How to use Google Trends for Digital Marketing ?

Introduction 

With an estimated 70,000 Searches per second taking place on Google¹, this provides marketers an immense opportunity to gain insights on the evolving needs of the smart consumer and the purchase intent behind those search queries. 

What is Google Trends? 

Google Trends is a simple yet powerful tool which provides the user access to a largely filtered sample of search requests made on Google Search engine.² 

As a Marketer or a business owner, you will be interested in analyzing those spikes in the search queries – indicative of a topic’s growth over a period of time or a reaction to a certain event/moment.  

Here’s an example. Tanishq launched an ad on interfaith family which got trolled viciously. This caused a huge spike in the Search query ‘Tanishq Ad

How is it different from Google Keyword Planner? 

While Google Trends shows the relative popularity of the search terms, Google Keyword Planner shows absolute search volume data.³ However it is important to note that while using any tool, it is critical to use the tool directionally rather than literally. 

How can I use Google Trends for my Digital Marketing activities? 

1. Identify the trending Keywords – critical for your SEO 

By typing in a search query you can identify rising related topics and search queries. For instance, you can see the search term ‘Quarantine Cooking’ witnessing a breakout – an insignificant search term in the past, but now holds significant weightage.  

This way you can identify trending keywords and include them in your content thereby increasing the chances of your content getting discovered online. Post analysis of the Search terms make sure that your content speaks the same language as of the readers/consumer. 

2. Identify the trending topics for your Content Marketing Strategy 

By clicking on the Trending Searches, you will be able to view the trending topics in Daily Search trends as well as Real-time search trends. You also have the option to view these trending topics country wise which will factor in the cultural context of your search queries. 

3. Plan your Content Execution/Calendar 

Google Trends allows you to determine the best times & the best days to publish your content. For example if you are planning to write about ‘Cooking’ you can view interest over time report for Past 7 days – Google Trends will present a report showcasing the peak times and days in a week making Content planning effective. 

4. Identify your Brand’s share of search 

This metric will indicate how many searches within a category are about the brand. Here 3 different brands have been analyzed offering the similar product category. You can compare your performance with your competitors as well. 

4. Identify Seasonal patterns in searches year on year 

SOS can also be broken down and further filtered on geography. This will help you identify untapped geographies for your business. 

Do check out our Blog on how to measure your Brand Awareness

5. Identify Seasonal Patterns  

Google Trends allows you to pull out customized, 5 yearly and since 2004 reports to help you identify and seasonal trends in a search query. In this example – for ‘Cooking search query’ one finds the months – Oct & April popping up. This insight can be helpful for revamping your existing content on cooking/recipes/cooking classes etc and re-publishing it during these peak months 

6. Plan Google Ads better 

By identifying the best months and times (in terms of search volumes) you can also plan your paid Google Ad Campaigns for those months. For example – if you are promoting fashion belts, you can avoid running your Google Ad campaigns in the months of April (search dip) & instead run them in the months of Sept & Oct (search rise). 

Reference Link

[1] Google 2019 Search Statistics

[2] Google Trends Help Centre

[3] Google Trends Help Centre

Conclusion: 

With an explosion of tools in the Digital Marketing space fighting for our attention, sometimes the simplest tool, if used effectively, can deliver promising insights. Google Trends continues to do just that.