Building Enterprise Brands Using Search

Building an Enterprise Brand Through Search

Traditional Branding

Branding Through Search

Both Channels Contribute to Brand Image

Search is the Entry Point

80% of all online sessions begin with search

41% of people use search to navigate to websites

Search activity mirrors the news

Example of Impact of Media on Search New York Times Article: “Your Chance to Finish a Movie Microsoft Started” published May 8, 2008. Source: Active keywords that include “vista” as part of the phrase.

Close coordination of paid search efforts and PR improved Vista campaign results:

Selected related keywords

Aligned creative to increase response rates, conversion rates

Coordinated landing pages linked to articles

Using Search Learnings to Inform Display Top performing search terms were used within display advertising creative to improve its performance Japan MSFT team optimized banner creative to include top performing search terms; result was a 3x rise in the conversion rate Conversion Rate

Microsoft – an Enterprise Brand

Windows Vista

Products

Stakeholders

Goals

How?

?

Building an Enterprise Brand Through Search

Education

Aligning Goals with the Channel

Using Search as Marketing Intelligence

Effectively Sharing Assets

Managing Overlap

Education CHALLENGES:

Coordinate efforts of 5,000+ marketers with individual search budgets

Create universal process for budgeting, management, and reporting

Tie campaign metrics to marketing goals

Contributed to Search Center of Excellence to share best practices & processes in search

Launched “Search 101” training series, tailored to needs of each Microsoft department and its line managers

Established a uniform 3-phased approach for taking fully-integrated campaigns from concept to launch over a 5-week period

STRATEGY :

Aligning Goals with the Channel Reach & Frequency Site Engagement Optimization focused around increasing budget to drive more impressions Optimization focused around measurable actions How many of my customers saw my message? How often did they see it? What did my customers do once they visited my website?

By analyzing search traffic and behavior, you can gain insight that can influence the entire marcom mix:

Marketing messaging: email, banners, on-site

Media selection

Communications strategy

Site experience

Competitive insights

Identify questions you want to answer

Ex: What’s important to the consumer? How do they make their buying decisions?

Gain customer behavior insights by analyzing data including:

Search query structure and volume across your industry/competitors

Historical search campaign results

Site search data

Isolate data relevant to the campaign target and campaign objectives

How are people searching for the capabilities your product supplies? “Microsoft term” vs. “generic term,” “SQL” vs. “database,” “security suite” vs. “antivirus”

Effectively Sharing Assets Search Analytics & Tracking Media Buying Public Relations Landing Pages Social Media Account Management Creative

Effectively Sharing Assets “ shoe circus” “warm churro” “conquistador” Advanced knowledge about campaigns makes it possible to predict the “unpredictable”:

Managing Overlap Between Similar Enterprise Products Consumer Business Decision Makers Enterprise Mid-Market Small Business Vista SEARCH N N N N N N N N

Managing Overlap Between Similar Enterprise Products CPA: $2 CPA: $6 CPA: $4 Vista SEARCH N N N N N N N N Consumer Enterprise Small Business Windows Vista Offers Official Site. Shop Your Favorite Store for Deals on Windows Vista. Microsoft.com/Windows Windows Vista Enterprise Get the Desktop Management Solution for all Your Business Needs Today. Windows.com/VistaEnterprise MS Vista & Office 2007 Manage Your Small Business Better w/ Windows Vista & Office Pro 2007 Microsoft.com/SmallBusiness

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