Search marketing has proven its marketing worth by driving traffic, brand value and an audience ready to convert. Social media – encompassing news, bookmarking and knowledge sites such as Digg and Wikipedia as well as networking and sharing sites such as Facebook and YouTube – provides huge audiences, lots of brand conversations and an entirely new marketing frontier.
There are four key metrics that are useful when looking at the two digital marketing channels:
• Traffic: How many visitors do they drive?
• Demand/Search Intent: How likely are those visitors to be after something specific?
• Conversion: Did the create positive business results on the site?
• Branding: How can these sites influence branding by appearing in search results?
Search generates huge amounts of traffic. A second search strength is user intent: people search when they are looking for something specific. They’re ready to convert, which is why search traffic can be so valuable. Measuring that conversion is also an important metric. Did visitors fill out a form, buy a product or perform in a way that produced positive business results?
Finally, various studies show that search also can have branding value. There are few stories of entirely new brands being built from search, but brand lift has been shown in many ways. More important, brands can be hurt by bad reviews that show up in search and are helped by positive references. Since every search listing on a search engine has brand potential, search is very high in brand value.
In comparison, social sites also have the following strengths:
Traffic: Social sites can generate huge amounts of traffic. Facebook’s worldwide user base is at 750 million and counting.
Demand/Intent: Social sites demonstrate varying degrees of search intent, but all are positive. For example, visitors to social news sites are usually looking for specific information. Search intent can be even higher on sites like YouTube where users often are actively seeking a photo or video. Even at Twitter, search provides a way to seek out brand news and buzz.
Branding: There is strong branding potential on social media sites. The key is developing a positive tone around your brand and letting the viral nature of social media build the brand for you. Consider the search for JetBlue, where currently the company’s official site is listed along with its Twitter account and its YouTube channel.
SOURCE: Social marketing for search marketers – Omniture/SMN
Recent Comments