Search Marketing Insights (Search and the Media Mix)
Paid Search Strategies to Grow Both Your Customer Base and Brand
By: Bryce Walat, Content Development Specialist
While all marketers face the balancing act of allocating resources toward Search-based brand-building strategies vs. direct response tactics, financial service providers face unique challenges in Paid Search. For example, the ongoing spate of mergers and acquisitions results in new identities, slogans, etc. and consumer apathy consequential to the numerous competing institutions all touting the same marketing messages. Also, the current recessionary environment and pace of change means adapting on the fly to changing market conditions and driving harder to get more results while budgets stay frozen or shrink.
The solution lies in the careful consideration of two sides of the house: (1) awareness building strategies, which often are associated with softer metrics and more challenges for support of increased budget, and (2) direct-response and acquisition strategies, which are accompanied by more quantitative proof points, yet sometimes face challenges for brand building.
To achieve this balance and create more efficient budgeting and more effective performance, IMPAQT thoughtfully uses smarter bid management, including Adaptive Bidding and Media Mix Modeling.
Paid Search is influenced by other “events” including a marketer’s own media. This should be considered for bidding, budgeting and planning strategies. Adaptive Bidding leverages more accurate data and automated bid adjustment to make sure that the right amount of money is spent in the right place at the right time. Studies by IMPAQT support the premise that Media Mix and Search interact in very complex and often contradictory ways. There is no one “best strategy” for coordinating Search with other paid media except in the most obvious and narrow cases (e.g. in support of unique brand extensions and promotions). Media Mix Modeling and testing are necessary, and have been proven to be effective.
Taken together, each of these elements are necessary for a forward-looking, continuously improving Paid Search campaign.
For examples of how IMPAQT has implemented these strategies to meet the needs of its financial services clients, please download the full white paper.
Related Case Studies
Media Mix Modeling for Search Success
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