Does search marketing increase brand awareness?

In a recent study called “Brand Value of Search”, Google attempts to answer the age-old question of whether search marketing increases brand awareness, reports MediaPost.

Over 2,400 people took a brand survey using consumer-packaged goods brands and Google concluded that, when a brand did not appear in search results, awareness was decreased. This, says the search firm, shows the importance of search marketing in ensuring the brand is represented within search results.

While building a brand with search marketing would be hard, bringing brands to front of mind at a time when a consumer is intending to make a purchase could only be beneficial. Several previous studies have shown that search marketing goes along way towards generating brand awareness. iProspect’s 2006 survey found that “36% of search engine users believe that the companies whose websites are returned at the top of the search results are the top brands in their field”.

However, with social networking, blogs and review/comparison sites becoming increasingly popular decision-making destinations, it’s often the power of the crowd that dictates unaided search results, and it’s increasingly hard for marketers to ensure that search results reflect a positive brand image when two opposing representations might appear on the same search results page.

Tags: brand building, search marketing