Yahoo! and comScore released the results of a joint research project, entitled “Close the Loop: Understanding Search and Display Synergy,” aimed at gauging the impact of search and display advertising campaigns when employed both independently and in concert with one another.
The study also reflected a significant increase in online engagement, as well as an increase in online and offline purchasing by consumers who are targeted by integrated campaigns that implement both types of online advertising.
“This research clearly shows that search and display advertising, which are each very effective on their own, work more effectively in tandem,” said Greg Coleman, executive vice president of sales for Yahoo!.
“Advertisers who approach their marketing holistically drive greater engagement, generate more purchases both online and offline and steal share from their direct competitors.”
The research was based on results from actual advertising campaigns from Fortune 100 companies in several vertical categories. The overall results showed that when viewed together, campaigns that take advantage of both search and display advertising are far more engaging and effective than those viewed individually.
ComScore targeted consumers who were exposed to both search and display ads for an individual advertiser across the entire Internet, comparing their online activities to control groups of online participants.
Engagement and purchase behavior are the key elements that comScore measured in its research. This was accomplished by documenting the discrepancies in behavior between the two research groups in these two realms.
According to the study’s findings, consumers who were exposed to both the search and display advertising campaigns increased their share of page views relative to competitive sites by 68 percent, and time spent by 66 percent.
Of greater importance, however, is the conversion data, which shows that purchases of the advertiser’s products and services increased by 244 percent online and 89 percent offline when measured against online users with similar habits who were not targeted by the integrated advertising model.
With integrated advertising campaigns and contextual focus moving into the virtual spotlight, it appears that quality is finally surpassing quantity in terms of effectiveness in the realm of online marketing.
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Joe is a staff writer for Murdok. Visit Murdok for the latest ebusiness news.
