Search Plus Social is a Force Multiplier

Apparently the combination of search and social ads is incredibly powerful. According to a recent study from Marin Software that we first read about in Search Engine Land, conversions nearly double when advertisers integrate search and social campaigns.

Users who clicked on both the search and social ads spent twice as much time and money than those who only clicked on the search ad. The contrast with social ads was more stark, with combination users having a 4X higher conversion than those who only clicked on the social ad.

Not only was conversion higher, but average spend shot up when search and social were integrated.

One easy inference we can draw is that search and social ads have complementary roles in the path to purchase, and these work together to improve the outcome.


“Search has the powerful ability to ‘pull’ consumers through queries of intent,” says a summary of the report’s findings. “And social offers its own unique ability to ‘push’ a message to highly targeted audiences.”

These are pretty powerful data, and they make intuitive sense. Back when traditional media ruled the day, the data always supported the notion of using media in combination to drive purchase behavior. When the increased precision and targeting of digital media, it only stands to reason that smart integration will lead to better outcomes.

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