Public Relations & Social Marketing Insight

While still far from mass adoption, virtual assistants are becoming more widely used by Americans, according to eMarketer’s first forecast on users of digital assistants, such as Siri, and voice-enabled speakers, like Amazon Echo.

This year, 35.6 million Americans will use a voice-activated assistant device at least once a month. That’s a jump of 128.9% over last year.Amazon’s Echo speaker will have 70.6% of users. Meanwhile, Google Home will trail far behind with just 23.8% of the market. The remaining portion will be shared among smaller players, such as Lenovo, LG, Harmon Kardon and Mattel....

"M, book me a cab" -- this perfunctory command sits at the heart of the challenge that many brands will soon face as Facebook powers up its virtual assistant.

With the arrival of Facebook M, the company's virtual assistant, we are rapidly approaching a future where a messaging UI becomes the primary way in which we interface with the web of connected services. From a consumer perspective, this is amazing. Your experience becomes keenly focused and simplified by not having to jump out of one app and into another to complete your Jobs To Be Done, and it really feels like the internet is magic again (not that it ever really stops feeling like magic).

"Play the next episode of 'Dexter,' " and immediately your device goes full-screen and you’re picking up from where you left off. No going through app trays to find the right one and then through several layers of menus and navigation to find the right show. One command in natural language, typos and all; one perfect response from your device. Sounds amazing; is amazing; becomes mind-blowing when stuff in the real world happens, too like your laundry being picked up, cleaned and delivered back to your home without any effort on your behalf beyond "M, get my laundry done today."

As great as things will be for us as end users, there’s a few reasons it may not delight us as marketers....