New Krillion Survey Highlights Consumer Sophistication

Writing by Brick Marketing on Monday, 24 of March , 2008 at 11:46 am

A new Krillion survey shows that many consumers still spend a considerable amount of time online researching products before purchasing locally off line. This information could have serious implications for pay per click advertisers.

It’s interesting that many of these consumers will spend 30% of their time researching products before making a buying decision. Then, they’ll either order online and drive to pick up their purchase or drive to make the purchase. But don’t discount the 20+% of consumers who will purchase online. That’s a big number when you consider how many people are online every day researching products.

Greg Sterling at Screenwerk highlights the most important online resources for product research:

1. Manufacturer websites
2. Retailer websites
3. Search engines
4. Shopping comparison sites
5. Consumer magazines online
6. Portals and other directories
7. Blogs

This is very interesting, and very telling. With all the hyper surrounding blogs you’d think they’d be higher up on the list. But look at what is higher on the list:

1. Manufacturer websites
2. Retailer websites
3. Search engines
4. Shopping comparison sites
5. Consumer magazines online
6. Portals and other directories

All of these are resources that can be used in conjunction with pay per click advertising. Manufacturers and retailers can drive consumers to their websites with pay per click ads. Search engines, of course, display pay per click ads in the SERPs when searchers make a query. Shopping comparison sites and consumer magazines can also be used as great resources and both can drive targeted traffic through pay per click ads. Of course, portals and directories, like search engines, will display the ads.

These entities should not miscalculate the value of their ad spend. Just because you spend money on advertising and not close the sale online doesn’t mean that the advertising isn’t paying off. Pay per click advertising should be seen as another way to help consumers conduct research about products and services online. If the sale is closed off line as a result of research conducted online when a consumer clicked a pay per click ad then the advertising has worked. The downside is, that’s not exactly trackable. But then, neither are many methods of traditional advertising: Outdoor advertising, TV, radio, and other top-of-mind awareness product branding. It’s difficult to put a dollar amount on every ad you run, as savvy advertisers well know.

The importance of branding cannot be overstated. Advertisers who are capable of using various advertising media to establish a brand and market presence know that this increased presence can, and will, lead to future sales. Getting there is half the battle. That’s why pay per click advertising is not necessarily about pay for the traffic now and see the conversion five minutes from now. You may pay for the traffic now and see the conversion three or four months from now through a totally different conversion path.

Advertisers cannot be shortsighted about their ad spend. Pay per click advertising should be considered a part of your overall advertising budget with the idea that you are branding your company in the marketplace and not using the medium as an inexpensive sales representative.(payperclickjournal.com)