Moving Right Along in 2011

It’s mid-February already.  This year is flying by.  We now should be setting up March promotions for St. Patrick’s Day and March Madness and planning for the future holidays. Advertisers need to be in front of consumers at all stages of the buying cycle, from research and reviews, to consideration and purchasing.  Considering that a rise in online search queries for Valentine’s Day related keywords began back in late December, we know that consumers are searching well in advance of the event.   In addition to desktop search we need to focus on mobile searches as well.  As an example, according to Google internal data, mobile shopping-related searches for Valentine’s Day were up 230% from 2009 to 2010.

Based upon the following statistics, it is vital to have an online presence even if it doesn’t translate into direct sales/leads.

1.       Shop.org confirmed in a recent study that online shoppers have a 67% higher order value than in-store purchasers.

2.       Google has learned that:

a.        60% of Moms search for coupons or special offers

b.       89% of holiday shoppers started their holiday shopping online

c.        Portable PC shoppers do an average of 14 searches during their shopping process

d.       Consumers exposed to a Homepage ad on YouTube are 4 times more likely to:

i.      Visit the advertiser site

ii.      Search for the brand or

iii.      Watch the company’s videos on YouTube

e.       Across Financial Services Advertisers, for every 10 applications search drives online, search drives another 4.5 applications offline

f.         40% of travelers search for consumer reviews online before booking their next trip

Advertisers need to leverage the holistic approach in paid search.  Consumer behavior crosses channels within the online and offline worlds.  Paid search can be the initiator of many conversions not necessarily attributed to the paid search campaign, so we must create messaging that resonates with consumers.  Incentives such as free shipping, last minute specials or even downloadable gift certificates would differentiate advertisers.  Targeting specific popular products with offers would be a more reasonable approach than trying to cast a wide net with very broad terms.