Internet search engines have fast become the primary tool for gathering information and researching potential purchases. Indeed today’s price-conscious consumers now have a wealth of price comparison sites and peer review networks to draw on before deciding to buy a product or a service. The perfect, empowering antidote to the variety and reach of advertising they now find themselves subjected to both in and out of the home and whilst at work.
Many companies still think nothing of investing millions of pounds on high-profile TV advertising campaigns. But everyone knows that the media landscape is fragmented and that British consumers have a more sophisticated – some might say cynical – attitude to traditional, above-the-line, “push” advertising.
That said, the latest figures from the IAB/PwC and BMRB still show a disparity between media consumption and media spend. Internet consumption makes up on average 29% of all internet users’ media time during the week, but spend on internet based media, at 19.2%, is not in line with this. This estimation of internet consumption is also likely to be conservative as it doesn’t take into consideration the fact that the internet is also used by many people while they are consuming another media at the same time, TV or radio for example.
So where does online marketing, and search in particular, fit into all this? Neil Stickells, Head of Search & Media at Steak, looks at how to plan and run an integrated TV and online marketing campaign and how search and post-click behaviour can be used to enhance other online and offline campaigns.
Understanding consumer behaviours
It should come as no surprise that the best integrated campaigns are ones that are planned and implemented with input from all the relevant stakeholders in the business as well as in-house and outsourced marketing specialists.
Before creating additional brand equity – a new strap-line in a TV advert, for example – companies need to understand the impact this can have on interaction and engagement online. A recent TV campaign for natural food supplement retailer, Holland & Barrett, ended with a “Compare and grabbit” call-to-action. Yet a search for this phrase reveals no Holland & Barrett presence within natural search results and no indication that the paid search campaign had incorporated this string of keywords.
For B2B brands with a company or product name that isn’t easily remembered, a phrase may offer a real advantage in standing out in offline adverts. It also makes it easier to get people to click on the website in search results by including the phrase in the ad and site copy. It could push a product benefit or USP (“search for ‘Reliable Servers”), appeal to a mindset (“Cheaper Servers”), or be designed to have whacky stand-out (“search for ‘The Server King’”).
Cross-channel planning
But advertisers shouldn’t just be thinking about just integrating TV with search. At Steak, we believe in bringing together multiple channels to deliver the best results for our clients – people don’t consume their media in silos and neither should campaigns be planned in isolation. The same messaging from TV adverts can be incorporated into banner ads and homepage takeovers. The same creative can then be extended to the landing page where internet-derived traffic is being driven to. This could mean slight modifications to the look and feel of the site or creating a bespoke landing page specifically for a TV campaign.
When a client launches a major new advertising campaign we’re on hand to ensure campaign creative and messaging is consistent across all the channels we’re managing for them and advising on the ones that we aren’t. Wherever the consumer is likely to come into contact with our client’s brand – be that print, display, search, landing pages – it is vital that the marketing is complementary and reinforces the message of the overall campaign.
It is also worth remembering that it is not just about taking the creative and messaging from TV and applying it online to search and display campaigns; it can also work the other way round. Search can be used as real-time market research tool to understand what it is consumers are looking for and what messaging they respond to. This data can then be fed back into the creative for TV advertising campaigns which are more direct response focused.
Co-ordinating and sharing
At a more granular level, there should be a clear co-ordination between the products or services being pushed through traditional advertising and online activity. This is particularly important with “pull” media like search, where consumers are already showing an intention to purchase perhaps using keyword strings like “new LCD TV” or “cheap flights to Croatia in July”. There’s nothing more infuriating for the searcher (and the brand) when you can’t find a sales promotion offer online that you’ve just seen on your local high street or plastered on the back of a bus. More importantly, it could lead to competitors (or worse nimble, un-policed affiliates) capitalising on the same keyword traffic being generating from marketing campaigns.
Brand advertisers are beginning to understand that search is not another bolt-on. For some, search is the golden key that unites market research, messaging, data and sales. It’s hugely useful tool for informing future campaigns and provides near-instant feedback and transparent return on investment.
Outsourced search specialists should have a place at the top table when it comes to planning and integrating consistent messaging throughout a brand’s marketing activity. All the good agencies should be asking to be there anyway – how else can could they deliver the results required of them?
Managing and monitoring
It is also important to think about the impact of offline marketing activity on general brand awareness online and, more specifically, searches on brand terms and the consequential search results page. It’s best practice to ensure a brand will fill at least the first couple of natural results but don’t forget about lower positions and, in particular, any negative listings regardless of how low down they are.
Ongoing reputation monitoring can be set-up very quickly and will show (alongside buzz analysis and other offline tools) the impact of campaigns in the online space. In particular, online social communities could offer a barometer for the perception of brand and the reception of individual campaigns.
This type of analysis will help marketers shape future activities as well as addressing any negative feedback through improvements to customer service, for example.
Conclusion
It’s especially important, with budgets being slashed and a general move to less ostentatious campaigns, that marketing activity is integrated across all channels. At Steak, we talk a lot about making different mediums work harder for each other and spend as much time as possible on co-ordination as well as implementation. For example, although paid search campaigns can be rolled out quicker than natural, an ongoing presence in natural search results can carry more weight.
Co-ordination shouldn’t stop at search results either. It’s equally imperative to ensure landing pages offer the most value-add experience for the searcher clicking through. There are a number of on-page optimisation techniques that can make sure this happens.
A continuous learn-test-implement cycle with data shared across different media should allow for consistent messaging and joined-up marketing which consumers respond to and act on. Search and the wealth of data it affords marketers will unlock this potential and make offline advertising work harder.
Author: Neil Stickells, Head of Search & Media, Steak