The S is for Search

Search Marketing Blog

Posted by Sean McMahon on 11.04.2008

Now, more than ever, Search Engine Marketing can be the SUPER HERO to save your holiday selling season. Since the inception of EngineWorks, we have touted that search marketing delivers the most cost-effective means of acquiring customers through your Web site. So, while the budgets for other media channels are being pulverized as if hit by kryptonite, more and more savvy marketers are shifting more and more of their advertising dollars to online media campaigns, especially professional Search Engine Optimization, Paid Search Marketing, and Social Media Marketing engagements.

Super Measurable!

The ‘S’ on this super hero’s cape can also stand for ‘Super-Measurable’. This invaluable attribute of search marketing is the main reason for the current meteoric shift in advertising budgets. Marketing managers across the country are realizing that it’s much more effective to commit precious resources to advanced online campaigns that deliver – and fully measure – qualified visitors and eager customers, than to spend money on promotional schemes that zap marketing dollars with no ability to determine results.

Online Marketing to the Rescue

In an October 27, 2008 article from eMarketer titled ‘Online Ad Spending Will Keep Growing’, Geoff Ramsey, CEO and co-founder of eMarketer, declares that even though there has been a lowering of expectations from industry analysts, there is still a consensus among marketing executives that spending growth for online advertising will continue to show double-digit gains in both 2008 and 2009.

The following results from three recent surveys of U.S. marketing professionals, taken directly from this eMarketer article above, reveal that the efficiency and measurability of interactive marketing is powering this double-digit increase in online advertising:

According to a June McKinsey & Co. survey of 340 senior marketing executives worldwide, 91% are using online advertising, and over one-half indicate that their companies plan to maintain or exceed current levels where possible. Even more telling, 55% of marketers said they’re cutting expenditures on traditional media, precisely in order to increase funding for online efforts.
Even more-bullish expectations for digital spending were cited by respondents in an Epsilon CMO survey conducted in September. Among 175 senior marketing executives, 63% expected increases for interactive/online marketing spending for 2008; only 14% expected a reduction.
This month, a survey by MarketingProfs, of 600 US marketers, found that 60% planned to increase their spending on online advertising in reaction to the downturn.

Quantum Leap in ‘Quantifiable-ness’

Geoff Ramsey expertly summarizes the reasons for this trend in re-allocating marketing dollars to online campaigns, especially Internet marketing’s ability to precisely quantify performance and measure each campaign’s return-on-ad-spend.

Rather than re-phrase Geoff’s well-presented reasons, here they are directly from the eMarketer article:

The Internet is inherently more measurable and accountable than are traditional channels.
The Internet allows for better, more-granular targeting than do other forms of media. That reduces media waste and can save marketing dollars.
The Internet is interactive, thereby allowing for a higher degree of engagement with consumer and business prospects and customers.
Particularly among younger consumers, the Internet is accounting for a larger and larger share of total media time; numerous studies demonstrate that teens, millennials and other younger cohorts are spending more time online per week than they are watching television.
The Internet plays into the consumer-in-control movement and therefore provides new opportunities for marketers to be a part of their conversations about interests, attitudes, shopping plans and even brands.
New Web 2.0 phenomena such as blogs, social networks and Twitter provide marketers with the potential to gain rich insights into consumer behavior and attitudes (the Internet is like a perpetual focus group on steroids).
The Internet, unlike any other medium or channel, allows marketers to reach prospects throughout the entire consumer buying cycle, from initial awareness through pre-information-gathering to sales and post-sale feedback and support.

Leap Tall Buildings in a Single Bound

With the crucial holiday selling season upon us, now is the time to take your mild-mannered marketing budget to new heights! Let us provide to you a free evaluation of how our proven search marketing services can immediately accelerate your client acquisition performance.

Simply contact us for your complementary consultation and customized service proposal.

Let us show you how our super marketing team can be ‘action’ heroes for your marketing efforts this season.