Is Your Branded Search ROI Fact or Fiction?

AdAge Digital has an interesting article on the effectiveness (or supposed lack of effectiveness) of paid search for online retailers.

Less than 10% of online retailers’ web traffic, on average, comes from search engines…

…the majority of retailers’ web traffic (61%, on average) comes from people going directly to a retail site — consumers typing, say, Amazon.com into a browser address bar.

…many people use search for product research, which influences their behavior down the line. He illustrated an example: You search for a red cashmere sweater, looking for who has the best deal. You see J. Crew has it for $119 and Neiman Marcus for $329. You don’t buy it then but later head over to jcrew.com and make the purchase.

So what’s the answer? Are consumers really steering away from non-branded paid search because retailers like Amazon have such massive brand presence? Is branded search ROI significantly higher than general search terms? Should you adjust your marketing investment away from general search terms, or away from paid search completely? In short, no.