Search is a very pure form of marketing. In no other channel do customers come to an advertiser and tell them what they are looking for. Thanks to the tools provided by the search engines, we have access to highly valuable information about what is actually typed into the search query box, and as such we are privy to very pure data that tells us how users are searching for various types of information.
Following impression trends on certain keyword groups can give an indicator as to which above the line messaging is creating a better response, or can point towards which phrasing should be used in the future. Monitoring clicks arriving from certain brand terms can similarly point towards the success of above the line campaigns, and help provide tangible data to analyse returns. Demographic and Geographic data can also be accessed for activity on Bing, and search query reports from Google will tell us against which search queries your broad, phrase or exact match ads appear, allowing you to build out or restrict your campaign accordingly.
Most of the time this Search data isn’t used effectively, but building reports to capitalise on this data as well as the KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) can aid ongoing optimisation and market insight across all channels. This is a common pitfall for agencies when reporting and is a missed opportunity to feed meaningful, data led insight back in to your business. Working with Reform on a Paid Search consultancy project can help you to develop processes and infrastructures to maximise your use of this available data. Marketing is a two way conversation. Why not listen to what your customers are saying?
Find out about the Online Language Pathways study into search behaviour and language here [link to the research page]