Search engine marketing is all about measuring the ROI of an online call to action, whether it’s gauged in clicks, conversions, leads or even phone calls. Branding campaigns have traditionally–so far—been run on other media. But that’s starting to change, says Stuart Larkin, vice president of partner services at online marketing company Performics Inc.
Larkin notes among Performics' marketer clients a rising interest in keywords that are core to the marketer’s business offering, but may not necessarily be a top-converting term. “If you are spending $100,000 a month on search marketing and your CEO goes into Google, types in a keyword and doesn’t see the company, he is going to ask where the money is going,” says Larkin. “We call those terms ‘executive’ or ‘branding’ keywords. We have seen 30% of our programs with a separate bucket of keywords specifically for branding—the marketers don’t look for ROI there at all.”
Larkin notes that ROI campaigns using paid keyword listings often operate with no fixed budget as long as campaign results meet a fixed predetermined return, while branding campaigns most often run on a fixed budget. But increasingly, he says, marketers are running online campaigns that address both goals.
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