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Brand keyword conversions are not a given.
This entry was posted on 4/27/2007 8:19 PM and is filed under Back To basics,Technique.
I have heard all too often things akin to “Sales from branded keywords are not incremental”, or “why should an SEM be rewarded for sales coming from the Brand. The Brand did all the work?” This portrays a very myopic view of SEM. In fact, it might as well be called “Search” and leave off the “Marketing” As much as we want to believe ourselves separate and apart from the rest (perhaps some think, above?), we are not. We are (or should be) first and foremost “Marketers.”
On the very surface ask yourself, “where is the searcher in the purchase funnel when they enter a branded keyword?” If they enter “ditech mortgage”, does this necessarily mean they have already decided to buy ditech? No. Compound that with the fact that “diteh home loan” will like provide a very different type of user. Unless the ‘brand’ converts 100% of the prospect who use a branded search, the brand is not simply ‘selling itself.’ So, how do you improve conversions?
A good SEM works very closely with the client to understand the relationship between the search term, ad copy, destination URL, competitive set, closing offers, buy flow, LTV and much more. Fore instance, Atlas released a study showing that conversions from clicks to sales are proportionately lower during certain parts of the day (this concurred with our own studies). So, what do you do about it? Should you provide a different experience between 8am and 11am vs 11am and 2pm? How should you manage your bids? If you limit your perspective to “brands sell themselves” you will likely never ask questions like these, never mind dedicate the resources needed to answer them.
Last year we met with a partner of ours for whom we are doing a specific acquisition program. During the course of the conversation, they mentioned some of the things they were doing on there core search program with the (then) current SEM. We made some minor suggestions and observations, which they then implemented (they did not mention this until much later). After doing this, their results improved significantly. They are now working with us on their corporate program as well as our acquisition program.
Now, the reason we were able to propose the things we did is because we did not assume the brand simply sold itself. In our own program for the partner, we have (and continue to) tested through multiple scenarios, through the complete buying cycle (we do not pass off the user, we have a closed loop process) and were able to provide ‘off-the-cuff’ direction that was very beneficial to them. Only by questioning the assumptions do we find the answers that lead to more conversions.
Well, at this point one may ask, shouldn’t all good SEMs do this? I will say that most want to. But, if your compensation is fixed to spend, and the client has only a set spend budget, what kind of resources can you really afford to dedicate to total program analytics? Can you afford dedicated experience experts, research experts, or fully staffed analytics groups? No matter how well the brand is doing, assume it can do better and behave accordingly. Your clients will see growth they did not know was available and you may reap the rewards, if you structure your compensation properly.
   
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