Latest / Customer Journey with Fexingo: Touchpoints, Mapping, and Multi-Channel Marketing / The Voice Search Touchpoint Most Journey Maps Overlook
Transcript
- Lucas: So I was standing in line at a coffee shop last week, and the person in front of me just asked their phone, 'Where's the closest Starbucks?' No typing, no scrolling. Just a voice query. And it hit me — our journey maps don't even have a box for that. Luna: Right, because the journey typically starts with 'customer searches online' — and we all imagine a keyboard. Lucas: Exactly. And that's a problem, because voice search is not a niche behavior anymore. A couple of years ago, about a quarter of U.S. adults owned a smart speaker, and the numbers have only gone up. But even if you ignore the hardware, voice is baked into phones. Almost every search on a phone can be voice. Luna: So why do we keep ignoring it in our maps? Is it just habit, or is there something harder about it? Lucas: I think it's both. Habit, definitely — we've been mapping the same linear path for a decade. But it's also genuinely harder, because voice doesn't leave the same digital footprints. When someone types, you see the query in your analytics. When they speak, you often see nothing. Luna: So is it a measurement problem first, then? Lucas: Partly. But let's step back. The journey map is supposed to reflect how customers actually behave. If a significant chunk of your customers are starting their journey with a voice query, and your map starts with a typed search, you're missing the opening scene. Luna: And that opening scene shapes everything after, right? The query is different, the intent is different, even the results are different. Lucas: Completely. Voice queries tend to be longer, more conversational, and more often local. Someone might type 'best coffee near me', but they'll say 'Hey Siri, where can I get a flat white around here?' The phrasing changes, and the stakes change too — voice results often come from the featured snippet or the local pack, so you're fighting for one spot, not ten. Luna: So the touchpoint isn't just 'search' — it's 'voice search' with its own rules. And if you're not optimizing for it, you're invisible at the very moment the customer is most ready to act. Lucas: Right. And that's the thing — voice search is often an action-oriented touchpoint. People aren't browsing; they're looking for a specific answer or a nearby option. So the journey doesn't start with 'awareness' in the traditional sense. It starts with 'intent'. Luna: Which means the journey map should probably start earlier — before they even ask — with the brand being the answer that surfaces. Lucas: Exactly. So let's get concrete. Take a retail brand like a national coffee chain. Their journey map probably has a step for 'customer searches for coffee near them'. But it doesn't distinguish between typed and spoken. That's a miss. Here's why. Lucas: When someone types, they can scan a list of results, compare hours, read reviews. With voice, the assistant typically reads out one answer — often the featured snippet or the top local result. So if you're not that answer, you're not even in the consideration set. The map needs a branch that says 'voice query' and then asks: are we the answer? Luna: And how do you even know if you're the answer? You can't just look at your search console and see 'voice queries'. Lucas: That's the hard part. But there are proxies. For local businesses, call tracking can be huge. If you run a store and you see a spike in calls that come in right after someone asks their phone for a 'coffee shop open now', you can infer voice drove that. But the bigger structural fix is to make sure your content is structured for voice — question and answer format, concise answers, local schema. Luna: So it's partly a content strategy shift — writing for how people talk, not how they type. Lucas: Yes. And that's where I think the journey map helps, because it forces you to think about the moment of the query. If your map has a touchpoint called 'voice search', you start asking: what's the question they're likely to ask? What's the best answer we can give? And are we eligible to be the answer — do we have the schema, the local listing, the page structure? Luna: Okay, so let's talk about eligibility. What are the practical things a brand can do to be the answer for a voice query? Lucas: First, claim your Google Business Profile — and keep it updated. Voice assistants pull from that for local queries. Second, structure your website content as clear question and answer pairs. Third, make sure your name, address, and phone number are consistent everywhere. And fourth, think about the follow-up: if the assistant says 'Starbucks is two blocks away', what happens next? The customer might say 'OK, order a grande latte'. Can you handle that? Luna: So the journey doesn't end at the answer — it extends to voice ordering, reservations, directions. It's like a whole new set of micro-touchpoints. Lucas: Exactly. And that's why a journey map is so useful here — it forces you to see the whole arc. If you only map the typed path, you miss that voice customers might skip your website entirely and go straight to a call or a visit. That changes attribution, too. Luna: I've seen some brands get clever with this. There's a hotel chain that uses a voice skill on Alexa to let guests check out without going to the front desk. That's a voice touchpoint that starts after the journey — at the service stage. Lucas: Good example. That's the post-purchase side. And it's a different kind of touchpoint — not about discovery but about convenience. And it can be a huge differentiator. But the point is, if your journey map stops at 'book a room', you're missing that whole post-stay experience where voice can make or break the relationship. Luna: So we're really talking about two voice touchpoints: the one at the start, when they find you, and the one at the end, when they interact with you after the purchase. Lucas: Right. And there might be more in the middle — like when they're on the way and they ask for directions, or they check the wait time. Those are all moments where a brand can be present, or absent. Luna: I'm curious about the measurement issue, though. If we can't see voice queries in analytics, how do we know if we're winning? Lucas: You have to get creative. For one, you can use a tool like a voice search simulator — there are a few out there that let you type in a query and see what a voice assistant would return. You can do that for your target queries and see if you're the answer. Also, you can track branded voice queries indirectly through site search or through calls. Lucas: And you can run small experiments. Have a friend or a panel of users ask their phone for the kind of business you run, in the area you're in, and see if you come up. It's not perfect, but it's better than nothing. Luna: So it's a blend of technical optimization and old-fashioned testing. That feels manageable. Lucas: It is. And the payoff is real — because voice users are often high-intent. They're not just browsing; they're ready to act. So if you can be the answer, you're capturing someone at the exact moment they're most valuable. Luna: Before we go further, I want to mention something that's been on my mind — and I think it ties to what we're talking about. A lot of what we do on this show is about being there for the customer in the right moment. And that takes effort and research, which doesn't happen by accident. I know a handful of listeners chip in monthly through buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo, and that's literally what funds making this many of these shows. Lucas: Yeah, it's true. We don't run ads, so it's listener support that keeps this going. And it's not a big ask — just if these conversations have sparked something you've actually used in your work, that's the kind of thing that makes a difference. Luna: Right. No pressure, ever. Just a low-key note for those who find value in it. Lucas: Okay, back to voice. I want to end with a forward-thinking angle. Voice search isn't static — it's evolving. With generative AI, the assistant doesn't just read out a result; it can have a conversation. So the touchpoint becomes even more about dialogue than a single query. Luna: So the journey map needs to account for a conversation, not just a search. That's a bigger shift. Lucas: It is. And it means brands need to think about conversational content — not just Q and A, but a flow. But that's a topic for another episode. For now, the takeaway is simple: if your journey map doesn't have a voice touchpoint, it's incomplete. Luna: And it's not just about the map — it's about the behavior. People are talking to their devices more and more. If you're not there, someone else is. Lucas: Exactly. So next time you're mapping a journey, ask yourself: what would happen if the customer never touched a keyboard? Would they still find us?