"Hey Alexa, help my business" isn't necessarily a phrase you expected to hear when the smart speaker became available on June 23, 2015, and it's still probably not a phrase many expect to hear into the future, but I do.

The same way I've stuck with my Amazon Echo device that my mother-in-law bought me for my 34th birthday back in 2015, I've decided to stick with the idea or concept that businesses can use Echo, Echo Dot and any other Alexa-enabled device to improve their business.

It was when I realized there are these things you can add to your device called Alexa Skills - apps for Alexa, basically - except voice apps - but added the same way you add something from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store - that things changed for me related to my Echo.

I realized I could not only add Spotify and podcasts, but that I could also develop these skills myself, or with my team of developers at Data Driven Design. Boom, then I was in.

Alexa For Business: The Data

During 2018, 22% of Americans had smart assistants in their home, up from less than 1% in 2017. That’s huge, people. This is the next way to get your audience’s attention.

In 2019, there are more than 50 million smart speaker users in the world; increasing 15% each month. Not only that, but there are now more than 30,000 Alexa Skills, with businesses reporting a 43% lift businesses nine months after launching an Alexa-enabled product, and a 53% a percent boost on average almost immediately after incorporating an Alexa Skill into their current product. 54% percent of professionals surveyed say they’d use Alexa in the workplace to increase productivity.

This video covers the top five ways businesses can use Alexa to increase productivity in the workplace, courtesy of Business.com.

Nashville Voice Conference 2019

To learn more in person about how to use Voice Technology like Alexa Skills, Google Home Actions and Podcasting to improve your business, please visit NashvilleVoiceConference.com.