Recently, the online advertising platform Marin Software released a study with the hefty title of “The Multiplier Effect of Integrating Search and Social Advertising” which sought to answer the question “does an integrated search and social advertising strategy yield superior results to when they”re pursued as separate channels?” What Marin discovered what that customers who clicked on both search and social ads were twice as likely to convert than those who clicks on a paid search ad alone. “The impact of a cross-channel touch was even greater when examining social clicks. Users who clicked on both the search and social ads had a click-through rate approximately four and a half times higher than users who only clicked on social ads,” Marin stated in its paper. According to Marin, customers that clicked on both search and social ads also ending up spending more with two times more revenue per click in these cases. TWO TIMES MORE! That”s amazing but it gets even better. “Multi-channel touch points are even more valuable for social advertising,” Marin reported. “Users who clicked on both a search and social ad contributed four times more revenue per click than users who clicked on a social ad only.” The study continued to state that the search campaigns that were managed alongside social ad campaigns had 26 percent more revenue per click than search campaigns managed alone. Additionally, the integration of ad campaign management for the two channels yielded 68 percent higher revenue per conversion for search campaigns when managed with social advertising. “Successful marketing executives recognize that meeting overall business objectives requires focusing on the customer, not the channel,” Marin said in its report. “For example, a channel-focused approach is mainly concerned with the right keywords, the right targeting settings and the best bids. While a single-channel management focus can have some tactical advantages, it often ignores the strategic goals of the overall marketing effort: acquiring the right customer with the right buying intentions at the right time. “Marketing is fundamentally about target audience, while the channel is the means of delivering a message to that audience. Successful marketers are beginning to shift focus away from the individual channel and instead use the strengths of each channel to reach their intended audience.” Marin said the results of the research are better understood when we put ourselves in the customer”s shoes: “As customers, we are generally more likely to buy a brand when we believe its message, trust the company and see value in the product. When these purchase criteria are positively reinforced through multiple channels, we are typically more comfortable buying from the brand.” So what does all of this mean? Quite simply it means that your marketing channels should be an closely integrated as possible. At MarketingModo we are big support of marketing integration and I think Marin said it perfectly that focusing on a single channel can certainly provide some advantages from a tactical standpoint but more often than not it completely bypasses the strategic side of marketing and how everything ties together. This whitepaper is looking just at the integration of paid search and social but the same principle applies through all marketing channels whether it is PPC and SEO, Social and Email, Email and PPC and so on. Marketing integration is where you need to be. The reason why is simple – more revenue for you.

About Thomas Ford

Tom Ford heads up Digital Strategy for MarketingModo. He works with the agency team to explore the boundaries of digital for MarketingModo clients, utilizing all the tools and channels available to create perfect digital journeys.

A native of Pittston, Pennsylvania in the heart of coal country but currently living in Germantown, Maryland, Tom loves nothing more than checking out the latest in the digital marketing and web design world . On the weekends, you can find Tom hiking, curled up with a good book or plotting his next international escapade.