SEM's role in direct marketing is clear, but its value for branding sometimes eludes clients and practitioners alike. Underscore Marketing's search practice leader spells it out.
For all of its growth, SEM still remains an elusive concept to most clients and even to some in our own industry who come from a traditional marketing background. I can't say I blame them. Search is not glamorous: We use small text ads that are associated with a set of keywords that are optimized based on data we collect. There's nothing sexy about that at all, unless of course you are looking for results.
Search has consistently outperformed other types of online media for years now. It is the number one medium from the perspective of ad dollars spent and the second most used application online after email. Explaining the success of search from the direct response perspective is simple enough: Users are actively looking for information, a product or service when they type in a search query, so it makes all the sense in the world to be where the people are looking. But for branding the rationale doesn’t seem as clear, unless we realize that the same reasons we use search for direct response are the same reasons it should be used for branding.
The intent of a user
It's simple enough: Having the right keyword list matched with the right message will engage a user much more deeply than having a banner on a website where the user is passively reading. Think of the intent of a person who, for example, types in the words "relieving tension headaches" versus someone reading an article about it. The former person has just started looking for information while the other person found it! Which message do you think a user would be most interested in?
A definitive understanding of user intent is one of the things that makes search unique. It's also why it converts well when we properly analyze keywords and use filters. Deciphering user intent is one of the aims of developing marketing channels like behavioral targeting. So it should come as no surprise that many BT companies are incorporating search into their systems to better understand the user. This is just one of the reasons why search will play an ever increasing role as a complement to any online marking plan, including those with branding goals.
In discussing the branding potential of search, talk to your clients about the intent of search users, and how taking advantage of such an active medium can enhance engagement with their message.
Protect your brand
I can't tell you how many times I have searched on a company's brand to find its biggest competitor bidding on its terms, shifting awareness to competitors as they piggy back on the name the other company worked so hard to establish.
In the name of protecting their brand, your clients should bid on brand to prevent others from stealing brand equity. Moreover, in many engines like Google, Yahoo! and syndicated sites like AOL, the first paid listing shows above the natural, so even if they have the top natural listing, the paid listing is the first thing users see and it can influence perception. Numerous studies by Atlas, Yahoo and others have shown that display ads and search affect and influence each other. Having a competitor showing up number one on a search term containing a competitive brand can not only harm that brand's image and message but can also hinder ad effectiveness on the display side.
The utility of search and its effectiveness as a direct response vehicle cannot be denied, but search marketers need to communicate its branding effectiveness to our clients. By showing our clients how search contributes to efforts made in other channels like online display ads, and by demonstrating that protecting one's brand turf keeps competitors from stealing share, we can start to prove the value of search as a branding vehicle.
David Singh is manager, search practice lead at Underscore Marketing. Read full bio.