Branded vs. Non-Branded Keywords in Marketing

Using both branded and non-branded keywords can be a game-changer for your digital marketing strategy.

Here, you’ll find:

• Definitions for branded and non-branded keywords
• When to use each keyword type
• How your competition factors into keyword choice
• Examples for using these keyword types effectively

From negative keywords to single keyword ad groups (SKAGs) and everything in between, keywords are at the heart of successful digital marketing. 

Branded keywords and non-branded keywords are no exception. In fact, these two keyword types can interact and support one another for results that are even greater than the sum of their parts.

The branded vs. non-branded keyword distinction often shows up in the context of pay-per-click (PPC) advertising. But the usefulness of these two keyword types applies to your entire digital marketing strategy. They can even help boost your search engine optimization (SEO) efforts. 

Branded vs. non-branded keywords

Branded keywords are keyword terms that include the name of your company or product, whereas non-branded keyword terms refer or relate to your company or products without the proper company name.

Let’s take the company Skimmer Drones as an example.

Skimmer Drones is that imaginary company’s core branded keyword term. Other terms like “Sky Skimmer products,” “drones by Sky Skimmer,” and “the Sky Skimmer line of drones” also count as branded keywords.

Meanwhile, non-branded keywords for Skimmer Drones would include things like “best-engineered drones,” “leading brands of drones,” and, more broadly, “airborne photography.”

In terms of organic search performance, one key difference between the two types of keywords is their reach.

Branded keyword terms address a potential audience who is already aware of and searching for your brand. On the other hand, non-branded keyword terms target an audience that is looking for similar companies or products to yours.

Branded searches on Google search typically target a narrower segment of potential customers than those searching non-branded keywords. However, it’s also the segment most likely to convert to a sale.

But while targeting branded keywords makes sense from a conversion standpoint, it’s just as important to consider non-branded search queries during keyword research to take advantage of a higher search volume and generate more organic traffic. 

Over time, both will help you gauge your overall SEO efforts and maximize returns when targeting and attracting new and existing customers.

Pro tip: Some keywords that have a brand name within the phrase but aren’t unique to a single brand or domain are considered non-branded, according to SEMrush.

How branded and non-branded keywords work together

In PPC marketing, non-branded keywords are a big factor when it comes to attracting more traffic and improving your paid search ROI. However, without branded terms, it can be hard to dominate the search engine results page (SERP) and stay ahead of the competition.

As Forbes reports, branded queries make up only 10% of all searches (80% are informational, while another 10% are transactional). Meanwhile, branded keywords have a 100% higher conversion rate than their non-branded partners.

Branded and non-branded keywords can complement each other well by targeting prospects at different stages of the sales funnel.

Branded keywords often have less competition and lower cost per click (CPC) while driving higher conversions. On the other hand, non-branded keywords increase visibility and brand awareness to help generate leads.

In short, ads with non-branded keywords help you appeal to the target audience at the top of the funnel, while branded keywords help drive the sale through. Think of their tandem as similar to the combined efforts of your sales and marketing teams.

Determining when to use branded and non-branded keywords

Using branded and non-keywords together is a helpful SEO tool that should be a key part of your SEO strategy. But what about your PPC strategy?

For some marketing strategists, using branded keywords in PPC campaigns may seem like a waste. After all, people who are already aware of your company and products won’t be using those search terms.

But that’s not necessarily the case.

If you compare the use of branded and non-branded keywords on Google Search Console and Google’s Keyword Planner, you may find that there are searches for branded keyword terms, albeit significantly lower than for key non-branded terms.

Nevertheless, analyzing when to use branded and non-branded keywords must be an important part of your PPC strategy and must be considered in the context of your own goals.

When to use branded keywords

Using branded keywords is part of a robust strategy; here’s when to use them:

 

1. When you want to increase conversions while spending less

Branded traffic is typically lower than non-branded traffic because they target a narrower audience. But that can be a good thing, too.

For one, advertising to users who are already searching for your products increases your likelihood of getting a conversion because they are already searching for your brand and looking to make a purchase.

Additionally, branded keyword terms likely cost a fraction of the cost of leading non-branded terms. They come with a lower cost-per-click (CPC) while being more relevant to your intended audience, potentially making the ROI significant.

By running branded campaigns and bidding on your branded terms, you’re showcasing your brand while targeting a more relevant audience. So, essentially, by targeting bottom-funnel prospects, you’re getting more by spending less.

 

2. When you want to protect your online reputation

Heads up: your competitors may use your branded keyword terms in their ads. 

This is especially common in highly competitive industries or when you offer a very similar product or service. Your competition’s objective is to attract those people searching for your company and brand by name so they can convert them to their brand instead. 

Of course, you don’t want to make it easy for competitors to win over your prospects by searching for your company name. 

While Google doesn’t necessarily restrict other companies from using your brand name in their PPC campaigns, there are things you can do to prevent competitors from stealing market share.

• Play their bidding game: Generally, we don’t recommend bidding on your competition’s brand name. However, you can experiment with this tactic if you have the budget and want to get some of your target audience back while attracting part of theirs. 
• Increase branded ad spend: While this isn’t the most budget-friendly solution, it can be effective. Your competitors aren’t likely to be spending too much on your branded keywords. By increasing the bid, you may be able to kick them out of the saddle.
• Improve your Quality Score: Since Quality Score helps dictate your ad rank, improving it could place your branded ads above the competition’s. It can also help your overall paid search ad campaign.
• Optimize your landing pages: Your competitors aren’t likely to spend too much time and money optimizing their landing pages for your branded keywords. A landing page optimized for branded keywords may boost your Quality Score and get your ad better visibility.

 

3. When you want to improve your Quality Score

Google defines Quality Score as a diagnostic tool used to give you a sense of how well your ad quality compares to other advertisers.

It is also used to measure how relevant your ads and keywords are to your brand. So, what could be more relevant to your brand than branded keywords?

One little-known benefit of running branded campaigns is that it enhances your Google Ads and social media account’s Quality Score, which also helps impacts your clickthrough rates (CTR) and conversion rates:

• The higher your Quality Score is, the lower your CPC will be.
• As your ads increase in visibility, you will likely receive higher CTRs.
• Higher CTRs further increase your Quality Score.

Best of all, with lower CPCs, your cost per conversion decreases, which translates to a more profitable PPC campaign.

When to use non-branded keywords

Using non-branded keywords is also part of a robust strategy — here’s when to use them:

 

1. When you want to raise brand awareness and bring in more traffic.

Building on our example above, you can see from using Ahref’s Keywords Explorer tool that searching for the term “nike basketball shoes” has the potential to bring in tons of traffic for the shoe company’s domain.

Now, let’s do another branded keyword search for a different shoe brand. For this example, we’re going to use the sports brand Li Ning and the search terms “li ning basketball shoes” and input those terms in Ahrefs.

Did you spot the difference?

Looking at both results, it’s clear that Nike enjoys more traffic from their branded keywords than Li Ning, which means the strength of your brand matters, too.

If your brand isn’t that well-known yet, then not many people would be searching for your brand keywords, so the likelihood of attracting new customers from those keywords is significantly low.

Instead, you can use generic keyword terms to attract non-branded traffic, which often has significantly higher search volumes. Take a look at the example below using a non-branded search for “basketball shoes.”

With a monthly of more than 452K, a non-branded search for basketball shoes offers significantly more opportunities to attract your target customers.

And although it’s true that there’s more competition for these keywords, they can still help you secure much-needed top-of-the-funnel traffic to boost brand awareness.

 

2. When you want to attract new customers

If your business already has a sizeable base of loyal customers, then that’s excellent news. But in order to continue growing the business, then you will have to bring in other customers to increase your revenue.

And to that end, bringing in more non-branded traffic can help.

By continuing to target non-branded keywords in your PPC campaigns, your brand can get in front of potential customers who may still be unfamiliar with your business but are looking for similar products and services. 

With your ads bringing in more traffic, you have a much bigger chance to convert them and turn them into actual paying customers with ads that boost your online visibility.

 

3. When you want to capture mid-to-bottom funnel customers

Did you know you can use non-branded keywords to specifically target prospects at different stages of the funnel? You can by taking note of one word: intent.

By identifying search intent and using keywords to target that intent, you can tailor ads to people at different stages of the funnel while accomplishing your lead-generation and brand awareness goals.

Let’s use the following table as an example for TVs:

By understanding search intent, you can identify the right type of keywords to bid on and reach users at different stages of the funnel. In doing so, you’ll also be accomplishing your brand awareness and lead-generation goals.

3 tips to help branded and non-branded keywords work together

Both branded and non-branded keywords can benefit your digital marketing campaign. Here’s how to ensure they’re working well in tandem.

1. Know when to start using branded keywords

One of the first things to do when setting a campaign up is to run a keyword search. 

At this point, you may not need to opt for branded keywords. Spending money on them could slow down your advertising efforts and reduce marketing ROI.

Aside from those given above, here are some instances when using branded keywords together with their non-branded partners is a good idea.

• Your business is well-known: It doesn’t have to be a renowned global name, but should already have a solid customer base.
• You have a popular product: A product (or product line) you’re selling is gaining popularity quickly.
• The head of your company is considered an industry thought leader: If the business owner’s name is easily recognized, the brand and products can benefit from the popularity.

Another upside of bidding on your own brand is retaining the ability to protect your online reputation. You control the first impression that searchers get when it comes to your offerings and ethos. 

Plus, if your competitors are the only ones bidding on your brand, you risk having those ads appear above organic results, which means they’re ads are seen first while controlling what gets said about your brand. 

When it comes to determining whether to use branded or non-branded keywords, the answer often depends on your goals. (Image: Unsplash)

2. Use branded keyword data to adjust non-branded keywords

Let’s say the majority of your traffic is coming from branded keywords, which means your company already has an established reputation. You likely have a formidable customer base that prefers your brand over others.

Sounds great! But, in reality, the overwhelming success of branded keywords could also be hindering your results. 

If your branded keywords are doing too good of a job, this means most of your traffic is coming from your loyal fan base. 

However large your fanbase must be, this could only mean that there is still a lot of room for growth, so you may want to adjust your non-branded tactics.

Expand your non-branded keyword campaigns and consider creating content that caters to a broader audience to boost your brand awareness efforts and maximize your growth potential.

3. Know when to keep branded and non-branded keywords separate

While branded and non-branded keywords work well together, they shouldn’t always be part of the same campaign. To increase your conversion rate, it’s wise to keep these two keyword types in their own separate campaigns.

When you combine both terms into one campaign, it’s hard to determine the success of each keyword type and set realistic conversion goals.

This doesn’t mean you should pay less attention to non-branded keywords. For the branded keyword campaign to yield desired results, it’s wise to beef up your non-branded efforts as well.

After all, prospects that convert quickly after clicking branded ads may have come down the funnel via your non-branded marketing tactics.

Branded vs. non-branded keywords and your competitors

Heads up: your competitors may use your branded keyword terms in their ads. 

This is especially common in highly competitive industries or when you offer a very similar product or service. Your competition’s objective is to attract those people searching for your company and brand by name so they can convert them to their brand instead. 

Of course, you don’t want to make it easy for competitors to win over your prospects by searching for your company name. 

While Google doesn’t necessarily restrict other companies from using your brand name in their PPC campaigns, there are things you can do to prevent competitors from stealing market share.

• Play their bidding game: Generally, we don’t recommend bidding on your competition’s brand name. However, you can experiment with this tactic if you have the budget and want to get some of your target audience back while attracting part of theirs. 
• Increase branded ad spend: While this isn’t the most budget-friendly solution, it can be effective. Your competitors aren’t likely to be spending too much on your branded keywords. By increasing the bid, you may be able to kick them out of the saddle.
• Improve your Quality Score: Since Quality Score helps dictate your ad rank, improving it could place your branded ads above the competition’s. It can also help your overall paid search ad campaign.
• Optimize your landing pages: Your competitors aren’t likely to spend too much time and money optimizing their landing pages for your branded keywords. A landing page optimized for branded keywords may boost your Quality Score and get your ad better visibility.

3 tips to help branded and non-branded work together

Both branded and non-branded keywords can benefit your digital marketing campaign. Here’s how to ensure they’re working well in tandem.

1. Know when to start using branded keywords

One of the first things to do when setting a campaign up is to run a keyword search. 

At this point, you may not need to opt for branded keywords. Spending money on them could slow down your advertising efforts and reduce marketing ROI.

Here are some instances when using branded keywords together with their non-branded partners is a good idea.

• Your business is well-known: It doesn’t have to be a renowned global name, but should already have a solid customer base.
• You have a popular product: A product (or product line) you’re selling is gaining popularity quickly.
• The head of your company is considered an industry thought leader: If the business owner’s name is easily recognized, the brand and products can benefit from the popularity.

Another upside of bidding on your own brand is the brand protection aspect. You control the first impression that searchers get when it comes to your offerings and ethos. 

Plus, if your competitors are the only ones bidding on your brand, you risk having those ads appear above organic results, which means they get seen first. 

2. Use branded keyword data to adjust non-branded keywords

Let’s say the majority of your traffic is coming from branded keywords, which means your company is well-known. You likely have a formidable customer base that prefers your brand over others.

Sounds great! But, in reality, the overwhelming success of branded keywords could be hindering your results. 

If your branded keywords are doing too good of a job, you may want to adjust your non-branded tactics. Besides improving your non-branded keyword campaign, consider boosting your brand awareness efforts. 

3. Know when to keep branded and non-branded keywords separate

While branded and non-branded keywords work well together, they shouldn’t always be part of the same campaign. To increase your conversion rate, it’s wise to keep these two keyword types in their own separate campaigns.

When you combine both terms into one campaign, it’s hard to determine the success of each keyword type and set realistic conversion goals.

This doesn’t mean you should pay less attention to non-branded keywords. For the branded keyword campaign to yield desired results, it’s wise to beef up your non-branded efforts as well.

After all, prospects that convert quickly after clicking branded ads may have come down the funnel via your non-branded marketing tactics.

The takeaway 

When determining whether to use branded or non-branded keywords, the answer often depends on your goals.

If you’re looking to gain visibility, you can go with non-branded. Looking for lower competition, more potential affordability, and higher conversion rates? You may want to opt for branded. 

Either way, ensure tracking is accurate and monitor performance results so you can optimize accordingly.

Searchers using branded keywords are likely more advanced in the buyer’s journey. They may have visited your website before, become familiar with your products or services, and are trying to do one final review before buying.

Keep in mind that the same customers may have first found your brand and were led to your website via a non-branded search. That search got them into the funnel, and a branded campaign can drive conversion to a sale. 

Creating separate branded and non-branded paid search campaigns can tell you a lot about your audience, expand your reach, and help you create a well-rounded digital marketing program. 

Do you need help in creating a diversified campaign that helps you reach your goals? Our experts can help. Contact HawkSEM today!

This article has been updated and was originally published in March 2020.