- 24
- Aug
On August 20th, AdWeek published an article titled “Are Search Ads a Waste of Money?”, which focused on new research released by Microsoft, performed by Atlas (formerly part of aQuantive, now a part of Microsoft) that suggests spending money on branded paid search keywords is a waste. The article argues that people who search on branded keywords are already intending to go to your site, and quotes a VP of analytics at Atlas who stated that “What you are really paying for is a glorified yellow pages listing”. As an agency, the question of placing on branded keywords is one that we often face from our clients. Our advice? Branded terms absolutely need to be a part of the SEM mix. They are an integral part of the search purchase process, as well as branding component of SEM.
Brand Protection
One of the more obvious reasons in support of bidding on your own branded keywords is that of brand protection. Unlike with organic listings, which often generate first page of search results presence for a company before more general keywords will, with sponsored links, advertisers are able to tailor ad copy to send a specific brand message. This allows advertisers to relay a message that is desirable, whether it be reinforcing a promotion or tagline used in offline media, promoting key brand benefits, or indicating that their site is the “official company site” (particularly useful if there is a high degree of affiliate advertising present). Additionally, eye tracking studies performed by Enquiro in 2006 and 2007 indicate that the top sponsored listings, which appear in the top left hand side of a search engine results page tend to receive the most attention from users scanning the page.
Competitive Exposure
Each of the major search engines differs in how they approach the ability of advertisers to bid on their competitor trademark terms. While Yahoo and MSN do not allow the practice, it is not always possible for these two engines to catch all infringers immediately. Google and Ask will allow advertisers to place on competitor trademark terms as keywords, however, don’t allow the use of those terms in the ad copy. Bidding on your own branded terms will ensure exposure against your top competitors which may be bidding on your brand name as well, and in the case of some engines, cannot be penalized for doing so. With the ideas of quality score in place, which take into account click through rates (ad relevance), landing page relevance, as well as bids among other factors, placing on your trademark terms, where your landing page content is relevant to the keyword and the ad promotes the company name, should yield high positioning at a low cost per click. It is also important to note, that with the number of searches per searcher continuing to grow, as well as multi media channel consumption increasing, the typical buying or decision making process funnel is becoming more of an hourglass, where an ultimate consideration set expands further into the process. From a search perspective, this can indicate that as users come closer to a point of decision or purchase, when they are likely to use branded keywords, if your company name is search, but your ad is not found, it is possible that a competitor can capitalize on that user.
The Reasons People Search
According to a 2007 study conducted by Yahoo in partnership with ComScore, SEMPO, and P&G, 24% of the searches that occur online are navigational in nature, meaning that users are looking to find a specific brand site, area of a site, etc. This points to a high volume of searches being performed that are branded in nature. As discussed above, the benefit to displaying paid listings on these types of navigational searches is the ability to control the ad message. Additionally, it promotes a presence to the portion of the users that tend to prefer paid to organic listings. Ultimately, paid and organic listings should work together on both branded and general keywords to provide the most effective search marketing program. A March 2007 study be Media Post Search Insider indicates that when a listing is found in both the paid and organic listings on the same term, there is a significant lift in both clicks as well as post click activity. Additionally, offline or other online display advertising helps to drive search. Approximately 70% of users will not remember a URL that they saw on television. However, they may be likely to see an ad, remember a company or product name, and then go to a search engine and enter the branded keyword to find what they are looking for. Having a sponsored listing, which reinforces that offline brand message, will help ensure the capture of that user.
Being Found Throughout All Stages of the Purchase Cycle
As marketers, we are all familiar with the idea of the purchase funnel, and the stages of awareness, familiarity, comparison, and pricing that a user goes through before arriving at a decision or purchase. This means that a typical user will perform multiple searches (on different keywords) before arriving at the decision making stage. According to ComScore Media Metrix, search intensity is growing 6.2% on average from month to month in 2007. In June 2007 light searches performed an average of 13 searches per month, while heavy searches performed over 236 searches in one month. Typically, branded searches will come into play starting with the familiarity state of the purchase process. Users will begin to evaluate specific brands, products, or sales venues at this point to arrive at a final decision. As the search process transitions from being more information in nature, to more transactional, according to Neilsen NetRatings, users tend to spend 40% more time on the sponsored, or paid links, thus supporting the need for a presence.
Branded Terms Drive Increases in Overall Campaign Performance
Branded terms typically generate average costs per click that can be far lower than more general target keywords. This is due to a lower volume of competition vying for positioning on branded keywords, as well as a high degree of relevancy to the search term, thus allowing for a strong quality score. It is also typical for branded keywords to drive stronger conversion rates than more general search terms, which translates into a highly effective cost per acquisition. Often times, the strong conversion rates are criticized as being an over-attribution of performance to the last search which generated the action. While this may be partially the case, a study recently performed by Offermatica, a leading landing page testing and optimization platform, found that a campaign which has a mix of general and branded terms generated a 23% higher conversion volume, as well as a 22% higher average revenue per visitor than a campaign which contained no branded keywords. Branded keywords are an important component of an integrated SEM campaign, which attempts to focus on capturing users at all stages in the purchase funnel, works in tandem with Search Engine Optimization (SEO) efforts, and compliments offline marketing initiatives of a company. Similar to any individual keyword bucket, TMP Directional Marketing does work to customize a specific bid strategy to branded keywords, with the assumption that costs per click will be more efficient than general terms, and conversion rates higher. Additionally, it is important to view branded keywords as just one
component of a set of terms utilized by a user to arrive at an ultimate end action. In this respect, comparing branded terms to a yellow pages listing is an accurate assessment, and one that should be perceived as positive. The yellow pages user was likely exposed to a product or brand at an earlier state (awareness), just as a search user gained awareness through more general search terms. Once familiar with a brand or product, a user may consult the yellow pages to make contact with the business for pricing, a comparison exercise, and ultimately purchase, a searcher may use branded keywords to go through the same process. Ultimately, the goal of the campaign, is that they convert with YOUR brand.