Search Market Audit – Mercedes Benz

Mercedes Benz, a case of supporting the business strategy.

• Brief

In 2005 Mercedes-Benz decided to review their SEO activities. They felt that they should be improving their performance in the Organic or Natural Search arena, but like many companies their SEO was lacking a strategic plan, budget allocation or accurate metrics. Before embarking on a technical optimisation project they needed to know how “success” could actually be measured and defined.

Mercedes-Benz engaged ISM to report on the size and nature of the specific Search Markets they perceived themselves to be in. They asked ISM to identify the players, the opportunities, and the competitive standard required to become the leader in each chosen market.

• Search Market Audit

ISM began by using its unique analytical tools to carve the data points, indexing a clear and natural market segmentation model. This is usually the first step towards a successful research programme for the client as it produces meaningful insights as early as possible. Just as with paid search or PPC, key phrases for Mercedes-Benz were assembled in naturally comprehensible micro-groups and the model assembled.

Then using ISM’s proprietary algorithmic tools a picture of market share and value was built up. From this data the current position was benchmarked. Market leaders were identified along with their share of the Consideration Set,* and the competitive standard required for Mercedes-Benz to compete successfully in each of the different segments.

• Analysis

The traffic volumes and levels of optimisation varied between markets, however it became clear that if they chose to align their technical site objectives with their optimisation ambitions, Mercedes-Benz could enter and dominate most of the markets they chose to participate in.

Across the different generic and branded keyword groups or markets, the competition for keywords varied from the casual to the downright aggressive. This often correlated with the market value of either the “browsey” or specific “product enquiry” nature of the search terms.

Working with their assigned ISM analyst, Mercedes-Benz were able to prioritise opportunities and threats creating both an immediate and a longer-term set of objectives.

For instance, in the short term, an obvious opportunity that they were missing was the high search volumes attached to key phrases including the misspelling ‘Merc’ – a popular, but off-brand term that Mercedes-Benz had not catered for in their strategy. Similarly, they had zero exposure in the more generic terms such as ‘luxury car’, a term that continues to elude them, but as arguably the most competitive term they seek to rank for, they feel that simply fits in with longer term objectives for which they are in the habit of attaining!

• Results

ISM were so confident of their data findings they guaranteed the uplift in traffic to Mercedes-Benz. In fact, by the end of the first year, site traffic had increased by 20% (close to ISM’s estimate) and total markets share was up by 45%.

The project is on-going and the client continues to use the insights provided. Over time ISM have been able to alert Mercedes-Benz as they identify trends and market movements in each of the segments. These may be driven by technical advantages acquired by Mercedes-Benz, lowering of competitive standards, or increasing market share of competitors.

Consideration Set – usage studies have shown that most user's mental shortlist for consideration are the top four results on a Search Engine page, also known sometimes as “Above-the-fold.”