the future of online...

THE FUTURE OF ONLINE SEARCHNo matter where consumers search for information they expect the brand to provide clear and accurate answers, right away

IN ASSOCIATION WITH

3 | THE FUTURE OF ONLINE SEARCH © 2019 FORBES INSIGHTS

Introduction

As artificial intelligence powers today’s search and discovery experiences and answers to consumers’ questions grow increasingly sophisticated and specific, brands are working to keep up with users’ expectations for a seamless experience. No longer limited to finding answers on a brand’s website,

consumers are now likely to search non-brand—or third-

party—touchpoints like maps, apps, search engines, review

sites, voice assistants and more. In turn, brands are evolving

to ensure they provide answers wherever customers search—

but are they evolving fast enough?

To learn how consumers view brand interactions throughout

their journey—from when they first discover a brand to the

moment they become loyal customers—Forbes Insights and

Yext surveyed more than 500 consumers in the United States.

This report highlights key research findings and suggests a

path forward for companies aiming to improve.

No matter where consumers search for information they expect the brand to provide clear and accurate answers, right away.


Key Findings

Consumers trust search engines and third-party sources for information on brands that are new to them:Non-customers trust search engines. Almost half of current customers say the brand’s

site is one of their most trusted sources, while 42% of those new to a brand most

trust search engine results (more than the 39% who trust that brand’s website).

Third-party sites play a key role in a customer’s journey for information about brands: Consumers are often looking for information about a variety of brands and tend to find

these sites more convenient, more objective and faster.

In the next five years:It will be increasingly important for brands to control the entire online experience

across platforms and channels.


The Landscape Of Brand Information

Both existing and new customers look to two main sources for clear and accurate information about a brand: the brand’s website and search engine results.In the digital era, consumers are no longer limited to traditional

ways of gathering information about companies and products.

And that’s true whether they are longtime customers of a brand

or learning about a product for the first time. Information about

a brand’s products, hours and contact information, services,

menus, events and more is available to consumers from a wide

array of ever-increasing sources.

Current customers are slightly more likely to trust the brand’s

own site. Customers new to the brand are more likely to trust

search engine results, with the popularity of both of these

buoyed by older customers’ preferences (Table 1).

Table 1.

Most-Trusted Sites

Existing Customers

Brand website

Search engine results

48%

45%

New Customers

Brand website

Search engine results

42%

39%

As a wholesaler serving over 4,600 independently owned

and operated hardware stores, the Chicago-based True

Value Company aims to meet customers where they are.

“Over the last couple of years, we’ve shifted our advertising

and communications focus to be hyperlocal and digital,

including search,” says David Elliot, SVP of marketing.

�“We’ve�made�significant�technology investments—including re-platforming our website—to back that up and support our brick and mortar stores for the online/offline world in which consumers live.”

Search engines are popular with consumers, who ask a wide

range of questions. According to real-time figures from

Internet Live Stats, Google alone handles about 75,000

searches every second. When it comes to brand information,

like phone number, address, menu or product listings, half

of a brand’s current customers almost always use a search

engine to find what they’re looking for, while two-thirds of

new customers almost always use search engines.

Despite the high use of social media sites by both old and

young consumers—and the fact that so many people access

these sites daily—social media doesn’t break into the top half

of the list of most-trusted sites for brand information. This is

an area to watch going forward, as younger consumers look

for brand information on these sites twice as often compared

with older consumers. Both current and potential customers

are slowly adopting voice assistants like Alexa or Siri,

mobile apps and local business directories—so brands

can take the lead in this growing space with forward-

thinking, scalable strategies.


“Search engines are becoming more like portals. In many

cases, customers don’t leave the search engine because it contains the information they need, from maps to

opening hours to feedback and comments. This provides a

lot of what they need without going further.”

DAVID ELLIOT

SVP of Marketing


The Search For Information

In addition to keeping their own online properties and accounts current, brands can better reach consumers by incorporating third-party resources into their strategies.

Non-Brand SitesThird-party sites (like social media, Yelp or Google) provide a

valuable service—they can educate consumers about a product

category, allow users to compare products and brands and

more. Almost half of surveyed consumers use third-party sites

and apps to find information about multiple brands at once.

Precisely because these sites are not owned by the brand,

consumers use them as validation: A third of consumers use

third-party sites and apps because they trust them to provide

objective information.

While consumers look to third-party sites for impartiality and

autonomy from the brand, they still expect the information to

be accessible, accurate and aligned with the brand’s message.

Sixty percent of the consumers surveyed say they’re looking

to be able to move across the brand site, third-party sites

and apps, reviews, social media and even in-person to find

consistent, accurate information. That makes it critical for

brands to deliver a seamless, omnichannel experience that

extends beyond brand boundaries.

True Value gives its independent retailers the ability to

manage their own ratings and reviews on sites like Google

My Business. The data is more relevant to consumers

by reflecting what’s happening in that specific business

location—from opening hours to store events—and

enables retailers to create that omnichannel experience

for customers.

Once someone becomes a customer, he or she tends to

have confidence in the brand: Most current customers

trust the brand’s site over third-party sites. Before

customers purchase a product, however, they’re more

guarded and sometimes slow to build trust. When

discovering a brand for the first time, almost half (47%)

say they’re more likely to trust third-party sites like

search directories and social media. And that experience

ultimately affects consumers’ decisions to do business

with a brand. This suggests that when brands aim to

reach new customers, the responsibility for accurate

information and engagement is at least partially outside

the brand.

say they are usually looking for customer reviews of brands of products when they visit a third-party site.

45percent of consumers


Retailing is a response to culture,” says Elliot. “The degree to which the community is responding to [and using] something like Google or Amazon, it becomes part of our culture. As a retailer we need to be mindful and respond in a way that’s helpful.”

Reputation And ReviewsConsumers do read reviews and consider them relevant

to purchasing decisions. Both positive and negative

experiences make an impression on consumers and

thus influence the likelihood of a purchase or further

engagement. Respondents are about equally as willing

to focus on positive experiences—good reviews,

interactions with posts or enticing information, for

example—as they are to shy away from a brand based

on negative experiences.

These consumers are also receptive to sharing their

experiences with a brand and its products—just 11%

say they are frustrated when brands request a product

review and 41% say they pay more attention to positive

experiences where a brand interacts with their posts,

for example. People also trust and desire input from

their peers: Reading customer reviews is the top priority

for visiting third-party sites to research a brand and/or

products (more so than finding discounts or coupons).

Brands should focus on this consumer preference for the

input of others and solicit reviews on their own sites as well

as monitor and respond to feedback on third-party sites.

“What other people have said about products is very

important,” says Elliot. “Retailing has always been a

matter of putting things right in the customer’s eyes. So,

we work with a partner that helps us manage ratings and

reviews and those get lifted up to us so we can deal with

them quickly and we don’t repeat a problem.”

Brands’ ResponsibilitiesFor a variety of reasons, a brand’s own website is the

more preferred destination for consumers hoping to

interact with a brand (Table 2). Important for brands

to note, however, is that the margin isn’t huge and

consumers are looking to both the brand and third

parties to deliver an accessible, user-friendly and

informative experience. Third-party sites serve a

specific need, too: Consumers look to them most often

for consumer reviews (45%), but also for discounts and

details such as location and hours.

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Brand Site

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Table 2.

Top Reasons To Visit A Brand’s Website Vs. Third-Party Site

“


Improving The Brand Experience

Since customers hold the brand itself responsible for their experiences–whatever the information source–it’s essential for brands to develop strategies and tools to control and improve those experiences that happen outside their boundaries. Overall, consumers want brands to be more trustworthy and

engaging, particularly older consumers (Table 3).

In exploring this data to anticipate future trends, we see that

younger consumers are looking to brands differently than

older shoppers. They’re much more likely to want brands to

make it easier to buy products via a third-party site, and

to consider personalized offers for products they were

interested in but didn’t buy. Brands with primarily younger

customers may see benefits from focusing on expanding

their social media presence and offerings.

Consumers depend on brands for clear answers and a

navigable customer journey. Whether they’re searching for

brand information via social media, mobile apps, review sites

or search engines, consumers still hold the brand responsible

for their search experience and what they ultimately find.

We look at the customer funnel in terms of inspire, inform, equip and celebrate,” says Elliot.

“For some third-party sites, it’s clear where people are in

their journey—the user-generated content on our Facebook

site, for example, is all about celebrating a job well done.

From our point of view, it’s a matter of understanding where

customers are in the journey and fulfilling their needs with

different content in different spaces.”

Table 3.

Consumers’ Wishes To Improve Online Search Experience

Overall

18-3455+

Improved search on brand’s website

40%33%

49%

“


What do you wish brands would do in the next few years to improve your experience

searching for information online?

Improve the search

functionality of the website

Be more accessible when I search for a

product or service that the brand provides

Q

A

40% 30%


Today, consumers are increasingly sophisticated in how they search for information about brands. They’re looking for a seamless experience across the

online landscape and beyond the brand’s website to

include third-party sites like search engines, apps and

review sites. As technologies and expectations evolve,

how can brands meet customers at every stage of their

journey and answer their questions?

Research indicates that brands must focus on both

their own website and search engine results — which

include brand information sourced from across the web.

The survey results also emphasize that as generations

of potential customers move through the market, it’s

crucial for brands to reach outside their own boundaries,

incorporate the increasing importance of social media

sites into their strategies and identify smart ways to

effectively manage the entire online brand experience

across a range of platforms and channels.

Wherever they’re looking, consumers hold brands

accountable for the details. To keep up with those

expectations, brands should take the reins and provide

clear, consistent and accurate information on their own

sites and beyond.

BEST PRACTICES:

Maintainan accurate and up-to-date brand website, complete

with a search function that works as well as the third-

party search engines familiar to consumers.

Guaranteesearches return high quality results by ensuring that

tools like Google My Business and other directories

have updated and correct information.

Monitorand respond to customer questions, posts and

comments in a timely way across third-party sites,

including social media and review sites, voice assistants

and apps.

Conclusion


This report is based on a survey of 507 consumers in the United States.

Methodology

The survey was conducted in April 2019 by Forbes Insights. All

consumers are over the age of 18—48% male and 52% female. One third

of respondents are between the ages of 18 and 34, while 30% are 55

or older. All respondents have searched for information about brands

online in the past three months.


Forbes Insights and Yext would like to thank the following individual for their time and expertise:

DAVID ELLIOT

SVP of Marketing, True Value Company

Acknowledgments


MANYA CHYLINSKI

Report Author

is the strategic research and thought leadership practice of Forbes Media, a global media, branding and technology company.

By leveraging proprietary databases of senior-level executives

in the Forbes community, Forbes Insights conducts research on

a wide range of topics to position brands as thought leaders

and drive stakeholder engagement. Research findings are

delivered through a variety of digital, print and live executions,

and amplified across Forbes’ social and media platforms.

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