While it remains unlikely Australia will suffer a sharp or prolonged recession, the media industry has been nervous about slowing volumes for months. If you work for a metropolitan newspaper right now, the market is tough. Weekly magazines are also showing the stress with limited visibility on forward bookings into Christmas. There are some winners in choppy conditions. The search (SEM/SEO) industry is widely touted as a beneficiary of difficult times. However, a new study by global search leader, iProspect, casts doubt on whether a quantum shift into search will yield the best result. The agency actually advocates a complimentary traditional media spend with search to yield the best result.
The result highlights the important knowledge and optimization benefits large search agencies such as Outrider (WPP), Columbus (Mitchells) and iProspect (Aegis) offer over search engines directly. The research also shows a growing maturity within SEM/SEO providers. It is becoming an industry that understands search is a complementary media, not the answer for your entire media spend.
Titled “iProspect Search Engine Marketing Integration Study” (August 2008), the report is a detailed set of findings and recommendations on how to increase SEM/SEO results through a better understanding of consumer and purchase behavior.
The key findings are:
The way in which we optimize our digital assets (video, pictures, press releases etc) does not match the way consumers search for a click on results.
Few companies optimize search around press releases for example, even though these appear as “news” within search results. This is an important technique by many companies wishing to protect their corporate image.
Only 55% of search engine marketers report intentionally “coordinating or integrating” their search marketing efforts with at least one offline marketing channel.
More staggering, only 12% of respondents coordinate or integrate search with TV, despite TV being the leading (37%) offline driver of search activity. Users who have been led by offline media to search are also more likely to purchase than those who have not.
24% of search marketers report that the reason for not integrating search with offline is that they are not advertising in other channels.
The study describes this strategy as “ill-advised” due to the contribution a mixed media schedule drives increased purchase intention and sell through over a 100% search campaign alone. The study advocates a well coordinated mixed media schedule, particularly inclusive of TV if this is affordable for you.
While including the company name and URL in advertisements is necessary, optimization should go further. Use of the same keys words in both offline and online campaigns is practiced by only 26% of respondents.
Major opportunities are missed by not coordinating the language, slogans and jingles within offline advertising into search campaigns. Many reasons for this lack of integration have been cited, including a lack of budget, human resources or separate divisions handling offline marketing to search activity.
The findings will be welcomed by the TV industry who have long emphasized the persuasive power their medium over a consumers’ emotional state and its ability to embed messages and drive sales intention. There is a great deal of scope in 2009 for better integration between the two media.
Moreover however the report shows marketers how to develop campaigns whose messages and benefits are delivered consistently across media in a way that drives purchase intention through SEM and SEO.
A copy of the report is available by contacting iProspect Australia - Kevin.Savvas@iprospect.com.au
No comments:
Post a Comment