V/Speak

comScore, in collaboration with GroupM Search, released a study this week that discusses the important connection between Search and Social Media.  Hard to see in the diagram above, the study shows a signficant lift in consumer tendency to search for brand and product related terms when both relevant and influenced Social Media are incorporated in the paid search effort.  In my opinion, the value of the connection to Social Media goes beyond just search however, extending to every paid action a company has on their media plan.  Below are some key soundbites from the report that are spot on in their assessment of the connection. 

“There is a valuable audience for advertisers to focus on who are engaged with brands through social media and search. The study further validates our view that media discovery — specifically a brand’s owned and earned media — is as important to success as the paid media we handle every day. Generating upper-funnel awareness and influencing consideration through social media can produce better down-the-funnel performance with paid media, such as paid search.” (Credit: comScore)

and

“Social media-exposed consumers are far more likely to search for brand and product-related terms, and click on a brand’s paid search ad,” said Graham Mudd, vice president of comScore, Inc. “This finding provides strong evidence that investing in social media marketing can both increase initial brand consideration and drive higher conversion rates once the consumer has decided to purchase.” (Credit: comScore)

David Veneski Search, Social Media Search, Social Media