Understanding demand: How search data can improve your marketing performance

What are search trends?

Search trends shouldn’t be confused with search volume. Search volume data can reveal how many people are looking for terms related to your products and services. Search trends show you how that demand is shifting over time — and whether it’s a fleeting fad or a long-term change.

Google Trends can filter that data by region and category and by a time period of your choice, from the past few weeks to a number of years, reaching as far back as 2004.

For example, when we look at global search interest for the term “next day delivery” over a two-year period from the start of 2020, it provides a useful insight into shifting consumer demand. It indicates that interest in next-day delivery services increased at the start of the pandemic and has been sustained since, with a notable spike every year in the week before Christmas.

Why are search trends useful for advertisers?

Search trends provide powerful insight into consumer demand as it rises and falls at a global or regional level. As an online advertiser, you can use data covering past, present, and future search trends to explore terms relevant to your business and adjust your marketing activity — including your ad campaigns — accordingly.

Google Trends is a good starting point, offering a snapshot of what people are searching for in real-time, while tools such as search trend insights, available on the Insights page, give a more in-depth look, tailored for ad performance. For those focusing on Search campaigns, Keyword Planner is invaluable, enabling advertisers to find the right keywords and see how they might perform.

For example, if you observe a rise in search interest in “next day delivery” every Christmas, you might decide to not only ensure you offer this service but also to push it prominently in your Google Ads campaigns.

When it comes to products, your business can use the information to manage its supply chain and stock levels better and help ensure that when you’re advertising a product or service, you can meet any extra demand.

4 key ways to harness search trend data to benefit your business

Search trend data provides advertisers with valuable insight into consumer intent and is especially useful in periods when shopper behaviours are radically shifting. Here are four ways search trend data can help you improve your ad performance and grow your business.

1. Get ahead of future demand

   Google Ads’ Insights page has a demand forecasts feature, which uses historical data to predict search trends over the next 180 days. You can use it to see if demand is expected to increase for the products and services you sell — and by how much — so you can plan ahead with your stock and marketing activity and ensure the two are aligned.

2. Stay in tune with seasonal shoppers

   Even seasonal demand can be nuanced and liable to change, which can create complications in everything from inventory and cost planning to marketing budgets. With Google Trends, you can explore search interest over various time periods to help stay attuned to shopper behaviours as the seasons shift, such as people increasingly searching for “Christmas gift ideas” as early as August.

3. Become more geographically relevant

   When you search for a term in Google Trends, a map shows areas where that term is popular. The platform allows you to zoom in on the map to compare demand in specific areas. Using this knowledge, you can direct marketing budget to the areas where it will be most effective with the help of Local Services Ads.

   It’s also useful in identifying potential new markets at home and abroad where you’re not currently providing services or goods but where search interest points to strong levels of demand.

4. Inform your keyword strategy

   Google Trends can also be used in conjunction with the Keyword Planner for a deeper understanding of which words and phrases people are using to find products and services like yours. The Keyword Planner will tell you how much interest there is in a given keyword, while Google Trends can help you work out whether that interest is going up or down.

   While most advertisers increasingly rely on automation to build their keyword list, researching different keywords can help in building up a better understanding of the popularity over time of the words and phrases causing your ads to show up.