ZERO CLICK SEARCHES BECOMING THE NORM
Marketers can no longer rely on SEO for leads – new customers!
SYNOPSIS: Google’s AI generated answers, AI-Overview, and other AI-driven answer engines (ChatGPT, etc) are decimating organic website traffic. There’s an alarming growing trend of “zero-click” searches where users find the information they need directly on the search results page without clicking through to any website. Significant number of websites are experiencing a huge drop in organic traffic. Some publishers are reporting a 75% decline in website traffic originating from organic search results (SERPs). Companies that have historically relied on leads from organic searches now face an existential crisis!
WHAT IS A ZERO CLICK SEARCH: A zero-click search occurs when the user (searcher) gets the answer / desired information … at the top of search results page (SERP) … thus causing the search to end … no need to scroll down to click available websites shown in SERP.
ZERO-CLICK SEARCHES CAUSING HUGE DROP IN ORGANIC TRAFFIC
WHAT IS A GOOD CTR FOR SEO: As shown in below chart, Search CTR changes by position … with top position receiving the most clicks. Note that above CTRs represent an average across an array of Google searches and industries, though the primary storyline is the same … for all industries and query types … CTR significantly decreases as ranking position goes down.
RANKING IN TOP 10 IS NO LONGER ENOUGH: These days a top-10 SEO ranking is not enough because fewer and fewer users are scrolling down. Per above chart, just to get a CTR above 10% a page would require placement in the top 5 of Google search results. And even a ranking in the top 5 is not enough … unless the query gets thousands of monthly SEO visits.
ORGANIC TRAFFIC DOWN - WHY ARE SEO LEADS DECLINING? Many theories on this topic, though there’s a growing consensus the downtrend stems from Google’s Search Generative Experience (SGE) … and other AI-driven answer engines such as ChatGPT. These AI Overviews (AIOs) are stealing traffic that typically would’ve gone to website links listed in search results. And it’s only going to get worse. AI overviews … which appear before the SERPs (website links) … will become longer, offering in depth answers and context … giving searchers less of an incentive to scroll down and click on links. Bottom-line, Google’s zero-click answers, and AI overviews will eventually dominate search result pages.
SOLUTION = BUILD BRAND AWARENESS: Recent studies show that almost 50% of Google searches are now brand driven … meaning people go to Google with a name/brand in mind. Knowing this fact, marketers must avoid an over-reliance on search and start investing more resources into building brand awareness … start convincing potential customers to search for their product/service …brand name.
MARKETING CHANNELS TO BUILD AWARENESS
DIRECT MAIL CAMPAIGN: No ad medium competes with direct mail … which bypasses the digital clutter and puts brand directly in the hands of potential buyers. Plus, unlike digital, direct mail has a significantly longer shelf-life; a mail piece can be placed on the refrigerator or coffee table for weeks. Plus, direct mail has the advantage of multi-readership … multiple people in the household can see the offer … big benefit for products/services that can appeal to multiple family members. The only weakness of direct mail is cost, though here at DMD we offer options for cutting direct mail cost in half!
EMAIL CAMPAIGN: Can’t lose with email marketing since the cost is so low … compared to other ad mediums. Plus, email marketing often has pinpoint targeting qualifiers that are not available with other mediums. Plus, with email the marketer has the benefit of testing multiple offers, creatives, selling angles, etc. Often marketers use metrics from email campaigns to guide their higher cost direct mail campaigns.
DISPLAY AD CAMPAIGN: Display ad campaigns have significantly greater reach than email marketing, thus a display ad campaign is perfect choice if the goal is to present your brand to as many qualified buyers as possible. Click Here for benefits to a pinpoint targeting display ad campaign.
SOCIAL AD CAMPAIGN: Social platforms (Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, etc) are effective “if” your Target Market is generic … doesn’t require custom qualifiers such as exact age, high net worth/income, etc. Example, Facebook’s doesn’t offer a net worth filter, and the income is modeled at the “zip code” level … resulting in highly inaccurate data … aka wasteful ad spending.