Over the last few years we have witnessed the rise and rise of search engines, both from a consumer point of view and as a marketing tool for companies. So much so that Google has become an officially recognized word in the English language.
Given the proliferation of the internet, mobile devices and instant on demand digital culture this is unsurprising. Estimates vary but search could now represent around 20-30% of the billion + US dollars spent on internet advertising. Advertisers, caught up in the power of internet overall and search in particular are questioning how much value do traditional media like newspapers, magazines, television and outdoor continue to offer. Would it not just be easier and more profitable to back the pay for click search engines with “guaranteed” deliveries? Wouldn’t it be a much better return on investment versus traditional mass media?
The temptation to be led by simple metrics may cause simplistic and erroneous decisions. MindShare ATG has done extensive work in China and across the world on the economics of communication. Our experience shows that search engines by themselves are not the panacea to all communication challenges. The interactions are much more complex. Recent analytics in this domain suggests that - even for advertising campaigns that have focused bulk of their investments in buying search words - traditional media such as out of home and magazine adverts have driven the success of search. As common sense suggests, without traditional media to drive initial consumer interest and demand, search would lose a significant percentage of its impact as a sales driver.
So while it is true that the digital domain demonstrates high returns, a deeper evaluation shows how traditional medias RoI would be boosted if we factor in their indirect contribution to digital media (and the sales generated thereof). Marketers who take the effort to analyze the true impact and interaction of offline and online media will be best able to leverage synergies for future profit… and avoid over investment in either “old” or “new” channels.
Over the last few years we have witnessed the rise and rise of search engines, both from a consumer point of view and as a marketing tool for companies. So much so that Google has become an officially recognized word in the English language.
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