In June 2007, iProspect partnered
with JupiterResearch to develop and field a survey to
U.S. search engine users (heretofore referred to as "online search users") to gain a better understanding of how
exposure to offline channels influences their search and purchase behavior. Because iProspect works with many search
marketing clients who coordinate and integrate their offline marketing channels programs with their search marketing
initiatives, we hypothesized that a significant percentage of individuals are driven to conduct an online search as
a direct result of exposure to offline messaging. Further, we also theorized that a significant percentage of those
driven to search by these means eventually make a purchase from the company whose website is the object of their
search. The questions that comprised the survey that lead to this study sought to quantify this offline influence
on online search behavior.
Methodology
In June 2007, JupiterResearch designed and fielded a survey to U.S. online users
(heretofore referred to as "online users" who may or may not be users of search engines)
selected randomly from the
Ipsos U.S. online consumer panel. A total of 2,322 individuals
responded to the survey. Respondents were asked approximately 25 closed–ended questions about
their behaviors, attitudes, and preferences as they relate to games, digital imaging, portable
devices, and service bundles. Respondents received an email invitation to participate in the
survey with an attached URL linked to the Web–based survey form. The samples were carefully
balanced by a series of demographic and behavioral characteristics to ensure that they were
representative of the online population. Demographic weighting variables included age, gender,
household income, household education, household type, region, market size, race, and Hispanic
ethnicity. Additionally, JupiterResearch weighted the data by AOL use, online tenure, and
connection speed (broadband versus dial–up), which are three key determinants of online
behavior. Balancing quotas are derived from JupiterResearch's Internet population model, which
relies on U.S. Census Bureau data and a rich foundation of primary consumer survey research to
determine the size, demographics, and ethnographics of the U.S. online population. The survey
data are fully applicable to the U.S. online population within a confidence interval of plus
or minus three percent.
Executive Summary
Question 1
Hypothesis
Prior to asking online users (see definition under "Methodology" section above) about their exposure to
offline channels, we wanted to learn whether performing searches on search engines is becoming more
or less important to their use of the Internet. Our hypothesis was that use of search engines to perform
searches is growing more important to the majority of online users.
Survey Question & Responses
When online users were asked…
"Please indicate to what extent you agree/disagree with the following statement: "Over the last
year, performing searches using search engines has become more important in my use of the
Internet." (Select one)"
The data clearly shows that a significant percentage of online users believe that performing searches
on search engines has become more important in their use of the Internet. Moreover, the data
demonstrates that this phenomenon is not limited solely to one age group, or solely to new Internet
users (see below).
Specifically, the vast majority (72%) of the younger age group (18–24) reported
a growth of importance in performing queries on search engines. Likewise, a significant percentage (55%)
of online users 25 and older reported the same. These separate findings demonstrate that the 57% overall figure
is not skewed by the younger age group.
It is also interesting to examine the impact online tenure holds in this regard. Data analysis reveals
that a significant portion (71%) of online users who have been using the Internet for less than a year
report that this activity has grown in importance to them. Yet 56% of online users with more than one
year of Internet experience concur with their less experienced counterparts. Thus, as is the case
with the factor of age, Internet tenure doesn't distort the overall finding that performing searches
on search engines has become increasingly important to a significant percentage of online users. This
finding validates our original hypothesis.
Question 2
Hypothesis
Once again, prior to asking online users about their exposure to offline channels, we wanted to
learn how frequently they perform search engine queries. Based partially on data previously published in
iProspect 2004 research on this question (see "Analysis & Implications" section later in this study for
link to that research), and partially our own observation of user behavior, our hypothesis was
that today 60–65% of online users are performing searches daily.
Survey Question & Responses
When online users who performed a search with a search engine within the last year were asked…
"Within the last 6 months, how often have you performed an Internet search using a search
engine? (Select One)."
A full 54% of online users who have performed a search in the last year are performing searches daily, with
32% of respondents reporting that they perform searches multiple times a day, and 22% stating that they do
so at least once a day. Clearly, this falls short of our hypothesis that 60–65% of users perform searches
using search engines at least daily. However, when the range of frequency is extended to weekly
(29%), the data reveals the vast majority (83%) of those surveyed report performing
searches on search engines at least weekly.
Question 3
Hypothesis
iProspect was interested in quantitatively learning which offline channels cause online search users to
subsequently perform searches. At the outset of the survey, we hypothesized that it would be an even
split — roughly — between the percentage of users influenced to search by some offline channel, and
those NOT influenced by an offline channel.
Survey Question & Responses
When online search users were asked…
"Within the last 6 months, which of the following prompted you to go to a search engine and look
for information on a particular company, product, service or slogan? (Select all that apply)."
Based on the survey data illustrated on the previous page, offline channels clearly influence a
significant percentage of online search users (see definition under "Background" section above) to
subsequently perform queries on search engines based on the company name, product or service
name, or slogan that appears in the messaging of that offline channel. And though iProspect is
not surprised at the finding that television and word of mouth are the two most frequent offline
drivers of search, we are a bit stunned that both of these channels influence over one–third
of online search users to perform a search. But even more surprising is that a full 67% of online
search users are driven to search as a result of some offline channel. This percentage clearly
surpasses the 50/50 split between influenced and non–influenced online search users we predicted
prior to launching the survey.
To further understand this surprising finding, we analyzed the factor of online search user
search frequency. We hypothesized that those online search users who search at least daily would
be more influenced to perform searches as a result of exposure to offline channels. The findings
uncovered are illustrated below.
We are not surprised to find that across all offline channels listed, daily online search users
are influenced more to perform searches after exposure to some offline channel, than those online
search users who search less frequently.
Question 4
Hypothesis
iProspect was interested in learning which "types" of keywords are being used most to perform an initial
search by online search users who are influenced to perform that search by exposure to some offline
channel. Based on iProspect's experience managing both organic and paid keywords for our clients, we
hypothesized that use of "branded" keywords (those containing the company name or the name of one of its
products or services) to perform a search — as a result of exposure to some offline channel — would
significantly outweigh the use of non–branded keywords. More specifically, we predicted that "company
name" would account for more than 50% of total initial searches.
Survey Question & Responses
When online search users who were driven to search from exposure to an offline channel influence were asked…
"Thinking about the last time within the last 6 months that you were motivated to conduct an Internet
search by one of the sources listed in the previous question, which of the following keywords did
you first use when conducting that search? (Select one)"
The data clearly indicates — of those online search users who are influenced to perform a search as a
result of exposure to some offline channel — that branded keywords far outweigh messaging from the
non–branded keywords (company advertising, slogan, or "other") 68% to 18%, respectively. This
validates our first hypothesis. And though iProspect also estimated that at least 50% of online search
users would use company names to perform their initial search, 44% still clearly leads the next
most often used keyword type (all or part of a product/service name at 24%) by nearly a two–to one
margin. It is also not surprising that 14% do not remember the type of keyword they used to perform
their search.
Question 5
Hypothesis
All the traffic in the world can be driven to a company's website via offline channels, but it's
meaningless unless, at some point, the individuals who searched for that company's site make
a purchase from that company — via any channel. Given that, iProspect concluded our survey by
asking a question to only those online search users who had performed a search as a result of exposure
to some offline channel. Specifically, we asked whether they ultimately had made a purchase from
the company whose website had been the object of their search. Our hypothesis was that roughly one in
four online search users, who are driven to search by exposure to some offline channel, makes
a purchase.
Survey Question & Responses
When online search users who were driven to search from exposure to an offline channel influence were asked…
"Which of the following sources (that you mentioned previously had prompted you to use an Internet
search engine) eventually led you to make a purchase from that company/product/service? (Select all that apply)"
From a marketer's perspective, iProspect believes that the most significant finding of this study
is that over one–third of online search users who perform a search as a result of exposure to some
offline channel recall making a purchase (via any channel) as a result of that search. Moreover, the
number of those who made a purchase as a result of exposure is probably higher still, but 21% of
respondents do not remember if they made a purchase or not (undoubtedly, some did). This finding
exceeds our hypothesis that only one in four searchers who are influenced to search by some offline
channel will eventually make a purchase. We do find it interesting that the magazine and newspaper
ads channel (together with the word of mouth channel) is the most influential at generating purchases.
Analysis & Implications
Question 1
Performing Searches More Important to 57% of Online Users
Across all ranges of age, income, and online tenure, survey respondents reported that conducting
search engine queries has become more important to their use of the Internet over the last year. To address
the reasons why is to describe a virtuous cycle in which a growing online population, of growing experience
and sophistication, is seeking a growing body of information available on the Internet. This includes
more commercial content by more businesses spending more money to attract that growing online population, and
the growing amount of money that online population is spending with those businesses.
The implications of this are obvious. If users report that the activity of searching is growing more important
to them, then businesses need to assign growing importance to ensuring that their website is found by
searchers. This is especially true of companies not yet doing business on the Internet, or those who
are doing business, but whose competitors have a significant head start on them in this process. This
implication is specific neither to organic search nor paid search advertising, as both search channels
have their benefits and limitations. Ideally, businesses should be engaged in both search channels to
maximize the chance that their website will be found on the keyword searches that are most important to
their business. However, at the core of this finding is a wake–up call to businesses. Quite
simply, they need to ascribe greater importance to the search channel, and take action
accordingly. Failing to do so would equate to denial, and foolish disregard for the online population's
perspective on, and use of search.
Question 2
54% of Online Population Searching at Least Daily, 83% at Least Weekly
As logical as it would seem to use the virtuous cycle described in the analysis of Question 1 above to explain
the seemingly increasing frequency at which the user population is searching, daily searching on the part of
the online population has remained somewhat flat over the past three years. iProspect's
Search Engine User Attitudes Study (April 2004), found that 56.3%
of online users performed queries at least once a day, compared to this study's finding of 54%.
Despite the growing importance of search as an Internet activity described in Question 1, an increase in search
frequency was not evidenced by this study. But according to data from JupiterResearch's March 2007 Internet
Population Model, the U.S. adult (18 years+) online population has grown 19.4% from 144.3 million in 2004
to a projected 172.3 million in 2007. So today's "at–least–daily" searchers (54% of 172.3 million = 93 million)
represents 11.8 million more people than were performing searches "at–least–daily" in 2004 (56.3% of 144.3
million = 81.2 million).
The implication of this finding is somewhat conjectural, as the iProspect surveys that produced this study
and the 2004 study did not include questions about the nature/objectives of the searches being performed. But
using data from JupiterResearch's July, 2007 U.S. Paid Search Model as a proxy, 38% of search volume
launched in 2004 was commercially motivated (searches seeking information on products or services) while 40%
of search volume launched in 2007 is projected to be commercially motivated.
iProspect submits that those additional 11.8 million U.S. adult Internet users, generating a projected 2% more
commercial search volume per person (40% in 2007 minus 38% in 2004), emphasizes the need for businesses to
undertake initiatives that will result in their websites being found when this larger population of more
purchase–motivated users perform searches for products or services that they offer.
Question 3
Two–Thirds of Online Search User Population Driven to Search By Offline Channels
Intuitively, it makes sense that offline channel messaging — some of which a potential customer might be
exposed to for only a matter of seconds (e.g. television, radio, billboard, outdoor, sports
and transportation advertising) — would pique a user's curiosity to such a degree as to motivate them to initiate
an Internet search for additional information about the business issuing the message. And for the most part, it
meshes with our prediction (though admittedly exceeding it a bit). However, despite its intuitive nature, and
the numbers it garners, we can't help but be baffled by the phenomenon. The vast majority (67%) of online users
are being driven to perform a search as a result of exposure to these offline channels when the majority of offline
advertising does very little to facilitate the process. In other words, they don’t exactly make it easy for
potential customers to find their company's website.
Tactics as simple as prominently displaying or announcing the company's URL (or both) within offline channel messaging
is becoming increasingly common, but doing so is still the exception, and not the rule. Even more rare, though
extremely effective, are offline campaigns that overtly state "search keyword: Buick," or "Google Maytag" — sending
online users to search results pages where savvy marketers know searchers will find their company listing at the top of
either or both the natural or paid search results.
Marketers who take pains to have their toll–free number repeated several times within their messaging would be well–served
to incorporate their URL. Simply adding the phrase "…or find us online at…" could prove to greatly enhance results. After
all, if someone is interested in your offering, chances are they'll want to know more about it. Giving them the
information they need can only facilitate the discovery process, as a URL can be a lot easier to remember than a
phone number. Moreover, it is more economical to communicate with potential customers online than it is via the
telephone; it allows information to be easily disseminated, and orders expeditiously placed.
But incorporating a URL into your messaging holds other benefits as well. For example, marketers should keep in mind
that there are potential customers who might not be ready to buy yet, and/or who might simply be averse to speaking
live with someone on the phone. However, many of them would seize the opportunity to explore a company's
website, obtain all the information they need, and ultimately make a purchase, that is, if marketers
responsible for offline channels made it easier for them to perform their searches.
The implication here is that smart marketers can enhance the effectiveness of their offline channels, as well as the
effectiveness of the search marketing channel by including clear and overt options to seek additional information on
their website (through the use of search engines) in their offline messaging. Two–thirds of search users jump through
hoops to perform those searches now — imagine what that number would be if marketers actually made it easy for them.
Television and Word of Mouth Channels Most Effective at Driving Search
The two channels that drive the highest percentage of online users to perform searches are television (37%) and word of
mouth (36%). However, they present a study in contrasts. From a proactive, mass advertising perspective, television
undoubtedly reaches the largest audience, and due to its cost, is utilized by large companies/brands that have the
financial resources to afford it. But television is also "interruption marketing" in which the viewer/potential customer
is engaged in another activity when messaging about a particular brand is thrust upon them.
Viewers are pre–motivated to want information about a particular product or service, and need to have their interest
generated by the messaging within the advertising — messaging that television viewers fully realize is generated by marketers
that they do not necessarily trust. But because of the medium’s sheer numbers and the "curiosity–generating effect" that a
short 30–second television ad can produce by failing to provide complete information about a product or service, it makes
sense that it would top the list of channels that drive viewers to perform a search engine query for additional information
about the brands it is touting.
Word of mouth, on the other hand, is not a mass advertising channel, although it very well may also have
large numbers associated with it. Rather, it is made up of many one–on–one conversations or interactions between
individuals who have some experience with, or knowledge of, a brand and other individuals who are learning about
the brand based on information provided by the experienced individuals. In this medium, the experienced "talk" while
the uninitiated "listen." Whether these "listeners" sought out the information, or had their interest generated as a
result of interactions with others, there is an inherently higher trust factor associated with the word of mouth channel
than virtually any other.
In addition, a word of mouth conversation is not limited by time. A discussion about a particular brand can last an hour
or more, and actually provides opportunity for Q&A, thereby allowing the less knowledgeable individual to question
their more knowledgeable partner about the company, product or service involved. So where television earns its place as
one of the largest drivers of online users to search because of the quantity of views and brevity of its message, word of
mouth nets its prominence in driving online users to search based on its quality, thoroughness, and the inherent trust
associated with its message.
As explained above, the implications here are the same, but are specific to these two channels. The easier marketers
make it for online users to perform a search, the more effective these channels become. Display and announce the company
URL several times in the 30–second TV spot, or tell the viewer to "Google Maytag." Better yet, provide a special offer
with a unique URL intended for television viewers only. The word of mouth channel has its own unique opportunities. When
generating word of mouth campaigns that would employ tactics to ensure the mental connection between the conversation and
the website, what could be simpler than having the URL be the company name (Monster.com(, or the solution it
provides (FreeCreditReport.com), or the specials being offered (Expedia.com/CaribbeanDiscounts). Overall, regardless
of the channel, failure to make it easier for the person exposed to the channel to connect to the website as a result
of that exposure is loss in both opportunity and effectiveness.
Question 4
Company, Product and Service Names Most Commonly Used Keyword Types
It makes sense that the keyword that online search users employ to launch their first search (after exposure to some
offline channel) would be a keyword that describes what the messaging of that channel is about. In 44% of the cases, that
keyword is the company name. For example, if a viewer sees a Circuit City television ad, or a listener hears one of
their radio ads as a source for consumer electronics, the Circuit City company name is a very easy and intuitive starting
place for a search. The implication of this finding is that prominence and repetition of the company name within offline
channels is important in driving people to search.
Likewise, if a magazine or newspaper ad is published about, or a conversation takes place with someone who recently
bought, a Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo (manufactured by the company Daimler Chrysler), a search for the product name
would be a natural and simple place to start a search. The implication of this finding is that similar to a company
name, the product or service name can be key to driving people to search when the company name is less relevant than
the known product or service name. These product or service names, therefore, should be featured prominently and
repeated often within offline channels.
In both the cases above, these keyword types are "branded," and yet not every brand or product is a household name
or can be easily remembered after a single exposure to offline messaging (especially in a BtoB environment). So the prominent
use of easy to remember slogans or taglines, as well as other keywords that describe the product in non–branded terms can
be effective ways for some marketers to use their offline messaging to drive people to search. For example, even though
someone might be unfamiliar with Chicago, a taxi cab or a bus display reading, "Chicago's Largest Irish Pub," would
most likely enable them to find that establishment online, even if its actual name wasn't noticed during the offline
exposure to the brand.
A search for "copper recycling company" or "search engine marketing firm" or "acrylic paint polisher" all have the potential
to assist locating the website of the company whose offline messaging was absorbed — or the websites of companies competing
with that company. So the implication of this finding is that slogans, taglines, and non–branded descriptions will
only be effective if the marketers at those companies purposefully and carefully coordinate the messaging used in their
offline channels with that used on their websites and within their paid search ads. Otherwise, online search users
will not have the patience to scroll through page after page of search results looking for a reminder of the company name
to which they were exposed, but don't recall at the time of the search, and may abandon their efforts — or
worse, click on the listing of
one of your competitors. And as with branded terms, prominence and repetition of these non–branded terms within
the offline channels makes them easier to remember when it comes time to search.
Question 5
39% of Searchers Influenced By Offline Channels Make a Purchase
To represent this finding in different terms than those expressed in the Executive Summary above, the two–thirds of
all online users — who are influenced to search after exposure to some offline channel — purchase at an extremely
impressive 39% conversion rate. This leads us to believe that exposure to the combination of offline and search channels
produces greater results than either search only, or offline channels only. One can theorize that the typically brief
exposure to an offline channel — with its typically limited amount of information — does a superior job at grabbing a
potential customer's attention, and starting the process of generating interest (perhaps only curiosity at this stage).
Then once that individual has been influenced by the offline channel to search for the appropriate website, the website
completes the process of generating interest, creating desire, and motivating action. The two key factors that help
enable the website to do a superior job at this are: 1) its potential for containing virtually limitless content,
options, and calls to action compared with those available through most other channels, and 2) the ability for a
visitor to spend an indefinite amount of time on the website (or make numerous trips back to the site at will).
Echoing previously defined implications, this one suggests that in order to benefit from the amplification that the
offline channel and search combination offers, marketers must create messaging for offline channels with both ease
of search and ease of remembering in mind. In addition, they must also use similar messaging and similarly targeted
keywords in their organic and paid search campaigns as those used in their offline campaigns. This is critical as it will
help ensure that keywords reflected in the offline channel messaging that are searched online find the website that
potential customers are seeking. Such messaging coordination also reassures website visitors that they have found the right
site that is saying the same things, and using the same language in the same way about the same products or services.
Magazine/Newspaper Ads and Word of Mouth Most Effective at Generating a Purchase
With the possible exception of the physical store channel — which one could theoretically browse from the hour it opened
to the hour it closed and yet not necessarily be exposed to proactive "messaging" — the magazine/newspaper (print) ads
channel, and the word of mouth channel, have the advantage of "time" in their favor. Unlike a television or radio
ad that is viewed or heard over a 30–60 second period and is then irretrievable by the viewer/listener, and unlike the
billboard or outdoor or transportation channels that pass by as quickly as the vehicle is moving, messaging from print
ads and word of mouth can be extended in time.
A potential customer can hold and read a print ad again and again and again. It can be "studied" and retrieved again
and again. And as highlighted earlier in this study, the indefinite duration, level of inherent trust, and
highly interactive nature of the word of mouth channel are discussed as reasons that its messaging is of higher quality
than all of the other channels.
It's iProspect's belief that these inherent advantages that the print channel and word of mouth channel have over the
other channels addressed in this study cause them to produce more interested, more motivated searchers who are farther
down the attention, interest, desire, action path at the point at which they launch their first search than
individuals who have been exposed to other channels. The implication of this finding is somewhat obvious – when possible
and appropriate, utilize these two channels in a coordinated and consistent fashion with both organic and paid search
campaigns.
Click below to view iMedia interview clip with iProspect President, Rob Murray, on the topic of
integrating search marketing with other marketing initiatives.
Founded in 1996, iProspect is the Original® Search Engine Marketing
Firm. We help organizations with large, complex websites increase
their online ROI and market reach through natural (organic) search engine optimization, pay per click advertising
management, paid inclusion management, shopping feed management, and other related services.
iProspect has a long legacy of research and thought leadership in the search marketing industry:
How Visible is the Fortune 100 to Web Searchers in February 2001.
Marketing Tactics of Big Brands Not Meeting Web User Expectations in July 2002.
Searcher Behavior Shows Top Listings are Most Important in November 2002.
Findings from iProspect research are regularly used to enhance our service offerings and to educate clients on
search engine marketing best practices and industry trends. iProspect studies are frequently quoted by speakers
at search marketing industry events, and by both business and trade press.
Proper attribution requires that the study is clearly identified as the "iProspect Offline Channel Influence on
Search Behavior Study."
With U.S. offices in Watertown, Massachusetts and San Francisco, California, as well as
offices across the globe, iProspect can be
contacted at 1–800–522–1152, or by visiting www.iprospect.com.
Questions regarding this release should be directed to iProspect Media Relations Manager, Colleen
Reed, at 1–800–522–1152 x1203 or colleen.reed@iprospect.com.
