If You Build It, They Will Come… If You Attract Them
Many retail and consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies invest time and other resources to put valuable and helpful information on their Websites as a way to build their brand and foster consumer relationships. Fabric-care brand Tide and retail outfitter REI both provide informative content on their sites as a way to strengthen relationships with existing customers and attract other consumers with relevant interests or timely information needs. Tide offers Tips and Time Savers for fabric care, and REI provides travel resources and expertise for those seeking adventure.
But even the best content cannot provide brand-building value if no one reads it. So marketers invest in ways to generate qualified traffic to their sites, using television, print, and other online and offline efforts. Too often, though, these marketers overlook search marketing as an interactive and cost-effective method to engage consumers and drive them to the content-rich Websites. Through search, retailers can reach consumers at an earlier stage in the purchase process, and CPG companies can reach many they might otherwise miss.
Among the more than 2,100 U.S. adults surveyed for last year’s Touchpoints III research, conducted by DoubleClick in partnership with ROI Research, nearly 10% said they’d first learned about a product or a service through search. Another DoubleClick study, Search Before the Purchase, showed that consumers search on generic or category keywords, rather than brands, early in the purchase process. In other words, you can benefit by bidding on generic, nonbranded keywords to introduce their brand to consumers.
Let’s go back to Tide. Tide.com contains useful content for consumers including searchable articles on stains and alternative uses, message boards, and an innovative Stain Detective tool that helps you find the right solution for stain removal. With all that practical content, Tide has chosen broadcast advertising and other marketing initiatives to drive consumer traffic to its site. With a comprehensive search program in place, though, it could take a more interactive and cost-effective approach. The term “grass stain,” for example, commands a mere $0.10 bid price on Yahoo!, yet Tide is not bidding on this or many other generic keywords.
Marketers can also drive traffic to their sites by leveraging natural search. REI, for example, has an innovative REI Adventures page on its site giving users a chance to plan trips according to destination, activity, or date. This type of content can provide exceptional results through natural search efforts. By optimizing your site for improved indexing and positioning in search engine results, you can substantially increase the visibility of this content in the natural search results of Google, Yahoo!, and other engines and reach many additional consumers as a result.
By using paid and natural search to drive consumers to practical Web content, you can constantly reach new consumers with related interests and introduce them to your brand. With consumers using search more and more to find information and navigate content online, it is vital to engage them where they search.
Cam Balzer is director of search strategy for Performics, the Chicago-based performance-based marketing division of DoubleClick, and a monthly contributor to CHIEF MARKETER.
