Search Party

Originally Published: April 2006

It seems everyone is searching for something these days – shoes on Google, sports on Yahoo!, jewelry on MSN and the list goes on and on. While I’ve discussed search engine marketing in previous columns, new data continues to prove it is a subject that is not going away anytime soon. A recent report by Nielsen/NetRatings showed that the overall search growth rate in March 2006 over 2005 was 36%. Both Google and Yahoo! exceeded that overall search growth rate with 41% and 47%, respectively, over that time period. In addition, a Harris Interactive Poll showed that 80% of Internet traffic begins at a search engine and according to DoubleClick, 41% of Web users find companies through search rather than typing a URL directly into a browser. While these numbers reinforce the fact that search marketing remains a hot topic, there are some additional new technologies that are fueling this growth by allowing advertisers to target via user behaviors, day parting, geographic parameters and demographic parameters.

ValueClick Media’s User Retargeting program is one example of behavioral targeting. It works by checking to see if a user has visited one of ValueClick Media’s advertiser sites. If a user has visited any of the 13,500 advertiser sites within the ValueClick Media network, that user is then retargeted with highly customized ads based on what site the user visited previously. According to ValueClick Media, in preliminary campaigns that were compared to run of network campaigns, User Retargeting resulted in up to a 26% improvement in the average cost-per-visitor, a 59% improvement in the average cost-per-sale and an overall conversion rate increase of 1,800%. In addition, these user retargeted campaigns generated a 223% increase in the average order value. This demonstrated success is good news for ValueClick Media considering eMarketer research indicates that behavioral ad spending will reach $1.2 billion in 2006, up from $925 million last year. And, they believe it will reach $2.1 billion by 2008.

Another more recent search marketing tool is day parting. Like television advertising, online day parting allows an advertiser to target specific times of the day with ads. Kanoodle, a distributor of sponsored links, is one online company that allows advertisers to day part. The company has also added a tool that allows an advertiser to target ads geographically via a user’s IP address. This addition completes the company’s LocalTarget product, which uses topics or subjects to identify content targeted at specific markets. By combining these tools, marketers can very precisely target the audience by day part, contextually and geographically, making the advertising more effective and improving return on investment.

Demographic-based search marketing is one of the newest online advertising techniques. MSN adCenter recently joined the demographically-targeted search game. adCenter will use the data it has collected through Passport, MSN’s registration program for other Microsoft services such as Hotmail and MSN Messenger, to target searchers. Demographic targeting may end up being the most important method of search marketing, but because it is so new, it has yet to be made clear on whether an ideal targeting system can be found. While MSN has collected information on thousands of users with its Passport system, the system is still limited to only those that have registered their information. Google and Yahoo! also have versions of demographic targeting, but both only apply to their content networks. So, there is still no perfect system in place. In addition, most likely there will be at least some market backlash from privacy concerns that may hinder the growth of demographic-based targeted search.

With all these new technologies hitting the marketplace, it is important to remember that no one advertising outlet will be enough to accomplish all of your marketing goals. With so many media outlets, both online and off, effective integration of your marketing campaign is critical. Your campaign should have the same look, the same feel and most importantly the same message regardless of the media used to reach prospects. It is also important to remember that according to a SIMM study 66.2% of consumers regularly use TV and the Internet simultaneously. So, if you have an offline campaign for a new product (let’s say a TV commercial), you must tie your online marketing efforts to it. For example, Pontiac is running a television commercial that asks you to “Google” Pontiac to “see for yourself”. If you do indeed “Google” Pontiac, you will see that Pontiac has the first sponsored link and in the second position is a targeted ad for Pontiac dealers. This is a great example of integrating online and offline campaigns.

While I have included just a few examples of the many new technologies in search marketing, it is important to remember that these new technologies are helping to drive search marketing spending and in turn overall online ad spending. Staying on top of all the new search marketing developments is a challenge, but the payoff is worth it. If done correctly, targeted search marketing will decrease your cost-per-visitor, cost-per-sale and most importantly overall return on investment. Isn’t it time you sent out your own search party? Now get out there and hunt for more website visitors.