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So, I've been writing again (audible sighs), this time on the enigma, the riddle, the tantalising opportunity that is Share of Search https://www.jaywing.com/views/opinion/share-of-search-everything-you-need-to-know-and-why-it-matters-to-your-brand/ As ever, what I've written is hella long so here is the TLDR:
Share of Search (SOS) is the % share of brand search your brand gets within your category. Whilst this is already used by SEOs, work by people like @BinetLes & @JCPHankins highlights how SOS can be used alongside Brand metrics like Share of Voice (SOV) & Share of Market (SOM)
Combined SOV and SOM can help brands to work out their ESOV (Excess Share of Voice). Brands with ESOV see increases in SOM of time. This is important as it helps us understand what marketing needs to be done in order for us to achieve our clients goals. https://www.nielsen.com/us/en/insights/article/2009/budgeting-for-the-upturn-does-share-of-voice-matter/
BUT SOV and SOM are both ball aches to find. SOV in particular also has some fairly sizeable issues in terms of accuracy (its not...)
SOS potentially offers a stop gap solution. Les Binet found that there was a strong correlation between SOS and SOM. with SOS acting as a predictor for SOM changes, acting as an early warning system for changes. https://ipa.co.uk/news/binet-presents-fast-cheap-predictive-share-of-search-metric/
@markritson also postulated (i know, big word for me) that SOS could act as an alterative to SOV, offering a "simple and elegant alternative" https://www.marketingweek.com/mark-ritson-share-of-search-share-of-voice/
But its important to remember that there are some drawbacks on this. @LeShann highlights "SOV is a measure of input. A thermostat. But when it comes to your share of search, you’re measuring an outcome. It’s a thermometer"
Gailynn Nicks highlights the difficulties of using a metric like this, stating that marketers need to "think about how much work needs to go into setting up a reasonable SoS measure, especially if you want to cover brand/Masterbrand or multiple markets." https://gailynn-nicks.medium.com/share-of-search-as-a-market-share-metric-some-thoughts-on-les-binets-presentation-at-effworks-273f5724e3ea
This is important as there is a nuance to keyword research and the intention of a user can vary dramatically from term to term, market to market. And that’s before we think about the difficulties around getting this information alongside behemoth brands like Amazon...
(Also, as an aside, as someone from a Search background I'm at how many marketers are only just discovering that you can use keyword research to better understand users, their intent, how they search and look for a brand. "integrated marketing" eh?)
Whilst its still very early days, something like SOS could be very useful for brands right now.
Use SOS as the canary in the mine - SOS trends can help inform shifts in market share. Getting on top of these early can allow you to adjust before your market share is impacted.
Use SOS as the canary in the mine - SOS trends can help inform shifts in market share. Getting on top of these early can allow you to adjust before your market share is impacted.
You can also use SOS to understand Media Performance. You can use SOS to understand the effectiveness of your ads and highlight potential other issues i.e. conversion. Honestly, I can't fit the depth of this in a tweet. Have a gander. Its good. Promise! https://www.kantar.com/uki/inspiration/advertising-media/share-of-search-your-moment-has-arrived
And for SEOs, whilst this isn’t massively new ( @SEOMalc's been talking about this for yonks) its good to understand the value the metric can provide broader marketing discussions and plans, rather than just in our own little bubble.
For anyone interested in learning more about SOS from people who actually know what they are talking about, @BinetLes and @JCPHankins are doing a free webinar on it, looking at SOS as a brand metric and how to use it effectively. https://ipa.co.uk/events-listing/a-new-way-to-track-consumer-demand/
