Throughout my six years as an SEO, there have been times when I've questioned the value of SEO for clients. The reasoning behind this was that popular non-brand phrases were unlikely to drive business or in some cases where markets were dominated by aggregator sites, where people require choice from the offering, rather than an individual brand. Data was often backed up by generic paid search generating negative return and eventually being switched off.
There are always long tail phrases that will generate return but ultimately, that is not what this post is about. Brand terms are vital and in the majority of cases drive more revenue than high volume generic phrases, especially for big brands yet are often ignored on the basis that a site should rank for them. There are also opportunities that are not strictly related to the brand itself that are often ignored.
Working at OMD has exposed me to working with some of the biggest brands out there and my role is getting stuck in to the chunky pieces of work. Working with existing media clients, it would not make sense to not offer the service and it wouldn't wash to argue the toss for not doing SEO. For the same reason, integration with other digital and above the line channels is crucial too. Offline marketing types don't tend to understand digital and to be fair, there is likely a mutual misunderstanding but the two channels need to work together for the greater good and co-ordination is required between teams.
Campaign Based SEO Integration
One common failing of above the line work is that there is no measurability. There are ways in which to rectify this by the use of vanity URLs/domains and redirecting with campaign tracking codes but not everyone will remember the brand, let alone the URL. As much as TV advertisers will hate to admit it, people will often remember the advert but not the brand, unless the brand is drilled in to your head to the point of infuriation like the Go Compare and We Buy Any Car adverts here in the UK. If the branding is not strong however, there are other ways to get visitors to the site via other marketing channels and ensure the brand message is passed. Taking the first example to come to mind:
I remember watching this video and not being entirely sure what it was for immediately afterwards, so this is a perfect example of what I am talking about. In actual fact, the video is promoting Cadbury's Dairy Milk; however, even four years after the advert, there are related terms that are not brand related.
I've deliberately excluded unrelated and brand terms, which add to the number of searches and while the volumes aren't ground breaking, the advert is four years old and is still receiving search volume. Searches for these phrases further extend the measurement of above the line activity and increase traffic and ensure the brand association is made online, if it was not clear to begin with. In this particular example, the brand (Cadbury's) appears eighth in the search results for the phrase, though visibility is poor due to the dominance of universal search.
None of the videos or images are from an official YouTube channel and the brand association is not clear on the titles which is certainly not ideal. Other, non-TV advertising can quite happily live on the site in harmony with regular content, particularly if it is humorous or emotive in some way. This could be in the form of advertising from newspapers, magazines, pub toilets or public transport. The same rules apply.
My strategy for integrating campaigns in to search and to gain maximum exposure and offline tracking would look something like the following:
1. Ensure the client keeps you in the loop with any upcoming marketing activity
It is difficult to carry out campaign optimisation strategy without being forewarned. This is often the most difficult part so prepare to be reactive.
2. If at all possible get a sneak peak of the campaign from the client or at the very least a brief
Again, a nice luxury if you can make it happen but seeing the campaign first hand will give a better understanding of what the campaign it is and allow you to properly brainstorm potential related keyword searches.
3. Create official YouTube and Flickr accounts if they do not already exist
Fairly obvious point, however you’d be surprised by the amount of brands that don’t have a branded YouTube account.
4. Prepare a paid search campaign covering brand and advert related terms, as well as any generic phrases that may apply, i.e. "drumming gorilla"
We all know that ensuring number one positions for every potential keyword is difficult so for maximum exposure and tie in to above the line, PPC will help assist and ensure maximum coverage.
5. Ensure there is a section of the site for adverts and campaigns and use a tailored landing page for paid search, as well as SEO
Again, an obvious point but not all brands have spaces on their site for their advertising campaigns.
6. Brief other digital teams to include relevant imagery for display and affiliate activity to amplify the campaign digitally
Display creatives should be altered on a regular basis and while I'm no expert on display, it would make sense for them to match any television advertising. The same creatives could be passed on to affiliate networks for affiliates to use on their own site, which should amplify the impact and engrave the advert on peoples’ minds.
7. Prepare and optimise a landing page for the campaign in question, include imagery and a description of the campaign for the visually impaired
Not the same as point five, which suggests having a dedicated section of the site for advertising, my point here is to ensure a dedicated landing page for each advert and not all adverts on a single page.
8. Launch the campaign
By launch, this could be the first TV airing, date of coverage in newspaper, etc. The following post launch strategy should occur as soon as possible afterwards and should be fairly self explanatory:
- If video based content, upload the video to YouTube and link to the landing page in the video description with Analytics tracking
- If image based, it wouldn't hurt to upload to Flickr and watermark any images relating to the campaign for branding in universal search
- Optimise images for related terms in the filename and alt attributes, ensuring the latter are descriptive of the image in question
- Embed the campaign/video in to the pre-prepared landing page
- Put the paid search campaign live
- Amplify the launch by promoting through official social media channels and PR
- Do not remove the campaign page from the site
The last point is important; often brands will remove older adverts from their sites and YouTube channels, which is completely unnecessary. If the campaign is successful and memorable it can drive traffic for years to come. One further point I'd highlight is tracking content on third party sites using the Google Analytics URL builder where possible.
Search can be avoided altogether with the use of QR codes, however I'd argue that until QR code readers are native in modern smartphones, rather than requiring a third party app, the uptake is likely to be small and regardless, there will always be searches, so it is still worth covering all bases.
Extended Brand Terms
Campaigns are not the only brand related searches that get overlooked. There are many extended brand terms where a brand will not rank in first position. Often brands have parent or sister companies that will outrank them, even if they are less relevant and traffic is lost to these sites. This can be avoided by linking between the sites or if required, by link building targeting these terms.
In my experience there is one common brand related suffix that is usually outranked by third party sites and they relate to the brand and vouchers/discounts. Those pesky voucher code affiliates dominate these terms though this is often due to not having a relevant landing page on the site. If there is no brand presence, people will visit the affiliate sites for these terms anyway, so why not have a discount and voucher code landing page on the site? The offer doesn't have to be earth shattering, as long as it gets the traffic to the site and not your affiliates. This can be supported through paid search.
Other common brand variations include complaints, contact, prices etc. Make use of your Analytics data, internal search and Google suggest for common variations and see where you rank. I'd imagine you'd be surprised at what ranks for these terms. If you don't rank, it's likely that there is no relevant landing page.
Brand Products
Products are effectively brand terms. To use the example above, the main brand was Cadbury's; however the product was Dairy Milk, which is a brand in itself. Often the product can have greater search volume than the main brand. Again, ensuring a dedicated page for each brand assists with this, though in many cases, the product will have its own site. Of course, there are further terms relating to the product, Dairy Milk itself is a chocolate bar, a milk chocolate bar at that.
Vanity Searches
This leads nicely on to vanity searches, something which the largest brands seem to be adamant on ranking for, despite a likely poor ROI. The brand association is enough for them to want to rank. In the continued example, Cadbury's and Nestle may want to fight it out for "chocolate". Levis and G-Star may want to fight it out for "jeans". It would be poor show to not advise the client that ranking for these terms will take a lot of resource, time and effort for little return but for them, it is often necessary and as long as they have a reasonable budget, there is no reason not to chase it.
Related Terms
There are always less obvious related terms that can be taken advantage of, on top of the primary generic keywords. For food related terms, there are always nutritional searches. "Calories in chocolate", "fat in chocolate" are two examples following the same theme. Governments, particularly in the UK and the US, are placing a larger emphasis on health awareness and encourage brands to educate their consumers. It is good PR for brands associated with obesity to actively promote healthy eating and a balanced diet. Being upfront and offering honest advice can lead to good publicity and help capture more search traffic, though of course, people will be critical of the dealer preaching to the addicts approach.
Piggybacking
Finally, piggybacking on current affairs is a great way to increase search traffic assuming that it can be made relevant. This could be the form of linkbait or just simply an article/blog post discussing the topic. I'd advise that it is kept on topic and that caution is taken with the topics that you chose to jump on. Choosing a topic that is close to people's hearts can lead to negative attention and unless you're Ryanair who seem to thrive from trolling the public, bad publicity is not good publicity. One very recent example is a Dragon's Den funded popcorn brand that jumped on the riot bandwagon:
This particular gem was blogged about by Andrew Burnett and the image is from his post.
The key here is to discuss events relevant to your site and brand, perhaps showing some thought leadership while avoiding potentially emotive topics.
After all this, I still believe there are companies that will not see a significant return from search. My experience has told me however, that there are always ways to increase traffic, even if you are concentrating solely on integration with campaign based marketing and brand terms. The extra traction from SEO and search as a whole is 100% worthwhile, if you can get the integration part right.
Thank you all for the kind comments. You may just have convinced me that I should write again :)
Definitely, man. Your blog was both entertaining and useful. As a South African, I have to love the fact you picked a Cadbury's - even though the Old Spice ones here in the US go viral because they're hilarious, too. Thanks!!
Nice post Richard. Wow that Lovedapop tweet is terrible. That's what happens when you put the office junior as your outward face on the world.
I agree that a ton of great SEO opportunities are missed simply by clients doing thigs on their own. Would your recommend that companies stop adverts that say "search for..."? It seems like they are inviiting competitiors to try and black hat the term away, or to stick huge PPC budgets on it.
Thanks Mike :) "Search for" is a double edged sword. It's one easy way of monitoring uplift from offline campaigns, however I'd guess that more people will just search for the brand, or elements of the advert than the intended term. This is not helped by offline types thinking that rankings will just happen automatically and picking terms that are actually relatively competitive. As you rightly say, these will often be hijacked by competitors and sneaky affiliates organically and through PPC, thereby bumping up the cost.
Personally, I'd avoid it and use other means, I think it's an unecessary can of worms. Usually you can see an uplift in branded traffic if you segment out branded traffic in Analytics over the period of the campaign. This combined with the approach outlined in the post should be enough in my opinion.
There is another argument in favour of "search for..." campaigns: they may influence click-through rates from SERPS, as most searchers will be looking for the brand, which should be at no1. A strong user behaviour signal for Google.
Assuming of course that the brand owns that no1 position.
I'm a bit late to this post but thought I'd chip in regardless. I did some examination into the whole "search for" concept on my blog. It can be very useful but I wonder how many offline marketers know all the uses (brand uplift and ad impact by time and region, for example) of it. Then there are the pitfalls.
https://www.mediarunsearch.co.uk/blog/4-things-to-consider-before-using-search-in-offline-advertising.html
And couldn't agree more about marketing departments updating SEO with activities. There are so many opportunities that SEO and PPC could help with that come up every week.
-Paul North
Damn it this is Phenomenal!
Rich this is way to amazing OMD media is surly a great place and I can say that as I am following couple of awesome people from OMD media…
Brand + Complains is an awesome idea… relatively easy to rank and usually searched by serious customers…
I like your approach to that topic and certainly found the one or the other idea to be hopefully more successful regarding branded terms with our clients!
Great post.
Thanks for a truly superb article Richard. The importance of integrating digital with traditional campaigns is often cited by leading marketers, however good case-studies and practical examples are still rare. This is one of the best pieces I've ever seen on what is a topic of vital strategic importance for any marketing campaign. I hope this will help teams understand the benefits of integrating campaigns and ensuring integration is adressed as early as possible.
Great post and lots of food for thought.
You mention [brand + complaints]. This is an important term as it may be one searched by a customer at the point before purchase. Yet it's ignored by many companies.
Easy fix: create a page on their site www.example.com/complaints which details their complaints procedure, adding that they don't get many complaints because their products/services are so awesome (throw in a few customer testimonials).
It won't eradicate complaints from SERPS but the company is pretty much guaranteed the no1 spot for this crucial term.
I agree 100% on that. It's a point I would've elaborated on but was already concious of how much I'd already written. Similar to the voucher code point, while you'd rather not have to rank for it, it's better your site appear than an unmoderated third party site.
Seriously your first ever blog post?
And you knock out one as good as this?
And you link to me?
Wow, just wow!
I'll be picking your brains on brand search and no mistake!
At first I thought you were using that tweet as an example of a good current-events-related tweet. But then I read closer, and saw my error.
Didn't stop my jaw from dropping for a second, though.
Nice job on the post, though! You can get all the traffic in the world but if they don't remember your brand, you're working exponentially more to retain them/get them back.
Your first ever blog post? Really? Damn you make me look bad. On the other hand, this is solid - This little checklist is going in the keepers pile:
I agree with Rich, like to see this promoted too! Well done.
Thoroughly impressed mate. It's refreshing to see an over-arching view of all channels with an SEO focus, as opposed to just an SEO focus.
Well done and I can only echo everyone else in saying that you've clearly got a talent for writing, and we've long known how awesome you are at SEO, so get sharing with more writing :-)
Great article Richard and an excellent breakdown of strategy. However, not 100% sure on the use of Cadbury's gorilla advert as an example. Not sure if it's just me, but the purple background made it instantly rememberable that it was Dairy Milk (obviously after seeing the full ad for the first time). Looking at the search terms as well, shows that there are at least 50% more searches for the brand name [cadbury gorilla] than just [gorilla advert].
The video titles also include the brand name, with the #1 and #3 results showing the sub-brand as well, which links nicely with an E-Consultancy post on video optimisation, or this Q&A - https://www.seomoz.org/q/youtube-optimisation
Valid points, it was the first example that came to mind if I'm honest. Obviously everyone sees things differently and I did pick up on the branding upon the second viewing, but miss the opening 3 seconds and the branding is all but gone. I'd still argue that the braniding is subtle. Branded searches are greater, that's true, however my main point is that not everyone will pick up on the brand, as is shown by search terms without the brand.
With regards to the video title my main point was that none of the videos returned were from an official Cadbury's account and therefore they have no control over the titles and my eye was drawn to the left, where the image is. Most of the branding is toward the right.
Great read Richard, Branding our keywords are integral part of every campaign. It will retain your costs relatively low while you get used to the system, reporting, and optimizing pages for success.
-Hiren
Excellent post - I'd love to read more SEO analysis and recommendations for brands that have a high awareness in their locale
An awesome post that got me thinking, thanks Richard... I totally agree that SEO dudes need to be boxing clever and kept in the loop when it comes to upcoming marketing activities... A nice strategy for integrating campaigns above :)
Congrats on the hit article, Rich! I'm just now seeing the article, but glad I didn't miss out completely. Love how you break down the Cadbury campaign and give examples. As somone fairly new to the work of SEO and PPC, this has really stressed the importance of keeping in touch with clients and being proactive instead of reactive. Again, a truly wonderful article!
Enjoyed your writing analysis of Vanitity searches and piggybacking. Thanks for all of the tips.. overall, a great post!
I'm late to the party again... some things never change.
Very nice post Mr Shove - hope to see you writing more in the future :)
Hi, This is one of the best things about working in Global agencys you have to deal with these type of campaigns where you have a link up from offline and online.
I have worked on a few campaigns where their was a huge media spend on offline channels and it was all driving people to SERPs, so you really need to be aware of all the variations in which people search for.
the probelm is but alot of the offline teams do not really want to get SEO and Social involved, yet I can see the trend is changing, recently more and more people are involing SEO which is good. It is all about making awareness in the agency and keeping people aware of what is going on with SEO and keep pushing to get early involvement on breifs and not just last second for a campaign which will go live in a few weeks LOL...
It's definitely a challenge getting the offline teams interested. At OMD (and I'm sure it's the case at other agencies) there's a big push for integration, after all, it makes sense and is a big selling point as a full service agency. It can't be ignored and like it or not, teams will have to co-ordinate in order to provide the best service. I'm familiar with those short time scales for working though ;)
Yeah I think you will see that at many global agencys over the last few years where every one is more integrated. I mean on my level we have Radio, TV, Display, Outdoor, Display, SEM, SEO, Social, Affiliates and more all working together...
Solid stuff Rich - enjoyable read and actionable. I like your viewpoint on different types of brand search - I hadn't thought to apply (what feels very much like) a sub categorisation approach to brand search combinations. Cool!
PS - I think this should get promoted....
Thanks Rich! I was a bit fearful to begin with, it being my first ever blog post ;P
If this is you first post ever... wow!!! You have a long successful blogger future dude :)
Roger, please move Richard post straight to the main blog.
I ofcourse agree - AWESOME post Rich, truly off the scale!
This has to get promoted to the main blog!
Richard,
Great post! Some very solid points here and a lot that are normally overlooked!
I think sometimes it can be hard to convince a client how important some of these steps are. Especially if the client keeps their agency out of the loop on internal projects.
-Peter
It's really great to read this - I'd make it a point of reference for all offline marketers who aren't aware of the fallout benefit of their efforts across the spectrum. By integrating marketing campaigns digital can properly bridge the gap between awareness (of a video or other content) and association (with a brand or product).
Cheers
Rob
Great article, thanks
Good post Richard,
Though I like your this sentence 'Ensure the client keeps you in the loop with any upcoming marketing activity' where I'm getting punished for that. My client doesn't keep me in loop & also promote their marketing activity without considering the negative effects of the same. You've written some nice tips for brand related & would like to share the same with our client.
Great post Richard!
Just when I think I might dip a toe in the water with my first post in Youmoz...UP goes the Bar! :)
Very interesting to see your comments on extended brand terms. It can be really hard to get a client to see the value of putting effort in here sometimes. Another suffix that I have noticed third parties grabbing the lions share of rankings in relation to particular brands is "free shipping"
I am going to very much appreciate being able to share your comments with one client in particular. :)
Thanks so much,
Sha
Great first post Rich - I'm a big fan of the integrated approach and have felt the pain (and masochistic pleasure) of trying to make this work in real life. Good work sir!
Really a nice concept is to be shared here.If you have to prmotoe your brand,then must have to through from this kind of articles.