Headless CMS: Advancing voice assistant technology

Highlights

You’ll learn how headless CMS supports voice assistants and related tech

• Centralized management: A headless CMS stores content in one place from which you can optimize and deliver to voice assistants
• Improved performance: It is fast and delivers real-time updates for voice assistants
• Flexible integration: With robust APIs, a headless CMS integrates with multiple devices

Get ready to plug into the new wave of voice-assisted technology. Opt for a reliable, cloud-native, headless CMS.

Keep reading to learn more!

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By 2026, there will be more than 150m voice assistants in the United States alone. There is also the podcast industry—worth around $25 billion today. The use of voice content and assistants continues on a steady rise—as businesses and consumers seek more efficient content content technologies.

These devices allow users to interact with content differently. Powered by voice user interfaces (VUIs) and AI, voice assistants like Siri, Google Assistant, and Alexa require a streamlined content delivery system. A headless CMS provides that system, relying on APIs to make it work.

Key features of headless CMS

A voice assistant integrated into a headless CMS receives voice commands and responds with information that helps businesses and users with their daily tasks.

By separating content storage from its presentation layer, headless CMSes can deliver content to any platform, including voice assistants. Here are some of its key features.

• Backend and frontend separation: Developers and content creators can work in parallel, ensuring that products, fixes, and updates can be deployed faster.
• Content as a Service (CaaS): With the CaaS approach, a headless CMS stores content in its raw form and delivers it on demand and in the right format to any front-end device. 
• Real-time updates: A headless CMS delivers instant content and updates to all platforms that connect to it. 
• Omnichannel experience: A headless CMS enables you to reach your customers on all the digital channels they interact with your brand. That way, you can maintain a consistent brand messaging.

Managing voice content with headless CMS

A headless CMS separates content storage from presentation and supports content reuse, allowing you to adapt content to the right format for voice assistants. That ensures you do not create fresh content for different kinds of voice-activated technologies, including smart speakers and IoT gadgets. 

Using CaaS, it stores content in its raw form and adapts it for delivery to voice assistants on demand. That allows developers to push the right content formats to voice-activated assistants like Alexa and Google Assistants using APIs 

Strategies for voice content management

Voice content requires a slightly different approach from managing text or video content. Here are strategies to manage content in voice platforms.

• Dynamic content segmentation: You may separate voice content by categories or personalize it based on user preferences and demographics. That allows you to tailor content to user intents and scenarios. 
• Consistent voice updates: Voice content tends to be dynamic. Ensure you update it to reflect new tech, market trends or changes in product or service offerings and user preferences.
• Voice-specific metadata: Research shows that around 40% of people use voice search daily. By adding granular metadata like titles, descriptions, tags, and categories, you can make it easy for them to find content.

The role of voice commerce

Voice commerce is slowly gaining traction as it eases the online shopping experience. Consumers can search and buy products online using voice commands. Headless commerce is a perfect foil for voice commerce, as it builds on the same principles of a headless CMS. 

Benefits of headless CMS for voice assistants

A headless CMS supports voice assistants in many ways, and here are a few.

• Flexible content delivery: A headless CMS can work with voice platforms like Siri and Alexa, ensuring brands can reach customers on any voice-assisted device.
• Real-time updates: A headless CMS allows you to push real-time updates, ensuring that voice assistants deliver the most current information.
• Better user experience: Tailored content delivered to users and users being able to use their local language can improve their experience and boost engagement.
• Multi-channel delivery: A headless CMS can manage content for podcasts, voice-activated search, voice assistants, e-commerce platforms, and more.

Benefits of headless CMS for voice commerce

A headless CMS supports voice commerce by easing the shopping experience and enabling businesses to offer advanced e-commerce experiences. Here are some benefits of headless CMS for voice commerce.

• Enhanced e-commerce capabilities: Brands can improve the shopping experience by integrating product data and customer reviews into voice search results. They can also integrate offers and recommendations.

• Conversational marketing: Headless CMS can enhance conversational marketing as brands can store content to respond to user inquiries in real time. This improves how brands interact with customers using voice-enabled devices.

• Voice content localization: Headless CMSes offer content localization features that can be extended to voice commerce. That way, shoppers can search or order products in their local languages using voice commands.

Integrating headless CMS with voice-activated assistants

Integrating headless CMS with voice-activated assistants involves several critical components, seen below:

• APIs: APIs connect headless CMSes with voice platforms, ensuring that both systems are in sync and can exchange data.
• Content repository: The content repository holds different content types, and content creators can assess it to create and optimize content for delivery to voice-activated assistants.
• Personalization engines: These engines collect data from user’s interactions with a brand and tailor content to their preferences. 

Use cases and applications

A headless CMS is a versatile machine that integrates with various systems and technologies, making it relevant across multiple industries. Here are some use cases.

• E-commerce platforms: Managing product information and transactions.
• Customer service: Providing instant responses to user queries via voice assistants.
• Content delivery: Offering personalized news, updates, offers, and entertainment.

Tools and technologies

Several tools and technologies assist in the integration process, such as:

• Low-code platforms: Low/no-code solutions eliminate the need for technical work, allowing any user to develop and deploy content.

• Middleware solutions: Middlewares sit between an operating system and applications. It manages integrations and underlying processes that enable systems to interact.

• Voice interaction frameworks: These frameworks, like Alexa Skills Kit (ASK) and Google Assistant SDK, provide guidelines for enabling voice interaction between users and digital devices.

Best practices for managing voice content with a headless CMS

Here are some best practices to get the best out of your headless CMS for voice content management. 

• Maintain a voice tone that matches your brand identity.
• Review and update content to ensure it is current, accurate, and relevant.
• Tag the content with descriptive metadata to ensure users can find it via search.

Future trends in headless CMS and voice tech

The integration of voice technology in headless CMS offers much potential for managing smart homes, voice commerce, and voice content management. Here are some trends to watch out for.

• Cross-platform integration: Expanding integration capabilities to embrace a broader range of smart devices.
• AI-driven personalization: Advanced AI techniques enable more precise and personalized content delivery.
• Voice analytics: Monitoring and analyzing voice interactions to fine-tune content strategies.

The future of content management with AI and voice assistants

Brands will continue integrating AI and machine learning in headless CMS to drive content innovation, personalize and automate content creation and improve voice recognition and search.

AI through natural language processing will also be relevant for voice content localization in e-commerce. Still, there are privacy concerns considering the vast amount of data required to make it work. 

Potential challenges and solutions

While the integration of headless CMS with voice technology is promising, there are genuine challenges to consider:

• Privacy and ethical concerns: Organizations like GDPR play a major role in maintaining data privacy. AI operations require vast amounts of data, and collecting them can sometimes become intrusive.
• Technical complexity: Integrating voice assistants and IoT devices with headless CMS may offer some technical challenges, though middleware and low-code platforms may offset that.

Addressing privacy issues and ethical concerns

AI and voice technology raise ethical concerns that businesses must address.

• Data privacy: Be transparent, follow GDPR guidelines and ensure users know how you collect, store and use their data. 
• User consent: Ensure users understand how you use their data and consent to voice interactions and content delivery.
• Incorporate ethical considerations: Fine-tune your content strategies to align with diversity and inclusion, ensuring that content is accessible to all users. Also, fact-check content to ensure the accuracy of information delivered via voice assistants.

Case studies

Miami Heat

With the Tridon CMS, Miami Heats incurred high costs and was unable to scale or customize content. They also found it difficult to deliver content to smart and mobile devices.

Switching to Contentstack’s headless CMS allowed them to tailor offers and content to fans, and sales grew by 100%.

Matthew Jafarian, Executive Vice President, said, “The best part was that the new platform is customizable to meet all our content team’s needs, without requiring highly complex development.” 

Read more about how the Miami Heat delivers real-time personalized experiences.

Schroders

Schroders struggled with a slow and inefficient monolithic CMS, and they could not localize content.

By choosing Contentstack’s headless CMS, they can now localize content in 32 of their global locations. Their efficiency and speed have improved, and they can now develop new features using APIs.

Hear from Liz Cummins, Head of Digital Marketing Experience. "In addition to data and client insights, Contentstack supports us in engaging, supporting and informing our many audiences. It’s been helpful to have regular check-ins with Contentstack reps, sharing our pain points and our wish list. We’ve been able to maximize the benefit of a headless CMS platform to amplify content across various communication channels."

Read how Schroeders efficiently localized its content.

FAQ section

What is the use of a voice assistant?

A voice assistant helps you carry out daily tasks via voice commands. It uses AI and machine learning technologies that allow it to recognize your voice and do what you ask of it.

What are the three benefits of using a headless CMS?

A headless CMS is future-proof, as it uses APIs to connect with any device. It promotes developer freedom, allowing them to work with any framework they choose. It also supports omnichannel content delivery, allowing brands to reach customers on all platforms.

What is the main idea behind headless CMS?

The main idea of a headless CMS is to offer you flexibility. So, you manage all your content in one place while being able to deliver it to any digital device you choose.

What can you build with a headless CMS?

You can build various digital experiences with a headless CMS, such as content hubs, marketing campaigns, voice-activated services, etc. 

 

Learn more

A headless CMS offers a versatile solution for managing voice content. The decoupled architecture delivers seamless integration and real-time content delivery via scalable APIs. That flexibility allows you to manage and personalize voice content to enhance customer engagement.

However, businesses must factor in ethical and data privacy concerns. That way, they can enjoy the full benefits of headless CMS for voice-assisted platforms. Key into the voice content trend with an API-first, cloud-native headless CMS from Contentstack. Talk to us to get started.