Media Viewpoint - Apr08

Don't stop

Integrating offline and online media for better campaign results.

Search marketing allows companies to engage with people in a way that is relevant, authentic and unintrusive. In order to best utilise search marketing, marketers need to carefully consider how to be relevant and ready for the people who are looking online for specific products and services.

Every day, millions of people are looking for information online. By searching online and choosing to view certain websites, potential customers are raising their hands and expressing direct interest in a particular subject.

Take travel, for example. Millions of people will search Google for information related to ‘travel' every year. Over the years, the search trends have roughly followed industry trends. For example, there is an annual - and predictable - peak in travel-related searches every year just before Christmas, Chinese New Year and the school holidays.

But not every travel web search is identical. Some information-seekers may be looking for flights, while others may be searching for hotels, reviews, car rentals, or specific tourist attractions.

Each of these millions of queries signifies a moment of relevance for the web searcher - an ideal time for an advertiser to deliver a brand or product message to the person conducting the search at that moment. By targeting advertisements to appear next to the results pages for specific search queries, search marketing allows companies to present information when web searchers are actively seeking it out.

Much of this sounds like traditional lead generation. But the search marketing model goes beyond lead generation by allowing internet users to choose what they see and when. This paves the way for marketers to have relevant and authentic conversations with people about their brand, products and services.

Be ready: Targeting advertisements to people searching online is an effective way to reach potential customers. But it is also crucial for marketers to be ready online for interest generated offline. In other words, businesses need to recognise and plan online for trade shows, sponsorships, news and other events that are happening offline. These offline events and campaigns increasingly encourage people to go online to find more information. Since the online platform allows marketers to refine their messaging, they can be relevant to people searching for additional information about a particular offline activity.

Companies should factor relevance and readiness into how they plan their online marketing and advertising strategy. Planning around offline campaigns or seasonal trends can help companies find new business by connecting with potential customers when they are seeking information online. Most industries have offline trends that can drive traffic to its online assets, just like our earlier example on the travel industry.

An online component should be central to every marketer's advertising strategy. But it's not just about having a presence online with your website, it's about using a robust (and growing) set of tools that provides marketers with the information they need to be relevant and ready to deliver messages online to potential customers. And it's important that marketers evolve their strategies with the products and technology that will be developed in the future. This will allow them to continue to be relevant to people searching for information. Millions of people are searching for product-related information, and marketers need to be there when those potential customers ‘raise their hands' for that information.

Lori Sobel

Head of Sales

Google Singapore