The move to multichannel marketing is no longer a question; it’s evident that it's a necessity. Shoppers are everywhere, utilizing multiple channels across digital devices over a period of days or weeks. Businesses need to be visible where shoppers spend a majority of their time.
In the industries we serve, our data shows that search engines like Google and Bing are the most-used channels used by shoppers when they’ve reached a decision and are ready to buy. Before finding a local business to make a purchase, shoppers have been influenced by both traditional channels (newspapers, radio, TV) and digital channels (search, display, mobile, video, social media).
Significant cross-channel benefits of social media advertising and search engine marketing
In previous research conducted by Netsertive, we found evidence that brand and local businesses who invested in the video advertising saw a 57% incremental rise in their search engine marketing conversions.
We took the study one step further and investigated the effect of social media advertising (Facebook advertising) on search engine marketing campaign performance.
Once again, the effect was astonishing. We compared the search engine traffic for 2,782 businesses not investing in Facebook advertising against 199 businesses running Facebook campaigns spanning January 1, 2015, and October 31, 2016.
On average, the clients invested in search engine marketing and Facebook advertising in the same campaign received:
- 23% more search impressions
- 50% more search clicks
- 10% higher search click-through rate
- 50% more search conversions
Our conclusion: Local shoppers exposed to a Facebook ad had greater brand awareness, leading to additional searches on Google and Bing, leading to a rise in search impressions, clicks, and website visitors.
The best news: Social media advertising wasn’t limited to driving just awareness, it also drove 50% more conversions over search alone.
Social media advertising put search marketing to work
Search engine marketing alone is no longer the most effective method for brands and local businesses to get discovered and grow. Top-performing campaigns now leverage an array of digital channels (display, video, social media) leading to an incremental performance boost of a core search campaign.
Another recent study of 46,000 U.S. consumers validates the logic of embracing a multichannel marketing strategy. The study found that with every additional channel used, people spent more money per purchase. Conducting prior online research on a business site or sites of similar businesses or brands led to 13% greater spending among the omnichannel buyers.1
People who used 4+ channels spent 9% more per ticket, on average, when compared to those who used just one and have a 30% higher lifetime value score than those who use only one.2
1 “A Study of 46,000 Shoppers Shows That Omnichannel Retailing Works,” Harvard Business Review
2 “Omni-Channel Shoppers: An Emerging Retail Reality” Think With Google
Topics: Facebook, Healthcare, social media advertising, Tech, Automotive, search engine marketing
