Fishburn Hedges

10.06.2010

Is it legitimate to use paid-for search marketing techniques as part of a crisis communications response? This is a question being asked by many in the media today, in response BP’s decision to use sponsored links to direct people to its information website.

This is clearly an emotive issue at present, but it is worth asking the question in a broad sense: should paid-for search be a part of the crisis communications toolkit?

Buying search terms is now a commonplace marketing tactic, and not just in times of crisis. And despite what the British press will lead you to believe, this method does not represent a deception of Google by wealthy corporations – the investment only buys a link clearly marked as ‘sponsored.’

More bother than it’s worth?

So, what do you get for your money? The chance to bring interested people (and you know they are interested because they’ve keyed the terms into Google) to your content, your viewpoint and your narrative, before they go elsewhere. If the media are downright hostile, as they can be in a crisis, this can be invaluable.

And if your own company’s page isn’t coming near the top of the main search results (behind the behemoths of the BBC and Wikipedia, for example) then the extra exposure from buying sponsored positioning can make a huge difference.

But, if you buy search terms that don’t sit easily with your company’s brand or content you risk alienating people who, by definition of what they are searching for, don’t want to hear from your organisation. And as already noted, if the media is watching your every move and analysing how you are ‘handling the crisis’, the tactic itself can become a story for an alarmist media who possibly don’t quite understand the online world.

Search is dead

If search then isn’t always the answer, what else is out there? This week, more than others, is a good moment to ask with the news that social networks have over-taken search engines as the UK’s most popular online destination. This reinforces the need to ensure your Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn etc presences are up to scratch (probably something for another blog altogether).

Another recent development is Apple’s new iPhone operating software, and specifically their ‘ads within apps’. Ostensibly this looks like a replacement, and significant upgrade on, the traditional banner ad, but if Apple’s argument that people will spend more time on apps and less on browsers comes true, then companies may need to think about the possibilities in this area, rather than focusing on Google.

All of this slightly geeky analysis should not for one second mean you ignore the bigger picture of getting your messaging, media and stakeholder relations right in a crisis. But it should mean that when some bright spark suggests buying search terms, someone else in the room with a slightly broader perspective will be able to join the dots and show how this could play out as part of the wider comms effort.