Brand Can Be Measured
Most B2B and D2C companies report on either ROAS or CAC. The Share of Search Council knows that the best way to get a business aligned on brand marketing investments is simple: you can measure brand.
A strong brand drives CAC down. The correlation should be negative: the more people who already know you, the less you spend to acquire them. If CAC stays high despite brand marketing investments, look at product, pricing, or distribution before increasing spend.
On the ROAS side, brands with higher branded search have more people in an active consideration set, which means advertising converts more efficiently.
To convince your leadership team, run the correlations. Show branded search against CAC, ROAS, sales, and market share. When they see it in their own data, the case for mixing brand and performance marketing makes itself.
Airbnb is the proof.
They pivoted from performance marketing to brand in 2020. Branded search demand doubled from 2021 to 2023. Their CFO confirmed CAC fell and ROI improved as a direct result. Today 90% of their traffic is direct or unpaid.
The chart above shows exactly that story. A brand that invested in being known, and got rewarded with lower acquisition costs and better returns on every ad they ran.
This is not theory. The metric exists. The method is proven. The only question is whether your organisation is ready to look.
