Find Valueable Demographic Search Volume with Yahoo Clues

At PPC-Strategies, we frequently assist our ecommerce clients in identifying opportunities for new products or brands to carry in their online stores.  Of course, we use the Google Keyword Tool to compare search volume on Brand A vs. Brand B terms.  

We can take this process a step further by using Yahoo Clues for side by side comparison of search volume over time (days, week, month, year), by demographic (age & gender), and by location.

While we approach every tool with a bit of skepticism and understand the inherent limitations each tool presents, we've recently found the Yahoo tool to be particularly helpful to reinforce assumptions about demographic buying behavior by brand.

The attached graphic clearly illustrates that Ray Ban has much more global Brand recognition than Maui Jim and that it's buyer tends to be younger.   While both brands are most popular in the USA, their market strengths abroad differ significantly.  With this information in hand, we can begin to test specific international geo-targets for our client.  This can also guide our Merchant Center efforts toward new country-specific datafeeds for Product Listing Ads.

Yahoo Clues Global traffic comparison: Click to enlarge image

The next step is to drill into the United States for both Ray Ban and Maui Jim, and we can now see the states that represent the best opportunity for our US PPC Campaigns.  If we have a limited budget to test for each brand, we can use this data for location targeting.  With the new Enhanced Campaigns, we'll easily be able to track the Key Performance Indicators at the state level and make our bid adjustments accordingly.

Yahoo Clues USA traffic comparison: Click to enlarge image

Unfortunately, Marissa Mayer recently announced that 7 Yahoo products, including Clues will be shut down as she tightens the company's belt.  We're sorry to see it go.