My current MUNI reading is “Click: What Millions of People Are Doing Online and Why It Matters” by Bill Tancer, and it’s already made its way into my Top Reads for Marketers list. Tancer, who is the general manager of global research at Hitwise, states that you can tell a great deal about who people are and what they’re thinking about by looking at trends in search volume. This thesis falls in line with my own experimentation using Google’s Insights for Search tool. For example, below is a graph of the search term “economy” from 2005 through this October. The graph is relatively smooth over the first 3 years and then spikes in the past two months, reaching its peak in October. Sounds quite consistent with the trends we've seen in the public media, doesn't it?
If we can use search volume to measure what issues people are thinking about, it also stands to reason that we can gain insights about product trends. Next, let’s look at a graph comparing “dvd” to “youtube.” One would think that the graph would show an inverse correlation, as more people are getting their video fix from sites like YouTube instead of buying DVDs. And that’s exactly what it looks like. In the chart below the blue line represents “dvd,” while “youtube” is shown by the red line. The search term “dvd,” while still showing regular peaks during the holidays, has gradually declined throughout the period. The term “youtube,” however, has shown a remarkably linear increase in popularity. In October, “dvd” reached its lowest relative search volume index (19) as “youtube” was at its highest point (100). Once again, Google search volume seems to provide a relatively accurate depiction of external trends.
These examples are only a small representation of the ways in which tools such as this one can be used. If we can learn to understand the vast amount of search volume data available to us we will be able to gain much deeper insight into our consumers: who they are, what they are thinking about, what products they are searching for and which brands they prefer. What does Insights for Search say about your brands and products?
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