I am at Search Engine Strategies San Jose; the weather is beautiful, the company great and the discussions so far excellent. The following are point form notes from an interesting seminar that discussed how search can be used to aid in branding instead of just as a direct response sales vehicle. Each point, stat or anecdote is in itself intriguing but overall add up to a helpful overview of how to use search to brand. Please brace yourself, however, this discussion went to many edges of the marketing universe so this post will have gems from many disciplines.

• URLs vs Name Brand: the big advertisements are more often recommending prospects search for their name online rather than provide a URL. This is because a high percentage (sorry can't remember the #) of prospects cannot remember the URL later but have little problem remembering the brand.
  

See the full Article >>

Studies show that online shoppers conduct more than half a dozen searches before making a purchase. That means a shopper may visit your site once, twice, or even six times using various search terms before deciding what (and where) they want to buy. If you're the type of web site that sells a product stocked on dozens or even thousands of other sites, how can you compete? Well, price is a factor, but customer experience plays an important role as well.

I've often observed brand loyalty and its impact on the buying decisions we make. For example, if I'm in the mood for fast food, I'll take Wendy's over McDonald's any day. I like Target better than Wal-Mart. My husband prefers Honda to GM and I'm now in love with Born shoes. These things are commodities. I like the product the company produces. I'm brand loyal.

What I never considered until today was the idea that I'm also customer experience loyal.

See the full Article >>