It’s no secret that we live in a world where every consumer is constantly connected to multiple devices. In fact, 28% of Americans say that they are now online “almost constantly”. With an increase in consumers’ multi-device activity, this gives agencies and marketers more devices to target but also means reaching consumers isn’t as easy finding them on their desktop or mobile phone.
As the number of active devices in use continues to grow, engaging your audience across multiple touchpoints throughout the customer journey is not only preferable, it’s essential. To remain competitive, brands and marketers must remain relevant to and in front of the consumer, or lose them to more innovative and dynamic competitors. Currently, 82% of all shoppers research online before buying, and so the brands that prevail will be those brands who deliver the most progressive embrace of multi-channel communications.
Most product searches begin on search engines, making search engine marketing (SEM) an important strategy for brands. But just as consumers don’t shop on just one screen, marketers can’t rely on one channel to reach their ideal customers. As part of an integrated effort to leverage the power of multi-channel marketing, as well as maximize SEM, display advertising can play a crucial and even transformational role.
With relatively low CPMs, display advertising has long been associated with exceptional performance in driving both brand awareness and consideration for consumers during their decision-making process. Display advertising does not stop there, as it has also shown meaningful lift in search engine queries; delivering a dramatic increase in the efficiency of SEM.
ComScore has reported an average lift of 49% in site visitation and 40% in brand search queries in the U.S. An even bigger impact can be shown in Europe with a 72% lift in site visitation and 98% in branded search queries.
With such a dramatic impact on search engine queries, the various synergies between paid search marketing and display advertising demands significant attention by marketers. Display advertising provides vast reach across multiple devices and touchpoints, ensuring that your brand remains in front of the consumer throughout the entirety of the buying cycle. While SEM drives intent-based search, qualified queries complete the consumer buying cycle on your website.
Search + Display – Finding Synergy Together in a Multi Touch World
In a case study compiled by Search Engine Watch, search conversions peaked when display was launched, and fell off after display ended. Conversion rates increased by 52% while display and search were running simultaneously. Not only did conversion metrics increase but campaign reach (impressions) increased by 45% as well. Data is shown below:
| Weekly Average | Before Display | During Display | After Display |
|---|---|---|---|
| Impressions | 12,129 | 17,577 | 11,895 |
| Clicks | 349 | 470 | 462 |
| CTR | 2.88% | 2.67% | 3.88% |
| Conversions | 12 | 25 | 11 |
| Conversion Rate | 3.53% | 5.37% | 2.38% |
We all recognize that we now inhabit a world in which every consumer is constantly interacting with multiple devices via an ever-growing matrix of channels. When evaluating potential synergies between search and programmatic display, there can be no doubt that a multi-channel strategy is one important way to dramatically transform how a marketer engages with their ever more elusive audience segments.
Are you looking for help running your programmatic and/or SEM campaigns? AUDIENCEX can help. As the largest independent trading desk, we help marketers & agencies around the world optimize their programmatic, search and social campaigns for maximum performance. Contact us to talk with one of our campaign strategists about how we can help you meet your campaign goals today.