Branded Search advertising refers to paid search campaigns that target keywords containing your brand name, product names, or other brand-specific terms. These campaigns appear when users search for your company or products directly, allowing you to control the search results experience and protect your brand presence.
Branded Search advertising is also often referred to as Branded Keyword Advertising, Branded PPC (Pay-Per-Click), Brand Keyword Campaigns.
When customers search for terms like "Nike shoes," "Apple iPhone," or "Coca-Cola," branded search ads ensure your company appears prominently in the search results, even if competitors are also bidding on your brand terms. These ads typically appear above organic search results and can include additional information like site links, prices, and promotions. Below is an example of a Nike's Branded Search ad:
Traditionally, the effectiveness of Branded Search has been measured with ROAS reported by last-click attribution or advertising platforms' own attribution method. Today, the golden standard for measuring the ROI of Branded Search is to use an approach that is based on incrementality. This is especially relevant for Branded Search, because typically only 10-20% of conversions reported by the advertising platform for Branded Search are truly incremental.
When assessing tools for measuring Branded Search, a growth-minded digital marketer should look for a tool that provides:
In practice, this is only possible with a solution that combines Marketing Mix Modeling, Incrementality tests, and attribution data. Sellforte is an example of one such tool. Below is an example of an advertising channel level analysis from the Sellforte demo with Google Search Brand highlighted.
As another example from the Sellforte demo, the view below should campaign-level ROI and recommendations for branded search.
To complement incrementality-based measurement, a digital marketer can also use Media Metrics reported by advertising platforms, which are illustrated in the picture below. While incrementality-based measurement provides the single-source-of-truth for effectiveness, Media Metrics can provide additional insights into what's driving the ROI. As an example, an increase in ROI could be explained by an increase in Average Order Value due to reaching an audience that buys more on average.
Metrics in the full include:
Optimization of Branded Search should be done on three levels:
For each of these levels, its critical to leverage response curves. Advertising response curves capture the diminishing return effect of marketing, and determine whether the channel has room to scale or not, as illustrated below:
Because the response curves are dynamic and change every week based on the volume of available branded keyword searches, it is practically impossible to do the optimization manually. This is why there are optimization tools provided by measurement vendors, such as Sellforte. Below are examples of optimization views from the Sellforte demo.
1. Channel-level budget optimization scenarios:
2. Optimal spend allocation by week:
3. Recommended budget changes by campaign:
Despite its widespread adoption, branded search advertising faces several legitimate criticisms from marketers and industry experts:
| Aspect | Branded Search | Non-Branded Search |
| Intent | High (users know you brand) | Variable (users exploring options) |
| Search Volume | Low - Limited number of people search for the brand | High - Many keywords available |
| Keyword competition | Low (fewer advertisers bidding) | High (many competitors bidding) |
| Typical incrementality factor (% of attributed conversions that are incremental) | 10-20% | Larger variance, but often around 50-60% |
| Cost-Per-Click (CPC) | Lower CPC | Higher CPC |
| Click-through-Rate (CTR) | Low - Limited number of people search for the brand | Lower CTR |
Solution: Expand keyword lists to include product names, common misspellings, and branded + category combinations (e.g., "Nike running shoes").
Solution: Maintain consistent presence with competitive bids and compelling ad copy that emphasizes your unique advantages.
Solution: Test branded campaigns by measuring incremental lift over organic results, focusing on total brand traffic rather than just paid metrics.
Branded search should be viewed as both a defensive and offensive marketing tactic. While it protects existing brand equity, it also provides opportunities to:
Branded Search advertising represents a fundamental component of every digital marketing strategy, offering opportunities to drive revenue, and protect and enhance brand presence in search results. When measured and optimized properly with tools able to account for true incrementality of marketing, Branded Search campaigns can drive business drive growth while strengthening overall brand equity and market position.