Working in a full-service ad agency for a number of years, I had the privilege of observing the full spectrum of an advertising campaign from conception to inception, idea to execution, brainstorm to television spot to brand lift.
Paid search is clearly a different animal from most advertising.
The problem with this approach is that it is easy to get lost in the data, thereby possibly sacrificing the brand message in the process. Heck, if you're good at it, you may even convince the corporate brand manager that it doesn't matter - it's all about the conversion, baby!
But, what about the long term effects of this approach? How might the brand be regarded if the message is constantly direct-marketing focused?
It's easy to see how that may ultimately degrade the brand persona; just look at the stats:
In a 2008 study, Google found "...significant lifts in both unaided awareness and purchase intent [from paid search impressions]..." (source)
A Yahoo study had similar conclusions.
So, paid search reportedly has an effect on brand awareness, but could a search impression actually negatively impact brand favorability?
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| This guy knows what I'm talking about. |
If your brand is about more than just direct sales (this doesn't really count if you are Amazon, for example), and you want to build positive impressions while driving business, your paid search ads should strike that difficult balance between direct marketing and brand advertising (under 70 characters, of course.) Here are some tips to do just that:
1. Discuss the brand message with your client, or, if you are the marketing manager, think about what the brand message is/should be. Oftentimes, the brand promise is about much more than "Hey! Let me sell you something!" It should be about what you want the audience to associate your company with. What is the feeling you want to invoke when someone thinks about your brand? That feeling should permeate all of your marketing efforts, including paid search.
2. Work the brand message/promise into your paid search ads. It may be difficult, but even changing the direct marketing tone of your ads can accomplish this. Think to yourself, "is this something my brand would say, is this how it would be said, if it could talk?" If it doesn't sound like your brand, then revise it so it does, otherwise your messaging will be giving off the wrong vibes, possibly driving your audience away. And, let's be honest, you don't want your brand to be the smelly kid in class.
3. Try to list out all direct marketing calls to action as well as all of your "softer" or "brandier" messages, and make sure each is being represented in your ads. Test different combinations.
4. Make sure to look at any other advertising that the company is doing, just to be sure that the messaging/tone is in line, and to get ideas for new creative.
5. Don't neglect the landing page. In fact, the landing page should be even more "brandy" than your paid search ads. Landing pages should always carry over at least something from the brand design/message, if only to confirm to your audience that they are in the right place. (testing landing pages is no excuse to abandon the brand!)
Just because paid search is mostly used to drive sales, doesn't mean you can forget about the brand impact. Working in brand messaging with your paid search efforts will not only help drive sales, but will build positive awareness, which can help improve business results across the board.
