• by Laurie Sullivan , Staff Writer @lauriesullivan, September 3, 2015

How can marketers use native, video, and other media in non-branded keyword campaigns to influence consumers to search for specific brands?

Yahoo released a whitepaper Wednesday -- Building Your Brand One Search at a Time -- providing ways to connect with people through search engine advertising and marketing.

Tips in the whitepaper guide marketers through bidding on non-brand keywords to find new potential customers. It also demonstrates ways to focus on brand terms in order to maintain a top position in search query results, widen the gap with competitors, and explore growth in mobile search to make to keep a strong presence across devices.

Searching for a brand or a brand's category is one of the strongest intent signals a consumer can make before purchasing the product or service. Some 73% of consumers tend to search on a specific computer brand, whereas 70% will search for hotel brands with more generic terms. Searches for information on auto insurance, credit, airline and education are typically stronger as non-branded campaigns, too. These brands have more opportunity to connect with consumers that wouldn't have sought them out by name.

Keep advertising copy competitive. Prospective customers are searching the Web for value. They're not sure of the company they will buy from, but they are looking for a specific service or product. Highlight a rewards program, special hours, free shipping, or a service that competitors don't offer.

Consumers may need a spark of creativity. Help them find it in the non-branded keywords in the advertising copy or video. Western Union and Home Depot do a good job of using video to spark creativity.

In fact, 40% of those participating in a study by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) admit they find home improvement ideas through online searches. The study found that search is the No. 1 source for home improvement ideas among Southerners, and one of the top three sources overall. The study also suggests those making home improvements are more likely to share their findings from search on social media, which spreads the word.

Digital ads influence consumer behavior and drive search activity. Yahoo saw that those viewing native ads were up to 56% more likely to notice the brand on the search engine results page than those not exposed to the advertisement. Consumers who saw both search and native ads were two times as likely to mention the brand.