• by Chrysi Philalithes , April 2, 2008

We've spent a lot of time laughing in our office this past week. Why? "Builder's tea," "the dog's b*******," "a cup of Joe": these are just some of the terms our mix of Americans and Brits have been translating and teaching one another. While English is everyone's first language, the obvious differences and idiosyncrasies, even among cultures that share a common tongue, got me thinking.  Am I using language and marketing-speak that resonates with my audience? And isn't "listening" just as important as "talking"? Understanding the vernacular that people use about your brand and business is critical to marketing it effectively. And therein lies the power of search.

The fact that people are searching for products and services means we no longer need to make assumptions or predictions about the language that people are using to talk about our brands. People are telling us what they want and expressing how they want it. This search intelligence is real-time information from the front line. And if information is power, then using search intelligence is one of the most powerful tools in a marketer's armory.

So, how should search intelligence be used?   In a number of ways:-

1. Describing how a brand positions itself. Brands invest a substantial amount of time, effort and resources in devising their positioning. They go through all the classic marketing analyses, notably evaluating the competitive set, to devise a positioning that is different. Yet, is the positioning and messaging resonating with people? For example, one firm in the secured loans category thought the core of its message online should be "homeowner loans, no tenants." The company tested that idea and found that lots of tenants clicked and applied anyway. Why did they click? Because consumers weren't as educated about the different pieces of jargon as the financial company thought.

Now, I'm not saying that marketers should abandon the quest for a different and unique positioning. Far from it. Using search intelligence, though, can help guide that process and provide those hidden insights that marketers for years have been using focus groups for.

2. Using search intelligence across all of a brand's marketing mix.  The power of using search intelligence has implications far beyond a search engine marketing campaign.

Search intelligence should be the foundation of all of a brand's marketing and communication activity -- both on and offline and from media to creative. Here's how this philosophy worked for a consumer electronics retailer that was our client.

A while back we spotted a growing trend in their category -- people were becoming more technology-savvy and specific in their searches for high definition TVs. The presumption had been that people weren't product-specific. Brand-specific, yes. Product-specific, no. Yet, consumers were now searching for 1080p, 1080i and 720p TVs. How was this piece of intelligence used across the company's marketing mix? It led the creative message for its online display and print advertising.  

3.  Unveiling opportunities: driving business strategy and growth.  This is the one I get most excited about. It's the one that I believe can turn the search marketer into the CEO. Search intelligence should be used to identify growth opportunities for a business. For example, one of our clients promotes tourism in the U.K. Looking at the search data revealed fishing to be one of the most popular activities potential travelers searched for when researching the U.K. Yet the company's Web site did not have any fishing-specific content on it. It goes without saying that this changed as soon as we brought the search insights to the client's attention. And as a result, so did traffic figures.

 
And on that note, builder's tea anyone? Aka, a cup of good old English breakfast tea.

PS: If you want a translation of "the dog's b*******," feel free to email me.