Offline sources driving online searches

21 Aug 2007

Seeking answers to searching questions: Today brings two developments in the continuing efforts to better understand and measure online search. First, search engine marketing firm iProspect released a study that found, among other things, that 67 percent of online searches were driven by offline sources, specifically television ads, word of mouth, print ads, brick-and-mortar stores, and radio ads. What's more, the study found, 39 percent of those searches resulted in a purchase. "It's intuitive, said iProspect President Robert Murray. "It makes sense that offline channel messaging could pique a user's curiosity enough to motivate them to search for additional information. But, most offline advertising doesn't exactly make it easy for customers to find a company's website." The big takeaway from the research, Murray said, is that "today, it's incumbent upon marketers to integrate search with their offline efforts. Quite simply, their offline messaging needs to be memorable and facilitate search, and their search efforts need to echo that messaging and integrate those keywords. The bottom line is that integration is no longer optional."