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Two thirds of all online searches are the result of offline media including TV, newspaper, magazines, word of mouth, radio, direct mail.

Of those who searched for a product or company 39% ended up buying from the brand that motivated their search (via). What happened to the other 61% and how do you keep your share (and steal some of your competitors)? How do you use those search trends to improve both your online and traditional media placement? How do you make sure your online and traditional efforts are cohesively working together?

Well I’d love to say follow a few simple steps and you’re golden, it’s not that easy. As web is almost all in real time these days, you have to consistently monitor, adjust and analyze. These are the top five things I would recommend –

1) Use the keywords, phrases and terminology that are incorporated in your traditional media. If your TV says you are having a “Spectacular Sale” then buy that search term. People might not remember everything about your ad, but hopefully they catch on to the most important messages. People will then go online to try and fill in the missing pieces of your message to find you.

2) Know what your competitors are doing and buy into those search terms. If you’re trying to steal market share and especially if you’re trying to steal that 61%, then use their traditional and online keywords to build into your search terms. If your competitor is running a direct mail campaign on “anniversary tennis bracelets”- buy those keywords!

3) If you are a local store, dealership or a franchise, then piggy back on the investment of national whenever possible. We do it all the time in traditional media; flighting schedules, adding in stations and mimicking parts of their message to make the dollars stretch. Do the same online but geo-target (down to the zip code if possible). Don’t work to spend more than national and try to buy 1-3 sponsored spots, but put enough money down to be above the fold to build the association with national within your DMAs.

3) Monitor your website and search analytics throughout your traditional media placement. Figure out how long after your TV campaign starts, does the audience turn online and search for you and when do you see a spike in sales. Use that information to strategically flight your media placement for the best efficiencies. Follow your analytics and sales to determine what media drives your targets online, in store, to the phones or not at all. Some traditional media is hard to track, so tie all you efforts together to figure out how the audience responds to you message and placements.

4) Anticipate the trends and be proactive.

5) Track the offline results as well. Not all of those who moved to online search complete their transaction online so make sure you have a system in place to track the in-store visits. Printable coupons, vanity phone numbers, special deals, text campaigns, and surveys can all be put to use .