As a pay-per-click wizard, you’re probably aware that the perfect paid search account should contain a magical combination of both generic and branded terms. Omitting either of those could leave your campaign seriously lacking in sparkle and wonder. Not to mention conversions.
Enchanting Evidence
Just in case you’re not convinced; let me try to charm you with some interesting evidence. A recent study by Atlas - Engagement Mapping – Atlas 2008 Thought Paper - monitored searchers’ behaviour towards brand and non-brand terms.
First Clicks
It discovered that 29% of the very first clicks on sponsored links came from generic terms (e.g. ‘halloween outfits’) whereas only 22.7% came from brand terms (e.g. ‘libby’s fancy dress’). This indicates that the slight majority of first searches are from window-shoppers - clickers having a browse around the search pages for ideas and suggestions.
It’s crucial to have a good selection of generic terms in your account to capture this audience and remind them of, or introduce them to, your brand.
Repeat Clicks
In addition, the study found that repeated clicks on the ads generated by the very same search terms were more likely to come from brand terms - 36.9% of repeat clicks on sponsored links came from brand terms (e.g. ‘libby’s cauldrons’) compared to only 11.4% from generic terms (e.g. ‘cheap cauldrons’). This indicates that after a bit of searching around, clickers are more likely to return to make their purchase by using a brand term. For this reason, it’s crucial that you’re bidding on your brand name and all its variants.
Conversion Rates
Another study by 360i/SearchIgnite - Giving Clicks Credit Where They’re Due: What You Need to Know When Allocating Your Search Budget - 360i/SearchIgnite 2006 Whitepaper - confirms this and adds, “the highest conversion rate (9.30%) came from when the user’s first click and last click on a marketer’s paid search ads were both brand terms. Yet, when the first click is on a non-brand term and the last click is on a brand term, the conversion rate is almost as high (8.73%).”
So, although a searcher is more likely to click at any point in the search process if they’re continually searching for your brand, they’re also very likely to click if they discover your brand after initially typing in a generic term. Capitalise on this (and stop your competitors from stealing your loyal fans) by ensuring your ads and brand are present for all of the relevant generic terms.
To conclude, these studies prove that it’s crucial to have a wide variety of strong, relevant generic and brand terms in your account live at all times.
Thanks a lot and please come back soon for more magical insights,
Libby