[Editor's note: This is the sixth "link" in a 10-part series. The first, Do You Have Broken Links?, appeared on Mar. 23. Check back Friday, May 4, for link seven: display advertising acquisition chains.]
Paid search is a more complex customer acquisition chain than all the others, as there is an extra link involved. Consumers search on a particular term and then see organic and paid ads, from which they choose. Clicking on any of those links takes them to the advertiser’s site. As a result, the initial link “ad message” now becomes two links: search term and search results page. After that, the rest of the links are the same. For this analysis, we entered four keywords based on products/services that we were interested in purchasing.
Search No. 1: Product: HP98 printer ink cartridge. Advertiser: 4inkjets.com: Link: (See hyperlink). This is an excellent example of a perfect CAC. The search results page for keyword “HP 98 cartridge” leads to a page featuring the 4 Ink Jets ad that is specific to the 98 cartridge, a low price and special deal when you buy three and more. It’s extremely well done. Clicking on the link takes you to the exact page on the site where it’s easy to buy the product. This is a home run CAC if there ever was one!
Search No. 2: Service: Carpeting Cleaning. Advertiser: Sears. Link: (See hyperlink). A search on “cheap carpet cleaning” leads us to the Sears paid search ad, which was the only one featuring a price ($89) which probably is an advantage as it seems like an inexpensive price. This link leads to a page featuring the $89 price and shows the consumer other related services, such as upholstery cleaning, air duct cleaning and dryer vent cleaning. You enter your ZIP code to get started. It’s a 100 percent relevant CAC experience.
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