire, it recommends several towing services (once again from Yelp).

Siri vs. Google Results

If you compare the plumber results of Siri and Google, you see there is huge variance.  Only one of those listed in Siri’s results are also on the Google search result.  That is most likely because the results produced by Siri are coming from the Yelp database instead of Google’s.  So in the case, your potential page 1 results may be squashed with Siri.

Dude, Where’s My Reviews???

Since credibility, reviews, and other trust signals have been proven to be a large determining factor in choosing a provider, product or service, we need to take a look at Siri and how they are handled.

Glancing over the Siri vs. Google results with these plumbers, you’ll see many more reviews on the Google listings.  Siri is pulling reviews from Yelp and in this case, only one plumber had any reviews.

Although Yelp is a wildly popular review site, I would certainly expect to see more reviews on Google just by the sheer amount of traffic it receives.

Next Steps

Siri, although new, looks to be a force to be reckoned with and I’m sure Apple already has their eye on porting the software into their other products, Safari web browser and future offerings (TV is the latest and great rumor).

You can bet that Google and Microsoft won’t be sitting still.  Any searches that Apple filters is one less opportunity for Google to sell ad space.

With the expectation that all the major players will be improving their voice integration and artificial intelligence, here are steps you can take now to help ensure your content continues to rank for results.

1. Start thinking in terms of speaking search terms when planning your content (ie blogs, landing pages,on page SEO).

2. Create a Yelp account if you haven’t done so already.  Be sure to do a thorough job of completing the business profile and incorporate some keywords for your industry.

3. Solicit your customers for Yelp reviews along with your Google reviews.  As with the Google local listings, you really want your business to stand out by having the most amount of (hopefully favorable) reviews.

4. Keep an eye on what databases Apple incorporates into Siri.  You’ll want to ensure a presence with those as well.

5. Review your analytics for changes in search patterns.  What was once was your most effective keywords may eventually lose some juice.

Batter Up!

What do you think of Siri so far?  I’m already typing much less than ever before!

How do you see it affecting search, content and inbound marketing?

I’d love to hear (and read) your thoughts on this.

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