Recently, I’ve had a few conversations with clients about the value of running a branded paid search campaign.
Often, when considering this type of paid search campaign, I hear the question, “Why would we pay for a first position ad placement if we’re already in the first position of organic results?”
Obviously, the benefits of investing in a brand campaign depends on the client and their goals and my response is usually within that vein.
I communicate to the client that there are a few different variables to examine when determining whether or not to run a brand campaign:
- Is your company in the first position on the SERP for all variations of your brand name? If not, bid on the brand name phrases that you don’t display in the first position in Organic results.
- Are competitors bidding on your brand? If so, run a brand campaign to ensure a top spot.
- What are your goals? Do you want to build awareness? Drive conversions? Both?
While these client-specific questions help to decide whether or not to invest in a brand campaign, it doesn’t offer any answers as to the benefits that a client might expect from a branded ad campaign. When I feel strongly that the client should run a brand campaign, I need more data to communicate the reasons why. So, I went in search for more information and found a couple of interesting studies that provide data about the value of paid search for brand terms.