Explaining Search Marketing – The Shopping Mall Metaphor
While in theory, search marketing is a remarkably simple and effective concept, it can sometimes be challenging to wrap one’s mind around. To explain the more abstract features of SEM and the psychology behind the SEM concept, SERCH Marketing has crafted a helpful metaphor.
Imagine this scenario. It’s a Saturday afternoon, and you decide that you want to spend a bit of your time “window shopping” at the mall. You know that you need some new clothing – particularly a new pair of jeans – but you don’t really plan to buy them today. Finances are tight, and you want to make sure you do your research before committing to a purchase. So you go to the mall casually, curious about your options but not necessarily looking to act as an immediate consumer.
The Hunt
In SEM terms, you are considered to be in “hunt mode”. Even if you are not hunting for jeans per say, you are hunting for information and are in the early stages of the consumption cycle. “Hunt mode” typically transcends through all stages of the buying process, and the key to good marketing is allowing the customer to explore the hunting process while gently guiding him or her on the search.
The shopping mall metaphor can explain this point more thoroughly. Envision yourself now walking through the mall, enjoying the Saturday crowds (kind of) and casually mozying past a plethora of clothing stores. As you are walking, someone at a mall-kiosk stops you. The merchant is trying to sell you a t-shirt that you do not necessarily need or want, so you kindly refuse the product and try to move on. When the merchant continues to try to sell the t-shirt to you, however, you begin to get a little frustrated. This form of sales is intrusive, and you will likely develop a negative view of the product.
Because you are only looking for jeans in this example, any products that “pop up” outside of your general search may be perceived negatively. It is the same with information shopping on the web. If someone is browsing or “window shopping” online and an advertisement pops up that is interruptive and unrelated to the consumer’s goal, he or she is likely to be turned off to the product. If, however, through an organic search process, the window shopper stumbles across a link that is related to the original search engine inquiry in some form, the customer is engaging in a voluntary with your information or product.
Back to the shopping mall, if you spot a pair of denim that you like on a mannequin inside a store window. As you examine the jeans, however, you notice the cool t-shirt that the mannequin is wearing. You are temporarily diverted from your denim-buying agenda, but it is by your choice this time. You ultimately buy the shirt, knowing that you found something you wanted that was related to the general goal of acquiring clothing. The difference between this t-shirt and the previous one, however, is that marketing process for the t-shirt was organic. It was consumer driven, originating with a voluntary search and organically translating into the purchase of a t-shirt.
Search Marketing is Consumer Driven
Effective search marketing is crafted for the consumer and by the consumer in an organic search process. While it can be complicated to discern how to approach an online “window shopper” in “hunt mode”, companies like SERCH Marketing have the knowledge and skills to help marketers get their product out there in a non-intrusive way. If you would like to know more details about the SEM process, don’t hesitate to call us today!