· Conventional merchandise advertising channels, like metro newspapers and broadcast spots, are losing revenue to online marketing channels.

· Economic weakness, job losses and slowdowns in key industries caused disappointing Holiday 2008 sales and caution in consumer spending that ripples up the supply and demand chain.

But, what gets less play in economic bad news cycles is the unconventional results, such as:

· Online retail sales outperformed brick-and-mortar store sales for the 2008 shopping season. According to credit card network data on total sales for November-December, conventional store sales were down as much as 8% compared to 2007 … but online shoppers pulled back only 2% on their shopping.

· Citing Personal Electronics and Discount/Independent Merchandisers in particular, comScore (an online market tracker) concluded:

“A positive note is that e-commerce trends outperformed overall consumer spending in several product categories, which is to say that e-commerce continued to capture an increasing share of consumers’ wallets.” (comScore Chairman Gian Fulgoni)

· Then there’s data on the companies who plan to increase their advertising spending this year … but only in measurable and trackable online channels, like pay-per-click search ads and online ads that charge by the sales action or customer lead that they draw. (Vertical Search – B2B – Report 2009 e-Consultancy and Convera)

One of the biggest reasons for gloom & doom reports on failing newspapers or declining revenues for traditional advertising channels — versus the bright spots of online advertising and e-commerce — is also the reason why search advertising now outperforms even other online ad formats …

Search advertising reaches customers and buyers who started the transaction. They’re in active mode, searching for a product or brand, whether they are a retail customer or a wholesaler or a manufacturer.

Push Vs. Pull
This basic fact about search advertising is at the center of the difference between PUSH MARKETING strategies and PULL MARKETING techniques.

The traditional marketing approach is to develop a sales message that is pushed out to a mass audience through broadcast channels (TV, radio) and mass market print publications (newspapers, general interest magazines.) Push advertisers cannot insist that their message be heard. In fact, the first and most difficult step in traditional advertising is snagging the target audience’s attention. They didn’t ask for the ad. And even a captive audience for a popular TV show finds other things to do during commercial breaks.

In contrast, a PULL marketing technique attracts buyers or prospects who are self-selected and already interested. They’re pre-qualified potential customers because they are drawn to a seller based on their own actions and needs.

In search advertising, the potential buyer initiates the marketing message by requesting product information through questions, queries and keywords they enter into a search site. (Pull marketing has become even more flexible and customer-driven when those search questions are entered on a smart phone, Blackberry or other mobile device.)

Pull Marketing Through Vertical Search

This pull vs. push benefit of search advertising doesn’t work only at the retail customer end of the chain. Search sites and search engines that serve specialized industries and professions pull buyers and sellers from every level – manufacturers, wholesalers and import/exporters … academics, researchers, licensing boards and manufacturing reps … national chain store merchandise buyers, distributors and small online auction entrepreneurs.

Specialized and industry-focused search sites are called Vertical Search Engines. Because of their expert community focus, vertical search sites tend to offer better buyer prospects and higher rates of conversion-to-sale. Comparing results from advertising on vertical search sites against ads run on broad consumer-focused (i.e., mass audience) search sites, an analyst at Forbes.com noted:

Advertisers on vertical sites are able to reach potential customers who are much closer to making a purchase decision than the average user on Google or Yahoo.

Kelsey Group Analyst Greg Sterling, Forbes.com

Now that we know search advertising outperforms nearly every other paid marketing effort, online or offline, the next step is to create successful search ads. We’ll look at copywriting, keywords, different search ad formats and costs in an upcoming issue of Top Ten Wholesale Newsroom.

Other SEM – Search Engine Marketing – resources include:

1. Keywords: How to use keywords on web pages, in links, in search ads to gain traffic, click-through, search results page rankings and maximum attention.

See Right Keywords Lead Prospects to the Right Stuff .

2. Personalize Search Ads With Dynamic Keyword Tool .

3. If you’re a merchandise or apparel wholesaler, scan the search ad, display ad, directory listings and other marketing opportunities on the JPC network, which includes: Vertical search sites Top Ten Wholesale.com and Off-Price Network.com; Product directory listings in Wholezilla and WholesaleU; plus Wholesale-Only Blogs and information-sharing sites.

See Advertising at TopTenWholesale .

4. If you’re a manufacturer, importer/exporter or wholesaler interested in reaching a global marketplace and accessing opportunities in China, see directory and sponsored listings, plus search marketing opportunities, through Manufacturer.com Business Search Engine.