Reply To: We’re spending 60% of our budget on branded search and my boss thinks it’s ok

[shitalimalviya]

The world is strange sometimes.

I once had a client who didn’t want to spend anything on branded search. After a lot of discussion, we agreed on ~20% of the budget on brand.

Over time, most closed deals came from brand search not because it created demand, but because it captured trust at the decision stage. It was a high-ticket business, and users searched the brand again before converting.

That said, 60% on brand (with no competitors bidding) is usually optimizing for ROAS comfort, not incremental growth.

Brand captures demand.
Non-brand creates it.

A simple brand holdout or geo test would settle this debate I believe.