Marketing Digital Report: Search - Let's get together

In January, Hitwise revealed the number of UK consumers conducting an
online search for the word 'sales' more than trebled during the
Christmas period. There were 249% more UK searches for it in the week
ending 29 December 2007 than for the comparable week in 2006. There were
also 200% more searches for the word 'sale' over the same period.

These results show search-engine use by consumers is continuing to
escalate. However, search should not be considered on its own. Retailers
that have thought about sales and search marketing in a strategic and
integrated way will have had an advantage over competitors with a silo
mentality.

There is a growing body of research that shows the benefits of
integrated thinking. Close the Loop, a comScore study for Yahoo! that
looked at the relationship between search and display advertising,
found, on average, exposure to the latter increases online trademark
searches by 26%.

These findings were echoed by Media Contacts research, which used its
Artemis tool to assess nearly 10m clicks from campaigns across Europe.
This showed a 15%-20% uplift from display campaigns on search
conversions in the travel and finance sectors; while in the more heavily
branded automotive sector, display had a more pronounced effect,
achieving an uplift of 27%.

In addition, Yahoo!'s 'Research Online Buy Offline' study demonstrated a
60% increase in offline revenue when consumers were exposed to a brand
through both search and display advertising, compared with the impact on
revenue when consumers were exposed to only one of those media.

Value of integration

It goes to prove what brands should already know - that search, like all
other advertising, does not exist in isolation. People's actions are
influenced by multiple media prior to a decision being made to part with
their cash. Therefore, it makes sense to integrate the strategies for
all channels.

Gavin Ailes, business director, finance and multichannel, at The Search
Works, concedes that it is virtually impossible to identify whether
someone used a particular keyword because they saw an ad for the brand
elsewhere.

He adds that it is vital to integrate search campaigns with other
activity as much as possible - companies should be aware when TV spots
are airing, or when there's a print, email or door-drop campaign, and
then upweight the search campaign accordingly. 'The problem is a lot of
big advertisers do not communicate sufficiently within their own
organisation,' says Ailes.

Many marketers focus exclusively on the ability of search marketing as a
high-quality traffic driver, but they miss the opportunity to gain a
competitive advantage by using it as a low-risk, relatively immediate
research tool. A pay-per-click (PPC) campaign can be up and running
within minutes. If set up well, especially when research is the primary
objective, critical keyword intelligence can often be gathered in a
short space of time.

'When we used PPC as a research tool for a specialist travel company, we
found there was an appreciable volume of searches for holidays more than
12 months in advance,' says Optimize managing director Mike Rogers. 'Not
only did this lead to prioritising updates and enhancements to its
website, it also resulted in future direct marketing campaigns starting
weeks earlier.'

As important as keyword intelligence is, PPC can also be used to test
which product aspects have greatest appeal. For a laptop manufacturer,
Optimize used PPC research to test which product benefits resulted in an
increase in both click-throughs and online sales. The results had a
direct impact on the benefits that were promoted in offline ads.

'Using PPC as a research tool can do much more than test the
effectiveness of keywords or product benefits,' adds Rogers. 'It can be
used to help optimise content on landing pages and improve the ability
of those pages to move a visitor toward converting.'

Optimize also worked with a bank to test the effectiveness of using
different landing pages on its website, and their ability to help
improve conversions. The results helped to optimise landing pages for a
subsequent series of email marketing campaigns.

Online search campaigns are essential if the budget spent through any
offline marketing medium is to be maximised. The reactions to all other
marketing can be measured using PPC and search engine optimisation. Work
done by Latitude for an operator in the holiday sector and insurance
clients proves the importance of an integrated approach. Often, spikes
in search activity relating to brands occur after TV commercials
air.

Looking at travel and insurance brands, the lag between the commercial
and spike in search clicks is far shorter with the latter - typically
one hour - than the former. This could be because the purchasing of
insurance is often a more individual decision, whereas holiday
arrangements tend to involve discussion with family or friends.

In the case of the travel client, analysis of a high-cost TV spot taken
in an ad break of GMTV revealed there was no huge spike in clicks later
on, as had been the case with its other ads. By addressing search in
this integrated way, the marketing team realised using that slot was an
ineffective use of budget.

'The operator found this analysis very useful and made the decision not
to use GMTV again - it was a trial slot,' says Matt Brocklehurst, head
of marketing at Latitude. 'Online campaigns can not only be used to
maximise offline budgets and piggyback their success, but also to
measure the success of the usually unquantifiable media such as TV,
radio and press.'

Responses to offline ad campaigns can reach clients through search,
which means search bids need to be relevant to the product, consumer
profile and all media messages being broadcast online and offline.
'Expertise in modelling customer behaviour and overlaying media activity
to anticipate trends in search terms will be crucial for maximising
return on search budgets,' says Equi=Media head of insight Iain
Dawson.

Building associations

From a brand perspective, building society Nationwide ensures that it
includes its associations, such as being 'proud to be different' and
having 'no shareholders', within paid search. 'Our offline marketing
activity is integrated with our online by creating associations between
campaign-specific themes and the copy for search engines,' says Peter
Gandolfi, head of brand strategy at Nationwide.

Its integrated campaigns are reviewed at the briefing stage to identify
and develop search creative options, which then reflect the key messages
from the campaigns' themes, such as 30% discount for home insurance, or
other product messages. 'We ensure that as the campaign goes out both
online and offline, our media agency either drafts copy for search or we
use our in-house specialist,' adds Gandolfi. 'Our future will be in
catering not just for basic text search but in placing content for
universal search - something we are looking into.'

Not all search results are positive, however. A Market Sentinel white
paper, 'Search is brand', quotes Google data to show that search engines
can generate links to potentially damaging content. Searches conducted
on the UK's top 50 grocery brands, for example, delivered 'detractors'
in their top 10 results for 20 brands, including Coca-Cola and Mars.

In an age awash with user-generated content such as blogs and
video-sharing sites, website optimisation and brand reputation
management, PR must also be factored into any equation. Keeping
influential bloggers apprised of news and addressing negative coverage -
such as stories on product quality and reliability - have an important
part to play in ensuring search results help rather than damage a
brand.

- Search-engine marketing is the topic of the first-ever Marketing
Digital Masterclass, one of a series of studio-based web chats with
experts in digital marketing. The IAB's Guy Phillipson and Marketing's
Gareth Jones will discuss what's new in search-engine marketing and give
demonstrations of universal, personalised, social and live search.

To watch the Marketing Masterclass, which goes live on 26 March and is
sponsored by Latitude, visit www.marketing masterclass.tv

CASE STUDY - ESURE

Search is an important acquisition channel in the financial-services
sector, and for online insurance brand Esure it is vital that it is
integrated with its broader marketing activity. Search keywords and key
phrases are identified based on understanding the marketplace in which
Esure operates.

Web analytics systems pin down the terms being used in the SEO searches
that lead people to its website, where they can get an online quote. All
elements of product and brand values are broken down, and direct
marketing, TV, radio and press advertising text is assessed to gain
insight into which elements may be picked up as a general search term
and what could be perceived as specific to the brand following exposure
offline.

'It is also pertinent to build natural search copy into the website that
labours on relevant information, the brand activities, top-line advice
about the audience and the nature of the product,' says Esure online
marketing manager Abigail Murphy. 'Essentially, this is the crux of it,
but remember that it is never a starting point - it is an ever-evolving
strategy.'

A Google search on Esure returns the company's website first in the
results, but also high on the first page is a link to a 'remix' of one
of its Michael Winner-fronted commercials with the film director's words
spliced to a thumping techno backing track. All good fun - without
undermining the brand in any way.