The Influenced :

Social Media, Search and the

Interplay of Consideration and
Consumption
October, 2009

An exploration of a custom research study from comScore, GroupM Search &

M80 : The Influenced: Social Media, Search and the Interplay of Consideration
and Consumption, October 2009.

Authored by Chris Copeland, CEO, GroupM Search - The Americas

Published by GroupM Search
 The Interplay Of Search And Social Media
Background and Opportunity: Synergy Between Social and Search

The reallocation of media budgets from offline media to online media has accelerated,
as has consumer and brand use of social media. Search marketing, the fastest-growing,
and most measurable channel in digital media, captures consumers’ expression of
intent. Similarly, social media is an open canvas of consumer expression in forums and
platforms consumers relate to and in which they naturally spend time. As advertisers
seek innovative ways to drive consumer engagement with greater efficiency, the integra-
tion of social media and search marketing offers a compelling opportunity for advertis-
ers to actively participate in social media and make their brand a natural part of online
conversation. Advertisers can then capture this audience efficiently with paid search,
and drive a better return on investment (ROI).

The study sought to explore:

•W
 hen consumers are ex-
posed to social media and
influenced social media, are
they more likely to search,
and, when they do, more
likely to engage?
Awareness
•D
 oes social media exposure
influence search behavior
by driving search queries Consideration
further down the purchase
funnel where consumers are Preference
more likely to convert?

• Is there a synergy between Action

influenced social media and
search marketing that drives Loyalty
better performance than
search only?

The Research

The research explored the impact of social media on search behavior over a three-
month period across different verticals, including automotive, consumer packaged goods
and telecommunications.

Search behavior was broken into segments based on where queries fell among stages
of the purchase funnel. This included upper-funnel terms expressing awareness and
consideration (industry relevant terms, general product attributes) to lower-funnel terms
expressing action and loyalty (campaign brand terms, brand product terms).

Search and
Social Media
October 2009 2
 The Results: Social
Media Influences Search
CONSUMER SEGMENTS Behavior & Performance
In addition to total internet users, consumers
were divided into three segments: The study showed searchers who
engage with social media, espe-
Paid: Consumers exposed only to a brand’s
paid search cially those exposed to a brand’s
influenced social media, are far
Social: Consumers exposed to social media
more likely to search for lower-fun-
relevant to a brand’s category
nel terms compared to consumers
• A blog, message board/forum, user review, who do not engage with social me-
social networking site, Twitter/micro-blog-
dia. Further, consumers exposed
ging, or video-sharing site. Also includes a
brand’s social marketing program’s “target” to a brand’s influenced social me-
sites, or sites which have the most natural dia and paid search programs are
potential to hold content about a brand. 2.8 times more likely to search for
I nfluenced Social: consumers exposed that brand’s products compared to
to influenced social media specific to a brand users who saw only paid search.
• Identified sites containing distributed social
The study also showed a 50
marketing content of a brand’s social media
program percent click-through-rate (CTR)
increase in paid search when
consumers were exposed to influ-
enced social media and paid search. This revealed consumers exposed to social media
are more likely to click on a brand’s paid search ad as compared to those exposed to
the brand’s paid search alone. Among searchers using a brand’s product name in the
query, the CTR increased from 4.5 percent to 11.8 percent when users were exposed to
both influenced social media and paid search around a brand.

The amount of time spent online varied dramatically among the consumer segments. Of
consumers participating in social media, those exposed to a brand’s influenced social
media spent 20 percent more time online compared to those exposed only to social
media relevant to a brand’s catego-
ry. Consumers exposed to both a
brand’s influenced social media and
paid search spent almost 3 times
more time online than the average
consumer.

One of the key findings the study

revealed is that social media expo-
sure is correlated with lower-funnel
search behavior.

Consumers exposed to social

media – both relevant to a brand and influenced social – were far more likely to search
for brand and product-related terms. Among lower-funnel searches for campaign brand
terms, there was a 19-point lift in searcher penetration (the measurement of consumers
who might use a search engine) by consumers exposed to relevant social media and
Search and
Social Media
October 2009 3
 a brand’s search ad as compared to those exposed to a brand’s search ad alone. This
then increased an additional 13 points when consumers were exposed to both influenced
social media and paid search, for a total of 32-point lift in searcher penetration.

Among lower-funnel searches for brand product terms, there was a 15-point lift in
searcher penetration by users exposed to relevant social media and the brand’s search
ad compared to those exposed to the brand’s search ad alone. The consumer’s pro-
pensity to search for brand product terms significantly spiked when exposed to both
influenced social media and a brand’s search ad, with a staggering 42-point increase in
searcher penetration.

Searcher penetration up the funnel for general product attributes wasn’t strong, show-
ing only a 3 percent penetration for consumers exposed only to a brand’s paid search.
However, this increased dramatically when consumers were exposed to both influenced
social media and a brand’s paid search, rising 21 points.

Shedding some light onto the intentions expressed by these segments, the study showed
searchers who use social media are more engaged consumers and more likely to be look-
ing for places to buy and brands to consider. Consumers using social media are 1.7 times
more likely to search with the intention of making a list of brands or products to consider
purchasing compared to the average Internet user.

Additional Findings:

•C
 onsumers exposed to influenced social and paid search exhibit 223 percent heavier
search behavior than consumers exposed to paid alone

•F
 ifty percent of social media-exposed searchers search daily for product terms, com-
pared to 33 percent of non-exposed searchers

•In organic search, consumers searching on brand product terms who have been ex-
posed to a brand’s social marketing campaign are 2.4 times more likely to click on
organic links leading to the advertiser’s site than the average user seeing a brand’s paid
search ad alone
Search and
Social Media
October 2009 4
 Influenced Discovery
As consumers spend more time online and fragment their attention away from tradition-
al media channels, the stakes have never been greater for marketers. Media delivery
has an established place in the media mix. However, with new forms of media delivery,
such as paid search, and the increased relevance of media discovery, the mix is clearly
changing. Likewise, the value and investments being made between paid media and
the creation and dissemination of owned and earned media are also evolving.

This research clearly shows a direct correlation between social media and paid search.
As expected, social media exposes consumers to brands, their products, the benefits of
their features, and corporate value propositions. It clearly presents a powerful and often
underutilized way for brands to become part of the consideration set. This is an im-
portant learning because it helps situate social media in the marketing landscape – not
as a conversion or direct response channel, but rather as an exposure and awareness
vehicle. In doing this, it helps to better clarify the types of assets needed and the value
exchange that should exist between brand and consumer.

In using these findings as a guide, we start to envision a better

allocation of financial and brand investments for the improvement
of paid media and overall performance.
It also becomes clear that while search remains the dominant direct response channel,
it is sometimes forced to do a job best suited elsewhere. The “long tail” exists in search,
and all campaigns can aspire to have deeper keyword lists. But simply throwing dollars
at the tail, which often represents the upper-funnel, does not guarantee better ROI. As
the study indicates, social media programs, which create an influence over consider-
ation by consumers, prove to be a valuable tool in brand and product queries and CTR.

Media mix allocation inside these digital channels presents a new and unique opportu-
nity for brand differentiation. Where search provides 95 characters of text for commu-
nication, the opportunity now exists to use social media to influence consideration, and
capture growth through better-educated spending around product attributes and brand
and product terms, where query share and CTR is increased.

Many marketers struggle with conflicted opinions about investing in owned assets
against the ROI void which seems to exist. This data suggests the opportunity to ap-
proach media as a collective performance of earned and owned assets to drive greater
engagement up the funnel and using paid to capture lower-funnel conversions.

As we move away from relying totally on paid media and better capitalize on our brands
and their owned assets, the business of media discovery becomes a reality. In using
this research as a guide, we can better allocate financial and brand investments to im-
prove paid media and overall performance.
About GroupM Search
GroupM Search is the search marketing specialist division of GroupM, the media buying and planning arm of WPP responsible for more than 1/3 of the world’s media buy-
ing. Honored by OMMA Magazine and MediaPost as the 2008 Search Marketing Agency of the Year, GroupM Search employs 600 search marketing strategists globally and
has the largest global footprint of any other search organization with 40 offices serving more than 40 countries. GroupM Search provides industry-leading search marketing
strategies technology development, research, staffing and training to GroupM communications planning agencies through its search divisions including Maxus Search, Me-
diaCom Search, MEC Interaction and MindShare Search, as well as the direct-to-client brands, Outrider, Catalyst Online and Quisma. Our search divisions provide clients
with the right balance of human intelligence and search technology in order to deliver award-winning paid, organic and advanced search marketing strategies (mobile, social
Search and media, video, local and more) that help our clients become a part of the online conversation. Global search marketing perspective from talent across GroupM Search can be
found on the industry blog, SearchFuel (www.searchfuel.com). URL: www.groupmsearch.com
Social Media
October 2009 5
For more information please contact: GroupM Search
Cindy Kerber Spellman 498 Seventh Avenue
Director, Corporate Communications New York, NY 10018 USA
T: +1 314 682 2055 www.groupmsearch.com
E: cindy.spellman@groupmsearch.com
A WPP Company