Marketers have long relied on paid search ads to protect their brand presence in search results.
But this strategy might cost more than it’s worth – especially when organic listings can do the job just as well.
The evolution of brand search strategy
The PPC industry’s approach to brand search investment has a notable history.
In 2011, Google published an influential incrementality study claiming that 89% of paid search ad clicks were not replaced by organic clicks when ads were paused.
This research became the foundation of Google’s advocacy for brand term investment, shaping marketing strategies for over a decade.
However, the study had significant limitations. It:
Focused solely on auctions with multiple competitors, a scenario not reflective of many brand searches.
Overlooked situations where brand terms trigger ads without competitor presence, where paid clicks likely replace organic clicks, resulting in unnecessary ad spend.
Subsequent research and real-world experience have challenged these findings, particularly in non-competitive contexts.
While Google’s research encouraged aggressive brand bidding, leading marketers now adopt a more selective approach based on actual competitive presence.
Understanding user behavior in brand search
The foundation of this new approach is understanding how users interact with search results for specific brands.
When users search with branded terms, especially longer-tail queries for specific products or services, they typically have high intent and brand awareness.
In these instances, organic results often perform well, especially when the query aligns closely with the user’s intent.
For example, if someone searches for “Acme Supply Company latex gloves,” they are likely familiar with the product and ready to purchase.
Even if competitors offer lower prices, users generally stick with their original brand choice.
This behavior indicates that heavy brand bidding on such specific queries may be unnecessary.
The reality of brand conquesting
One of the most persistent arguments for heavy brand bidding is the fear of competitor conquesting.
“If we don’t bid on our brand terms, competitors will capture our traffic,” I’ve heard this said in countless strategy meetings.
However, years of analyzing conquesting campaign performance across industries reveal a different story.
Performance metrics from competitor conquesting campaigns consistently show underwhelming returns.
Our agency’s experience managing these campaigns highlights a clear pattern: they typically deliver poor ROAS compared to other paid search strategies.
While they may yield some results, they often fall short of other approaches. Data indicates that users searching for specific brands are highly resistant to competitor offers.
This raises an important question: if our carefully crafted conquesting campaigns struggle to deliver significant returns, why worry about competitors targeting our brand terms?
The evidence suggests that competitors likely experience similar challenges.
This insight should reshape our approach to defensive brand bidding.
Rather than maintaining high brand spend out of competitive fear, we can adopt a more measured strategy based on actual performance data.
Our experience shows that competitor conquesting efforts rarely have the devastating impact many advertisers fear.
Dig deeper: When to use branded and competitor keywords in PPC
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The rise of intelligent brand bidding solutions
The market is responding to the need for more strategic brand bidding with innovative solutions.
Various technologies now allow for monitoring competitive presence in brand auctions and adjusting bids accordingly.
This reflects a broader industry recognition of the importance of more targeted brand bidding strategies.
These tools typically offer features like:
Real-time competitive auction monitoring.
Automated bid adjustments based on competitor presence.
Detailed reporting on brand term cannibalization.
Using our agency’s proprietary tool, we’ve seen savings of up to 20% on brand spend without compromising total revenue.
When analyzing performance holistically across both paid and organic channels, we often see aggregate revenue growth as we can reallocate funds to finding new buyers.