The "Search Hole" — Your Off-line Marketing Is Causing People To Search: Who Will They Find?
By Sage Peterson
March 2005
Search engine marketing, whether paid search advertising or natural search engine optimization, is defined by one primary characteristic: loneliness. Most marketers and agencies think of Search as a stand-alone direct marketing tactic that exists outside of any other marketing program, and is measured separately. This is a grave mistake.
Everything an agency does for their client, every ad that the marketer places, be it television, radio, print or direct mail, drives your audience online to search. And when someone searches, there are only two possible outcomes: they will find you, or they will find your competitor.
Because there is a gigantic hole in the sales funnel of most companies — "the search hole" — your prospective customers are going online searching, and finding your competition, not you.
Did you know that your television ads, your PR, even your print have an impact on what words your customers use to construct queries? They do.
There are words in the search vernacular that weren't there a few years ago. Words like "notebook computer" — introduced after someone's laptop got too warm and burned their legs. Today the keyword phrase "cell phone" is in decline as marketers push the phrase "mobile phone." The insurance industry introduces new language as they extend coverage to new groups of workers. Sure, "health insurance" and "life insurance" remain perennial favorites, but "senior insurance", "individual health insurance", and "student health insurance" identify smaller groups of interested and motivated buyers. Marketers are driving a search language, whether they know it or not.
Yet, when marketers plan and budget their yearly campaigns, Search is an afterthought. It is handled later, when someone complains, or when an angry consumer's site shows up higher on a search for the company's brand name than the actual site.
We observe very specific relationships between other advertising and search behavior.
For a pharmaceutical client, each time their TV ad runs, we see increases in click-throughs on allergy related keyword phrases on which we've attained rankings and on branded terms.
When marketers send out large volumes of e-mails, we see marked increases in site traffic from branded queries. Though the e-mail itself may have only a modest open rate, we see spikes in people searching for the company on their brand name. Coincidence? Hardly.
Finally, though marketers make a point to include their URL on nearly every piece of off-line marketing, do they really believe that everyone will be holding their ad in their hand as they open up a browser? Unlikely.
Need more evidence? Consider one of the all time most queried keywords: "www.yahoo.com", followed by searches for "yahoo.com". If that's not enough to convince you, consider this: Though Microsoft has one of the easiest domain names to spell and remember. In a recent 30-day period there were 124,000 searches for "Microsoft Windows," 84,000 searches for "Microsoft update", and 3,333 searches for "history of Microsoft".
Even when people know the domain name cold, they rely on search engines to find it.
It is time for marketers and their agencies to recognize that all advertising, on or off-line, drives search behavior. Every marketing initiative must consider Search — or, at least advise the client that you are aiding their competition.
