Pontiac Driving Google as a Destination
A week ago, Garrett French had a conversation with Mike Grehan about controlling search behavior. Garrett mentioned to me about an interesting point Mike had on how marketers will start to use search as a destination such as a television, print or even online ad saying “Google us!”.

At the time my response was that it would only work for Fortune 500 companies. I also didn't see the use of driving people to search engines using online media such as email or banner ads. Then I saw GM to Car Shoppers: "Google Pontiac and Discover For Yourself" by Max Kalehoff.

This article brought me to a new conclusion. It’s all about increasing consumer confidence in your brand.

Here are a few ideas I came up with initially. I’m sure there are plenty more out there to use this kind of tactic.

- In addition to a testimonials section, a link to a Google search where people are saying nice things about your company could be stronger and more trusted than the same thing on your own site.

- In addition to a news section, you could use the top results from Google news on a particular search to show that you’re not just making your own news but global news.

- Instead of posting your press releases on your site, you link to the Google news version of the release. For small companies the impact could be beneficial to expand their brand and say to clients, don’t take our word for it, “ask Google!”

- In support of an article, build confidence in your expertise by linking to a search on the subject with results supporting your conclusions.

Wrapping it up
So yes, search results can be used as an on site marketing tool and can have a positive impact on a site’s interaction with their users. And yes, you don’t have to be a F500 company or have a huge off-line budget to benefit.

Obviously this would not be an effective tactic unless you have some positive buzz out there on the internet already. This would also require staunch review of the things being said online during the course of the campaign to avoid a PR mishap like driving site traffic to negative press or competitors in case someone decides to link bomb the term, release negative articles or blog posts.

You probably also want to be sure your other online channels are synched up with the campaign to avoid the problem of letting other people buy your buzz. Kalehoff points out that “there were no obvious Pontiac paid search listings at the time, only those of competitors and dealers”. Finally, try to think beyond Google because any engines results could be used for the same purpose.
Adam Schultz - MarketSmart Interactive | permalink | +marktd |