The Importance of Advertising on Multiple Channels
Nielson Online recently reported that 62.8 percent of all searches completed in the United States were done on Google. Yahoo’s share of the market was 16.2 percent. It is no surprise that a majority of searches are performed on Google and advertising on Google should be a priority. What might be surprising is the amount of people that do not solely use Google. According to a study conducted by Forrester Research, 55 percent of people use more than one search engine per week. In addition, 20 percent of searchers use only Google.
What does this mean to you and your business? It highlights the importance of making sure your company is visible where and when your audience is looking for you. Thus, advertising on multiple search engines. According to an article, Search Loyalty is Hard to Find, internet users believe that other search engines are actually more effective for certain things. For example, some people might research "stock quotes" on a different search engine than they would "movie show times".
Building brand recognition and reputation are reasons to have a presence on multiple search engines. If a searcher goes to Google and looks for "mortgages", they may also go to MSN or Ask.com and do the same search. If your name appears in both engines, they will most likely trust you a little more, because they have seen your name previously. We know that it takes 5 to 7 exposures to an ad before someone may look further and if your company is appearing multiple times and in different places, it is more likely a user will recognize your company name.
With the emergence of so many social channels, it is also vital to consider alternative search engines such as YouTube. YouTube has recently overtaken Yahoo to become the 2nd largest search engine trailing Google. Just like any other search engine, you can show up organically or through paid efforts.
Alternative search engines can offer different ways to reach your audience. Internet users are becoming more and more refined and educated on what engines will get them the best results for each particular search query. Advertisers that want to expand their reach and increase their online presence should consider using additional engines beyond Google.
