SES London: Branding and Search

Speakers: Cam Balzer (Performics Inc), Alex Vlasto (Miva), Mark Rogers (Market Sentinel).

First speaker is Cam Balzer. His presentation is about how search can be used to catch the buzz that is created with offline marketing. He describes a change in the US marketing landscape: marketers are beginning to look at search.
He cites the Pontiac campaign as an example of this. The Pontiac ad’s call to action was not the usual “Visit your local dealer” but “Google Pontiac and discover for yourself”. The idea behind this was that Google stands for credibility and consumer empowerment. A funny side effect of this risky type of marketing was that a group of SEOs did some serious Google bombing and a search for ‘Pontiac’ actually returned a “Pontiac Sucks” web site as the second result.

Consumers are actively engaged, seeking out information online. In the US, search is almost as prominent as email. 65 million Americans use search very day.

Studies show that consumers use search to build “categories”. These generic words (cars, mobile phones, hotels etc.) don’t work for the ROI advertising model. Instead the impact of that kind of visibility (consumers that do broad searches) is that the brand name is added to the searcher’s category keywords. This creates follow-up searches directly on the brand name.

The idea is to meet consumers at the broad brand awareness level. Having visibility on the broad keyword level leads to later searches on the brand name that are then followed by purchases. The impact of this search engine strategy is not ROI, but increased brand name searches.

The tactics to be adopted for such a strategy are the following:
- run a test campaign during seasonal peaks (searcher demand is strong, conversion rates are higher)
- engage in seasonal promotions and advertising in other channels
- adopt a full range of metrics: you can’t buy these keywords on a basis of pure ROI. Measure success using the following metrics: search impressions, offline sales (800 numbers etc) and an overall lift in sales.

Mark Rogers is next, his presentation is about how natural search can help or hurt brands.

He says that 75% of searchers are looking to buy and that eye movement measurement tools show that people favour organic search because it feels more authentic. Searchers give a lot of weight to high rankings in natural results.

Natural results can be problematic for big brands because of negative results in the natural SERPs, eg sites or blogs where people complain about problems with the brand. This is even more true for searches on negatives, e.g. “[brand] problems”.
The problematic character of something like this is that it is uncontrolable: search engines look for relevant results and social networks become very important.

The best thing to do is create a real network of influence which will then work organically.

How is authority achieved?
Online through good practice (citing multiple sources, providing well-researched high value content).

Bloggers don’t always have the best habits: they tend to use a single source and they are generally anecdotal and light on research. But, they can be given authority when the brand itself does not have its own blog for counterweight. This could mean trouble if the blogger in question that is ranking high for your brand name blogs about your brand negatively.

Brands can build authority using social media (syndicate press releases, digg.com etc) to create a network of positive referrals.

Get started by finding out who is in your topical network, who are your stakeholders and who is in their network. Understand their issues, language and preconceptions. Market to them via their existing networks and use a language they can respond to.

Last speaker is Alex Vlasto.

Why use PPC as a branding tool.
- 36% of consumers equate top positions in listings with brand quality
- it improves the visibility and perception of your brand.
- create trust and a buzz
It keeps the brand in front of the searcher’s mind throughout the buying process.

Online branding strategies
- reinforce integrated campaigns
- position your brand alongside your competitors
- protect the brand online.

Amplify the existing straplines. Prevent channels working in isolation. Maximise the available budget. Your brand not being there is a risk: market leaders could use search to ‘own’ categories. Moreover, brand loyalties are easily severed online: your competitor is only a click away. Control and ‘own’ your brand. Consider also your affiliate strategies: avoid mixed messages!

Put yourself in the consumer’s shoes. The normal buying cycle is learn > shop > buy > use. At the learning level of the scheme, the keywords used are still very generic and towards the buying level, the keywords become more specific. The same goes for your PPC strategy: at the learning level PPC could be a branding tool while it is an acquisition tool at the buying level.

In conclusion, the different keyword strategies should be generic for category ownership and specific at the point of acquisition. Also consider the context of your landing pages: do they support your branding message?

Technorati tags: ses - search engine strategies - branding - brand awareness