I am a Computer Engineer by training and an Engineering Manager by profession. While my current area of focus is Backend Systems, Data Analytics, I have developed multiple Alexa Skills in last one year.
In retrospect, I wonder — how did I get hooked into it? It feels this process was so analogous to an e-commerce product funnel:
Awareness -> Interest -> Desire -> Action
I never realized that I was a part of this conversion optimization funnel put together by Amazon Alexa team and I ended up becoming a repeat customer. Here is my effort to draw that comparison in parallel:
Looking one level deeper, here are 8 specific steps which contribute to attract and convert right people into Alexa development and build its largest community.
1. Personalized marketing:
Publish Alexa Skill ad for US developers
Publish Alexa Skill ad for University Students
2. Freebies for everyone
Publish Alexa Skill and everyone get’s a T-Shit
3. New creative swags every month
Sock + Echo swag
Echo Spot and bottle swag
4. Spot on CTA’s (Develop an Alexa Skill in under 5 minutes)
CAT — Build a Skill in 5 mins
5. Kick ass documentation
When I first developed it, I referred to a step by step documentation to template skill. It had all a newbie could ask for:
- Step by step guide
- Screenshots
- Documentation links
- Github sources
- Customize with minimal changes
Docs: link
Documentation screenshot
These documentations are even better currently.
6. All Infrastructure is Free
- Free AWS account:
Alexa skills hosting free on AWS
- Test Simulator Beta (No device needed)
Initially, I thought there would be a need of owning an Echo device to test and deploy the skill I build. Ecosystem provides a test simulator which replaces that need. Just input via voice or text, and you can validate Alexa’s understanding and see how the skill responds.
https://developer.amazon.com/docs/devconsole/test-your-skill.html
7. Great customer service with prompt feedback:
Customer feedback e-mail
And my first skill was Live:
DMV Trivia Skill
Followed by:
Swag, I received :)
Not bad, few hours of work — a new skill, swags and a new tool in the pocket.
8. New Skill Emails:
And there were weekly emails about new skills people are creating and also how top skills are getting incentivised. I used to mostly ignore them.
A few months later,
It was time for my company’s semi-annual hackathon. No wonder, a voice app idea came to my mind. It felt something doable in <24hrs, potentially cool to demo. And I ended up building another Alexa skill — EchoMonkey: Taking Surveys over Voice.
While I was nowhere close to thinking about Alexa development; I have developed multiple, hackathon winning Alexa skills.
I would give kudos to Alexa’s Marketing Team for doing an excellent job funneling engineers to develop skills and building a great community around it.
No wonder, the outcome is:
All in all, I can see a more enticing future ahead when I read things like:
- Make Money with Amazon Pay for Alexa Skills
- Make Money with Your Alexa Skills through In-Skill Purchasing
- Earn Money with Alexa Developer Rewards
- Alexa will soon gain a memory, converse more naturally
Such efforts would keep the community captivated and more engaged.