A new study by BIGresearch shows that over 47% of respondents are motivated to search online after seeing a print ad in a magazine. That jives with what we know about search behavior and actual search keywords results for our clients.

Although typing in the exact URL does NOT translate well from a print or TV ad, searching for the brand (or variations of it) does. We expect search engines to figure out what the website URL address is. A couple of things come out of this. The first is that search complements other marketing such as print ads, and the second is make sure your website is found under your brand keywords so that you get much more value out of your advertising. To top this off, the research goes on to say that many searchers go on to SHARE their search results, multiplying the effect of the advertising.

For B2C businesses such as retailers, an additional comment comes from BIGresearch in that retailers must realize and understand that online communities, through their content are able to distribute their findings with 'a trust and truth not even approximated by mass media', said Joe Pilotta.

Food for thought in the new (online) world order.

p.s. Another (likely useless) statistic - the global Internet population has grown another 10% last year. Interestingly, the comScore report said Canadians spent the most time online (39 hrs/week). Must be the cold...

Labels: Canadians online, internet population, online advertising, search behavior