Photo Caption_Ascent Korea CEO Park Se-yong
“Customers pour out their worries in the search bar.”
At the 'B2B Roadmap 2025' conference held at Bottega Maggio La Foresta near Seoul Forest Station. Ascent Korea CEO Park Se-yong drew the audience's attention with this one sentence. He argued that search terms are not simply a combination of words, but data that contains the customer's situation, intention, and decision journey. Under the theme of 'Search Intent-Based Strategy,' CEO Park explained how B2B marketers can use this data to answer real customer questions. From a perspective that breaks the conventional wisdom that "B2B does not search," he proved that search data is the most realistic and powerful tool that opens the 'entrance' to marketing strategies.
CEO Park emphasized the importance of 'search intent', which is often overlooked in digital marketing. He said, "Each word that a customer enters in the search bar contains their concerns, context, and decision-making journey leading to purchase," and that a true marketing strategy is possible only when the entire search flow is analyzed, not just simple keywords. In particular, he explained in detail how keyword sequences reveal the customer's current status and problem awareness through a search journey analysis case using the 'listening mind' tool he developed.
For example, if the keywords following the search term “CRM introduction” are “CRM marketing recruitment” and “CRM job,” then this is likely a potential customer in the learning stage, while if they are “CRM introduction case” and “CRM price comparison,” then this can be analyzed as a potential customer considering a purchase. He added that based on this sequence analysis, it is possible to precisely identify the customer’s position in the funnel and provide content that matches that position, thereby maximizing the conversion rate.
He divided search data into five main categories. The first is search keyword data, which includes keywords that include brand names or product names, keywords that cover entire categories, and semantic or sequence-based related keywords. The second is search volume data, which measures how often a specific keyword is searched daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly, and can be used to identify interest trends. The third is searcher attribute data, which includes characteristics of people who performed searches, such as age group, gender, and region. The fourth is search term competition data, which includes information such as how fierce the advertising bids are for a given keyword and how much the cost per click (CPC) is. Finally, the fifth is search result page analysis data, which includes which content is displayed at the top for a specific keyword and how many clicks are generated on that page.
He emphasized that by comprehensively analyzing these five data, you can quantitatively understand not only the inflow path, but also brand awareness, customer context, and competitive landscape. In particular, he said, “Brand search volume is an indicator of unaided awareness,” and explained with visual data that the increase or decrease in search volume can function as a real-time indicator of the brand’s position in the market.
Park also emphasized that search data should be used as key data when establishing content strategies. “The search results page is a collection of customer feedback,” he said, adding that the top search content for keywords that are searched tens of thousands of times a month is “optimized content” that reflects tens of thousands of customer clicks and retention data. Therefore, he conveyed the message that just by analyzing the top 10 content, we can clearly know what format and tone of content our brand should prepare.
He also shared deep insights on the integrated strategy of marketing and sales funnels. “The marketing funnel is horizontal, and the sales funnel is vertical. When these two are connected in a three-dimensional way, real conversion occurs,” he explained, emphasizing that the marketing team should open the front end of the funnel and the sales team should take over the flow. To do this, they should be able to visualize the customer journey based on search data and design content and messages that are suitable for each stage.
He also mentioned the changes in the search environment that generative AI is changing. “In the past, short-form search terms like ‘CRM price’ were the main search terms, but now, complex questions like ‘Recommend a tool that can help my team collaborate better’ are the main ones,” he said, emphasizing that a content structure optimized for generative AI, i.e. GEO (Generative Engine Optimization), rather than SEO, is needed. To this end, he added that JSON-LD, schema markup, and content design with a clear ‘problem-situation-comparison-solution’ structure are necessary.
Finally, CEO Park concluded his presentation by saying, “Search data is a trace of decision-making that is constantly pouring out of customers’ heads through their smartphones,” and “If we can capture the real questions that customers are not asking through this data, that is the real starting point of B2B marketing.”
This presentation left a deep insight in that it shed light on the potential of search data as a core framework for establishing B2B marketing strategies, rather than a simple traffic analysis tool.
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