The old advertising adage, “First in Mind Trumps First in Category Every Time” has been edited. Nowadays, it’s more like, “First in search engine results equals First in Mind.”  With brand budgets shifted from billboards to keyboards, acquiring a premium domain name should be at the forefront of marketing strategy.  As strong brands already know, though, it’s not just about the SEO. It’s about the brand, it’s about the brand name: it’s about the domain name. Don’t just put your brand to work; put your domain name brand to work, too!

Part I: Consumer-facing Credibility

Standing Out in the Email Inbox

I’m refinancing my house, and somehow the entire universe has discovered it. My inbox is positively glutted with mortgage offers from banks in Oklahoma and people I’ve never heard of… but one stands out that I’ll click to open: because it’s coming from @SubprimeMortgage.com. Having a new baby? Marketers call this time “the retailer’s holy grail” according to this New York Times article. With all the competition, how do you get an edge up? A domain like BabyCoupons.com will shine like a nightlight in a cluttered email inbox!

If they can’t remember the name, they can’t Rinse & Repeat…or Share

Brand engagement and growth hacking are all about social sharing. If consumers confuse or can’t remember the name, they can’t really share their experiences.  Or become a repeat customer themselves! I might have heard that Kim Kardashian backs some cutsey shoe retailer online like ShoeBling or ShoeZazzle or ShoeDazzled, but at the end of the day I can always go back to Shoes.com and walk away with the same pair of heels. Shoes.com sees year over year revenue increases like 77.6% to $63.2 million, because consumers keep coming and keep sharing…

Capturing new customers

Look at the epic Greek struggle…for US market share in Greek Yogurt. Fage is the top Greek yogurt in Greece, and first Greek yogurt in the US, but no one has ever heard of their brand… Meanwhile, Voskos is taking the US by storm after just really launching this year, swallowing marketshare from Whole Foods to Walmart.  What’s one of the very first steps they took to acquire new customers? They purchased a premium domain name, GreekYogurt.com. This captures marketshare of consumers convinced of Greek Yogurt’s benefits but not yet loyal to a particular brand.

Premium Domains are more Clicked in Search Engine Results

According to two Microsoft Research studies, some domains are more likely to be clicked than another unknown brand in search engine results.  Which domains? Premium domains that contain the keywords the consumer originally searched. Look at Cabinets.com: most consumers spend $18,000-$40,000 on their cabinets, yet don’t know what brand they have. When searching online, they are statistically much more likely to click on Cabinets.com. There’s a time and a place- and a budget behind building- a megabrand like “Home Depot.”

But even with their brand strength, Home Depot still spent a rumored billion dollars to acquire Blinds.com, a domain name brand that’s a search engine homerun. Check back later this week for How Premium Domains Provide Instant Credibility, **Part II: **Investor-Facing Credibility