Stupid Marketing

[Cooper Mills DomainLawyer]

I was watching TV this morning and noticed some really stupid marketing, both Honda and Godfrey Hirst carpets close their advertisements with ‘for more information Search *****’

I would personally fire any marketing agency who did that. This is one of the challenges that domainers are faced with when selling domains, uninformed marketing people.

A few reasons why you should never tell your audience to search something (I'm sure you can think of more):

1. Risk that negative comments about a brand appear, eg. From a good ranking forum like Whirlpool;
2. Risk that competitors use the promoted keywords for an Adwords campaign, for example Honda used ‘Chase It’;
3. Risk that competitors use those keywords to rank in search results.

 

[Shane]

It's so common now. Everything is about search rather than visit. Terrible for all the reasons you listed!

 

[Data Glasses]

Only dumb people send you to a search page where your competitors live

 

[ErezY]

How could they assume that people will use Google, Yahoo, and Bing? I know many people/clients who install junk software and end up with all sorts of default search engines. Let's look at ask.com for example. "Chase It" comes up with Dan Murphy... Goodby Honda marketing dollars to 10%+ of the population.

 

[snoopy]

Think there is pro and cons to this. Obviously it is bad for domain owners, but not sure it is a clearly a bad idea for those advertising. It has become more common along with some types of organisations using Facebook rather than a domain. I remember this being common in Japan also going back along time ago (not sure if that is still the case),

Article on the pros and cons here,

https://searchenginewatch.com/sew/how-to/2433052/how-can-marketers-use-tv-ads-to-drive-searches

Why use a search call to action?
I’m going to call them search calls to action for now because that’s how I’ve referred to them before, and I don’t know of an alternative term.

Anyway, here are some convincing reasons to use them:

1. It’s quicker for users. It’s easier to search then enter a URL.
2. It’s more memorable. You have a matter of seconds to convey the message and it’s also easier for viewers of the TV ad or billboard to remember a three or four word phrase.
3. People are multi-screening. Your target audience is likely to be watching TV with a smartphone or other internet device to hand.
4. Attribution. If you have aligned the TV or offline ad with a PPC campaign around a particular phrase, it’s possible to track (at least partially) the success of the ad.

Why display a URL instead?
Of course, it’s possible to do both…

1. A URL, if used, takes people straight to the correct landing page.
2. Securing the top position in organic search isn’t always easy, so brands need to be careful that any online searches go to the right landing page if using a call to action.
3. Unlike URLs, using search CTAs in offline ads means that brands need to spend money on PPC ads.
4. Competitors can muscle in on these searches. If they see competitors using search calls in ads, they can quickly bid on related terms to ‘steal’ some of the traffic.

 

[Honan]

Brand recall is low for TV viewers.
URL recall even lower.
People are more likely to buy if they get a buzz from finding a site by search query.
E.g. Ahhh I found it. I am clever. I might buy this before anyone else finds it and they put the price up or run out
I have read all this somewhere sometime.
I read a lot of spin and listen to talks. I find it fascinating!

 

[chris]

1. Risk that negative comments about a brand appear, eg. From a good ranking forum like Whirlpool;
2. Risk that competitors use the promoted keywords for an Adwords campaign, for example Honda used ‘Chase It’;
3. Risk that competitors use those keywords to rank in search results.

I agree, it's risky -- I went to a talk by a household brand name where they were talking about why they do this (as mentioned in the article @snoopy posted). They were recommending it but I only think it works for big brands with big budgets.

Not sure if I'm noticing it more, but it feels like more and more brands are doing this?

If I was a competitor, I'd love it

 

[findtim]

if you were a competitor you'd jump on that slogan, kogan di it when dick smith was going under + google ads
"have you been dick'd around? "
you'd get killed for using a trademark but a slogan would be a free for all.

tim

 

[Suzabro]

I see it a lot too. There's also the less tech savvy that still enter the url in Google search to find the website. I've seen a golf course in a popular suburb in Melbourne and on their physical banner it says search for us.