Search rankings can have a significant effect on brand awareness, as well as a consumer’s perception of a brand and subsequent purchase consideration, according to a July 2012 study by Conductor. Choosing a refrigerator manufacturer as a test case (due to the likelihood of consumers not holding strong opinions about such a brand), and conducting the study in a controlled environment, the report found the target brand seeing a 30% lift in awareness among respondents when appearing both above the fold and in universal search results (digital assets). When appearing in paid search (PPC) together with natural search results above the fold, the brand awareness lift was 20% above the baseline results, and 10% when only in natural search above the fold.
This appears to bolster the argument for running search ads in conjunction with SEO efforts: a March 2012 study from Google found that half of the search ad clicks that occur with a top rank organic result are incremental, meaning that visits to the advertiser’s site from the ad clicks are not replaced by organic clicks when the search ads are paused. Read the rest at MarketingCharts.
The e-Strategy Academy covers all aspects of digital marketing including search optimization & marketing, email marketing, social media marketing, video marketing, mobile marketing & public relations.