One of the most overlooked elements of any search marketing campaign is identifying the correct audience. Most people understand this when it comes to doing basic demographic research and targeting a campaign to hit customers’ particular interests. But many people don’t realize that this also extends to online advertising services and search engines. In fact, which search engine you are advertising on can significantly impact how you want to market and which customers you have the potential to reach.

It’s natural for companies to focus on Google as their search engine of choice when they want to drive higher ROI. After all, Google has the lion’s share of the Internet search market. According to recent comScore data, Google sites make up around two-thirds of the total market share in the Internet search world. Certainly, any online marketing campaign should include Google as one of the key points of focus.

targeting exclusive audiences

But doing research beyond the market share numbers shows that it’s also important to focus on Google’s competitors such as Bing and Yahoo. One reason for this is because of exclusivity. Some people make the assumption that web searchers will go back and forth between one search engine and another to get the best results. The truth is that most web users find one search engine and stick with it. For example, 73 percent of people who perform searchers in the travel category of the Yahoo Bing network use that network exclusively. This means that the only way to reach these 12 million searchers in the United States is through Google and Bing ads.

In addition, considering other search engines allows you to tap into the potential buying power of web searchers. In December 2012, comScore published the Audience Buying Power Index, which went into detail about the potential buying power of consumers using different search engines. The results were surprising:

  • Searchers on the Yahoo Bing network spent eight percent more than Google searchers on average
  • The 47 million unique searchers who exclusively use Bing and Yahoo! in the US spend an average of 30 percent more than the exclusive Google searcher.

As you can see, there are definite reasons to consider advertising on the Yahoo Bing network ahead of Google. You’ll need to do the research to determine which combination works for you, and you’ll need to consider your target audience when doing this research.

Related Posts