State of Search Marketing Report 2013

Transcription

1 Market Data / Supplier Selection / Event Presentations / User Experience Benchmarking / Best Practice / Template Files / Trends & Innovation State of Search Marketing Report 2013 In association with SEMPO

2 State of Search Marketing Report 2013 In association with SEMPO Published January 2014 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. Copyright Econsultancy.com Ltd 2014 Econsultancy London Wells Point 79 Wells Street London W1T 3QN United Kingdom Telephone: Econsultancy New York 350 7th Avenue, Suite 307 New York, NY United States Telephone:

3 Contents 1. Executive Summary and Highlights Foreword by SEMPO About Econsultancy About SEMPO Methodology Findings Significance of different technologies and trends Use of digital marketing disciplines Search engine optimization integration Paid search trends Search engine optimization trends Digital display marketing trends Social media marketing trends Mobile marketing trends marketing trends Budgets Spend on digital marketing Breakdown of digital marketing spend Expected change in budget for Separation of digital marketing budgets Flexibility in paid search budgeting Flexibility in search engine optimization budgeting Flexibility in digital display marketing budgeting Flexibility in social media marketing budgeting Flexibility in marketing budgeting Flexibility in mobile marketing budgeting Objectives and metrics Current success with digital marketing Ability to measure ROI Objectives and metrics for paid search Objectives and metrics for search engine optimization Objectives and metrics for digital display marketing Objectives and metrics for social media marketing Objectives and metrics for mobile marketing Objectives and metrics for marketing State of Search Marketing Report 2013 In association with SEMPO Page 3

4 4.4. Resourcing Time invested in digital marketing research Testing new technology Where is the growth in digital marketing? Untapped potential in paid search marketing Untapped potential in search engine optimization Untapped potential in digital display marketing Untapped potential in social media marketing Untapped potential in mobile marketing Untapped potential in marketing Appendix Respondent Profiles Type of organization Respondent roles Business focus Business sector Type of agency Geography Size of company by revenue Size of company by number of employees Revenue per region State of Search Marketing Report 2013 In association with SEMPO Page 4

5 1. Executive Summary and Highlights The SEMPO State of Search Marketing Report 2013, published by Econsultancy for the fourth year running, is based on a global online survey of over 400 companies and agencies. This year s SEMPO study now in its ninth year is an aggregation of information provided by organizations from 25 different countries, and from marketers across a range of business sectors and types of agencies. Key takeaways from the report are below, with all other data included in the Findings section. Mobile plays an increasingly important role for marketers but significant dedicated budget is yet to be set aside As smartphone adoption and usage continue to rise, marketers are increasingly paying attention to how to best use this channel to connect with their customers. Econsultancy s Multichannel Retail Survey found that 28% of US respondents had made a purchase with their mobile, while 50% said they had used it to compare product reviews and prices. 1 Not surprisingly, the results from this survey illustrated this ongoing trend. More than eight out of ten (83%) marketers said the increased use of mobile by consumers is a significant trend in the context of SEO, while 89% answered similarly in the context of paid search. However, there are indications that companies are not investing as much as they should be in this area. Less than half of marketers (47%) think that Google+ has had a significant impact on the world of SEO While more than eight out of ten marketers identify mobile as significant, just 3% of marketing budget goes to this area While just over half (54%) of companies are integrating mobile with SEO and mobile is seen as an important trend across all channels, on average respondents said just 3% of their marketing budget was earmarked specifically for mobile. Social media is important, but respondents question the value of Google+ for SEO Two-thirds of marketers (67%) say integration with social media is a significant trend in the context of paid search. However, while only 47% of company marketers think that Google + has had a significant impact on SEO, 58% of agency professionals believe so. Budgets are flexible but most split money in a siloed fashion The research shows that nearly half of digital marketing budget is spent on search, with 31% on paid search and 18% on SEO. How is your digital marketing budget broken down? In addition, 63% of businesses will be increasing their paid search budget for 2014 while 47% plan to do so for SEO. It was positive to see that the majority of marketers also have some degree of flexibility over their budgets; for each channel surveyed, at least three-quarters (75%) said they could be flexible about spend. 1 State of Search Marketing Report 2013 In association with SEMPO Page 5

6 However, one area of concern was that budgets appear to be siloed; for every single channel, at least a third of respondents said their budgets were entirely separate from SEO. This may indicate that flexibility is not exercised in practice. As search marketing increasingly becomes an integrated discipline, companies will need to shift their budgets in a more agile fashion to keep ahead of their competition. Measuring ROI remains a struggle for social and mobile Respondents were asked to detail how they would describe the return on investment (ROI) they achieved from each channel. The results are in the chart below. While 47% of marketers feel their ability to measure ROI from paid search is good, only a quarter are as confident in their ability to measure ROI for SEO. In addition, more than half (51%) say that their ability to measure ROI from social channels is poor. Despite many new technologies (particularly those related to marketing attribution) being put on to the market in recent years, it appears that aside from those channels which have been traditionally related to direct sales (such as paid search and ), more needs to be done to improve the ability to calculate ROI overall within digital marketing. This may also be a symptom of the silo mentality that still persists within some companies today, hindering the effective integration of their channels. Few companies adopt an experimental approach to digital marketing In recent times, the need to adopt an agile approach to marketing has been stressed by many. 2 In order to facilitate this, it is said that companies should allocate at least a fraction of their activities to experimental forms of marketing in an attempt to create incremental improvements and seize upon short-lived opportunities. With the exception of social media, less than 20% of companies stated that their approach was highly experimental in any of the given channels. 2 State of Search Marketing Report 2013 In association with SEMPO Page 6

7 Primary objectives and core metrics shift across a number of channels Across the six channels that were investigated for this report (paid search, search engine optimization, digital display marketing, social media marketing, mobile marketing and marketing), respondents were asked to provide details about their primary objectives for each area as well as their three most important metrics that they used to gauge their success. Across almost each area it was found that there were significant shifts, often with the most commonly cited objectives from last year taking even more of the share. Marketers spend a significant amount of time researching and learning about digital As digital marketing is an area with constant shifts and developments that marketers need to keep on top of, it is accepted by many that time has to be set aside in order to learn about the latest techniques and tools which can be used in order to help achieve marketing goals. Our survey this year found that across four areas of digital marketing search engine optimization, marketing analytics, paid search marketing and social media marketing marketers were spending at least one day a month on each researching and learning about the latest trends. Knowing this may help influence training and development plans for members of staff involved in digital. As digital marketing continues to evolve, the level of knowledge development is likely to be a core differentiating factor when it comes to building competitive advantage. Related Econsultancy reports and content SEO Trends: Issues and Opportunities Search Engine Optimization Best Practice Guide Paid Search Marketing Best Practice Guide Search Engine Marketing: SEO Digital Template Files Search Engine Marketing: Paid Search Digital Template Files State of Search Marketing Report 2013 In association with SEMPO Page 7

8 2. Foreword by SEMPO SEMPO is proud to present our 9th Annual State of Search Report. For an industry that is constantly evolving, this report remains a critical touchstone for digital marketers looking to assess where they stand today and where they should be looking to succeed tomorrow. Plus, our unique approach of surveying and segmenting results for both companies and agencies provides perspectives and insights not easily found in other reports. The 2014 State of Search Report is no different in this regard but we did make some significant changes in the survey approach to be able to capture today s reality of search marketing s integration into the overall digital marketing mix. Here are some of the key elements that we implemented to further enhance our ability to provide meaningful and relevant data: The survey was shortened to be more strategically-oriented focusing more on objectives, metrics, and ROI and less on resources and tactics. This appears to have produced the desired result as 70% of our company respondents either manage or contribute to strategy, budgets, and direction of marketing. We added social media marketing questions to the survey several years ago as it was becoming clear that search engines were evolving their algorithms to include social signals. This year we added more digital channels including mobile, and display. The results illustrate the degree to which content marketing integration is still more of a strategic concept than tactical reality somewhat more particularly with companies. We think you will also find it interesting to compare key objectives, metrics, challenges with emerging trends and ROI perceptions between channels as well as between companies and agencies. Budget questions were included as in the past but this time we drilled down a little deeper to understand allocation/aggregation between digital channels as well as flexibility to alter spends based on more real-time ROI assessment. There are also a few new questions around how much time digital marketers are investing in learning/researching the latest trends and how experimental they are in testing new techniques/technologies by channel. We were a little surprised to see that both companies and agencies are less experimental with search engine optimization than all the other channels except . Another sign of the maturation of SEO or more of a reflection of last year s developments regarding Google s algorithm and analytics enhancements? Thanks to our partner Econsultancy for their hard work in developing, fielding, analyzing and preparing this report. We also want to acknowledge SEMPO s Research Committee, and Marc Engelsman specifically, for their leadership in spearheading the changes (and continuity) that make this annual report so valuable. And, finally, thanks to our members and sponsors for their participation and for their continued commitment to advancing search marketing best practices as part of today s integrated digital marketing mix. SEMPO Board of Directors State of Search Marketing Report 2013 In association with SEMPO Page 8

9 2.1. About Econsultancy Econsultancy s mission is to help its customers achieve excellence in digital business, marketing and ecommerce through research, training and events. Founded in 1999, Econsultancy has over 250,000 subscribers, is used by more than 500,000 professionals every month, and has offices in New York, London and Singapore. Econsultancy subscribers get access to research, market data, best practice guides, case studies and elearning all focused on helping individuals and enterprises get better at digital. The subscription is supported by digital transformation services including digital capability programs, training courses, skills assessments and audits. We train and develop thousands of professionals each year as well as running events and networking that bring the Econsultancy community together around the world. Subscribe to Econsultancy today to accelerate your journey to digital excellence. Call us to find out more: New York: London: Singapore: About SEMPO SEMPO is a global non-profit organization serving the search and digital marketing industry and the marketing professionals engaged in it. Its purpose is to provide a foundation for industry growth through building stronger relationships, fostering awareness, providing education, promoting the industry, generating research, and creating a better understanding of search and its role in marketing. SEMPO includes thousands of professionals across 50 countries. The organization s mission is to represent the common interests of companies and consultants worldwide and provide them with a voice in the marketplace. SEMPO s education and outreach initiatives are funded in part by Google and Baidu, and supported through partnerships with Business Development Institute, ClickZ Live, MediaPost, and Worldwide Business Research. For more information or to join the organization, visit State of Search Marketing Report 2013 In association with SEMPO Page 9

10 3. Methodology The State of Search Marketing Report is based on an online survey of over 400 client-side (advertisers) and agency respondents. The survey was live in November SEMPO and Econsultancy promoted the survey to their respective members, offering a complimentary copy of this report as an incentive for taking part. As shown in the chart below, respondents came from a range of backgrounds including B2B, B2C and a mixture of the two. Which of the following best describes the primary target of your digital marketing? Company respondents: 126 Agency respondents: 233 Detailed respondent breakdowns including type of organization, respondent roles, business focus and business sector are included in the appendix. We would like to thank those who took the time to complete the questionnaire, and also SEMPO members who promoted the survey to their clients. If you have any questions about the research and methodology, please contact us via at linus@econsultancy.com. State of Search Marketing Report 2013 In association with SEMPO Page 10

11 4. Findings 4.1. Significance of different technologies and trends Use of digital marketing disciplines Despite the growing popularity of social media and mobile marketing over recent years, it appears search engine optimization (SEO) and paid search are still the most commonly carried out digital activities within organizations out of the six surveyed. Nearly nine in 10 (89%) respondents stated they carry out search engine optimization, while more than three-quarters (78%) of organizations use paid search as part of their digital marketing arsenal. Although seeing SEO and paid search at the top of this list is to be expected (with these two being frequently reported as among the best channels at delivering ROI 3 ), it is somewhat surprising that organizations are more likely to carry out social media marketing than marketing. While 66% rate s ability to deliver ROI as excellent or good, only 41% feel the same way about social media marketing. This could be due to the lower barrier to entry that social media marketing carries. Figure 1: Which of the following types of activity does your organization carry out, or manage on behalf of clients? Respondents: State of Search Marketing Report 2013 In association with SEMPO Page 11

12 Search engine optimization integration As has been described on the Econsultancy blog, content marketing is often seen as an umbrella discipline within digital that encompasses many areas, with one of the main ones being SEO. 4 Therefore it is not surprising that organizations are more likely to integrate content marketing with SEO than they are with any other digital marketing discipline. Nearly half (45%) of all company respondents say this area is highly integrated with SEO efforts, compared to just 24% for paid search marketing and 16% for mobile marketing. While the same holds true with agency respondents, comparing Figures 2 and Figure 3 agency clients perceive higher levels of integration of all forms of digital marketing than their client-side counterparts. Consumers are increasingly expecting a consistent experience across all channels and integrating the efforts of various digital marketing channels is a key part to delivering that experience. While the difference between companies and agencies is marginal in this instance, it is a trend that continues throughout this report. Companies Figure 2: To what degree are your search engine optimization efforts integrated with the following digital marketing disciplines? Respondents: State of Search Marketing Report 2013 In association with SEMPO Page 12

13 Agencies Figure 3: To what degree are your clients search engine optimization efforts integrated with the following digital marketing disciplines? Respondents: 188 State of Search Marketing Report 2013 In association with SEMPO Page 13

14 Paid search trends Back in early 2013, Google announced fundamental changes to its AdWords tool. Known as Enhanced Campaigns, these changes added new features (such as improvements to ad extensions) while losing others (such as the ability to run campaigns that were device-specific). Therefore it is to be expected that, aside from the increased use of mobile, Google s Enhanced Campaigns were more likely to be identified as significant than any other trend, with 87% of company respondents and 84% of agencies citing this trend as either significant or highly significant over the past year. Companies Figure 4: In the context of your paid search marketing efforts, how would you describe the impact of the following trends and technologies? Respondents: 83 State of Search Marketing Report 2013 In association with SEMPO Page 14

15 Agencies Figure 5: In the context of your paid search marketing efforts, how would you describe the impact of the following trends and technologies? Respondents: 153 State of Search Marketing Report 2013 In association with SEMPO Page 15

16 Search engine optimization trends Each year brings new trends and developments in the world of digital marketing, and this is particularly true for search engine optimization. Respondents were asked to rate how significant they thought some of the main trends were. For both companies and agencies, the most significant trend was that of not provided keyword data; 83% of client-side and 88% of supply-side respondents thought that this trend of Google hiding keyword data was either highly significant or significant. Hummingbird/Penguin/Panda algorithm changes and the increased use of mobile by consumers were also frequently cited as significant issues. However, one contrast of note between company respondents and agencies is that agencies are more likely to see many of these changes as highly significant rather than just significant. This may be because companies have not yet grasped the true significance of these issues, but there are also motivating factors behind agency responses to consider. While companies can vary their approach and budgets across different channels, agencies specializing within one space may find it more challenging to deliver the same level of results for their clients. Companies Figure 6: In the context of your search engine optimization efforts, how would you describe the impact of the following trends and technologies? Respondents: 93 State of Search Marketing Report 2013 In association with SEMPO Page 16

17 Agencies Figure 7: In the context of your clients search engine optimization efforts, how would you describe the impact of the following trends and technologies? Respondents: 174 State of Search Marketing Report 2013 In association with SEMPO Page 17

18 Digital display marketing trends Based on the charts below, the increased use of mobile by consumers and improved marketing attribution are the trends which are most likely to have some degree of significance with regards to digital display. The vast majority of marketers describe the impact of increased mobile usage as significant. Although consumers are growing more comfortable with using mobile devices, display ads have not adjusted well to the smaller screens. With only 15% of respondents stating that the increased use of mobile by consumers is not significant, advertisers must adapt in order to make efficient use of this channel. While marketers have struggled to keep up with the impact of mobile, improved marketing attribution has led to increased spending on digital display. Better understanding of display performance has given marketers more confidence in the channel, 5 which is crucial given the increased complexity in the typical customer journey. Although agencies felt all the trends pertaining to digital display were more significant than company respondents, agencies were particularly bullish on the significance of real-time bidding. Agency respondents were more than twice as likely to suggest real-time bidding was highly significant (33%) than their client-side counterparts (15%). Companies Figure 8: In the context of your digital display marketing efforts how would you describe the impact of the following trends and technologies? Respondents: State of Search Marketing Report 2013 In association with SEMPO Page 18

19 Agencies Figure 9: In the context of your clients digital display marketing efforts how would you describe the impact of the following trends and technologies? Respondents: 96 State of Search Marketing Report 2013 In association with SEMPO Page 19

20 Social media marketing trends When asked to list the significance of various social media marketing trends, the ranking of these trends was almost the same for both company and agency respondents. Two trends that differed the most were around Google+ and real-time bidding. For Google+, 49% of companies stated that this trend was highly significant or significant, whereas 56% of agency respondents replied in the same way. For real-time bidding the difference was much more pronounced. Whereas just 3% of company respondents thought this was a highly significant trend, 14% of agency respondents stated the same. This may reflect the fact that companies may focus more on the owned and earned aspect of social media rather than its potential as a paid media channel. Companies Figure 10: In the context of your social media marketing efforts, how would you describe the impact of the following trends and technologies? Respondents: 80 State of Search Marketing Report 2013 In association with SEMPO Page 20

21 Agencies Figure 11: In the context of your clients social media marketing efforts, how would you describe the impact of the following trends and technologies? Respondents: 145 State of Search Marketing Report 2013 In association with SEMPO Page 21

22 Mobile marketing trends As companies take every opportunity to understand the evolving habits of their mobile customers, the insight provided by Google s Universal Analytics is seen as highly significant or significant by nearly two-thirds (63%). The increased tracking ability across web, mobile and other devices has likely helped piece together previously fragmented data and improved tracking. However, although Google s Universal Analytics was rated as highly significant by more marketers, superfast data connections and increased screen sizes were considered significant by a larger proportion of marketers. This may be because not all marketers are using Google Analytics (or exploiting it to its fullest potential), while the effects of the remaining trends would have been felt universally. On the agency side, geotargeting emerged as the most significant mobile marketing trend. The ability to deliver relevant, targeted messaging proved to be highly popular, as marketers continue to find ways to maximize the immediacy of mobile. Companies were not asked about geotargeting. Companies Figure 12: In the context of your mobile marketing efforts, how would you describe the impact of the following trends and technologies? Respondents: 41 State of Search Marketing Report 2013 In association with SEMPO Page 22

23 Agencies Figure 13: In the context of your mobile marketing efforts, how would you describe the impact of the following trends and technologies? Respondents: 100 State of Search Marketing Report 2013 In association with SEMPO Page 23

24 marketing trends The results from the charts below reinforce the significance of mobile across digital channels. The increased use of mobile by consumers was seen the most significant trend, with 84% of companies describing its impact on marketing as significant. Meanwhile, Google s Promotional s ads tab was deemed the least significant by brands, with only 56% viewing the change made by the search powerhouse as significant. While there were initial fears that the introduction of the Promotional tab would lead to significantly reduced open rates, the effects have since been deemed somewhat negligible. 6 Companies Figure 14: In the context of your marketing efforts, how would you describe the impact of the following trends and technologies? Respondents: State of Search Marketing Report 2013 In association with SEMPO Page 24

25 Agencies Figure 15: In the context of your marketing efforts, how would you describe the impact of the following trends and technologies? Respondents: 104 State of Search Marketing Report 2013 In association with SEMPO Page 25

26 4.2. Budgets The following section details spend on digital marketing by marketers across both companies and agencies Spend on digital marketing For the companies responding to our survey request, more than half (54%) spent less than $1 million per annum on digital marketing in 2013; at the other end of the spectrum, 4% worked for companies that spent over $100 million. Companies Figure 16: Roughly speaking, how much did your organization spend on digital marketing in 2013? Respondents: 122 State of Search Marketing Report 2013 In association with SEMPO Page 26

27 Breakdown of digital marketing spend The most significant proportion of spend for our respondents went to the paid search marketing channel, with an average of 31% being directed here. This was followed by search engine optimization and marketing, with 18% of budget being spent on each channel. Companies Figure 17: How is your digital marketing budget broken down? Respondents: 116 State of Search Marketing Report 2013 In association with SEMPO Page 27

28 Expected change in budget for 2014 The chart below shows the degree to which spending is expected to change for companies in The channel which companies are most likely to invest more in is social media marketing, with just under two-thirds (64%) saying they ll increase spend in this area in Companies Figure 18: How is your 2014 spending in these channels expected to change? Respondents: 122 Interestingly, agencies expectations of digital marketing spend are significantly different to the realities faced by company respondents. A higher proportion of agencies are expecting significant increases in all digital marketing disciplines apart from paid search. Agency respondents are also significantly more likely to expect increases in spend for mobile and social media marketing. Although more than half of company respondents will be spending more on mobile marketing (56%) and social media marketing (64%), 89% and 76% of agencies respectively indicate these areas will see increased budgets. State of Search Marketing Report 2013 In association with SEMPO Page 28

29 Agencies Figure 19: How much more or less do you expect your clients to spend on the following disciplines in 2014 compared to 2013? Respondents: 194 State of Search Marketing Report 2013 In association with SEMPO Page 29

30 Separation of digital marketing budgets When comparing client-side and agency findings, it appears that companies are more likely to have shared budgets across all digital marketing channels. While both companies and agency clients are equally likely to have their content marketing budget as part of their SEO budget (45%), more than half of responding companies (53%) are likely to manage their paid search budget completely separately. Meanwhile, the discipline agency respondents are most likely to manage separately from SEO is digital display marketing (63%). Companies Figure 20: For the following digital marketing disciplines, are your budgets separated from search engine optimization? Respondents: 99 State of Search Marketing Report 2013 In association with SEMPO Page 30

31 Agencies Figure 21: For the following digital marketing disciplines, are your clients budgets separated from search engine optimization? Respondents: 188 State of Search Marketing Report 2013 In association with SEMPO Page 31

32 Flexibility in paid search budgeting Organizations typically tend to have at least some flexibility to change paid search budgets based on ongoing ROI. Only 12% of brands and an even smaller proportion of agencies (4%) say they or their clients have no flexibility to change their paid search budgets. Figure 22: How much flexibility do you (or your clients) have to change paid search marketing budgets based on ongoing return on investment (ROI)? Company respondents: 93 Agency respondents: 169 State of Search Marketing Report 2013 In association with SEMPO Page 32

33 Flexibility in search engine optimization budgeting Company respondents are 14% more likely than their agency clients to indicate a great deal of flexibility with regards to their SEO budget, with only 16% of brands not having any flexibility. That being said, agency clients are 10% more likely to have some flexibility to change search engine optimization budgets based on ongoing ROI. Figure 23: How much flexibility do you (or your clients) have to change search engine optimization budgets based on ongoing return on investment (ROI)? Company respondents: 107 Agency respondents: 189 State of Search Marketing Report 2013 In association with SEMPO Page 33

34 Flexibility in digital display marketing budgeting The level of flexibility companies and agencies experience with regards to the digital display budget is fairly similar. Although companies are slightly more likely to have no flexibility with their digital display budget (13% vs 10%), they are also marginally more likely to point to a great deal of flexibility (41% vs 37%). Figure 24: How much flexibility do you (or your clients) have to change digital display marketing budgets based on ongoing return on investment (ROI)? Company respondents: 70 Agency respondents: 103 State of Search Marketing Report 2013 In association with SEMPO Page 34

35 Flexibility in social media marketing budgeting According to the results below, two in five companies have a great deal of flexibility to change their social media budgets based on ongoing return on investment. Agency clients are slightly more likely to experience no flexibility at all with regards to social media budgets, with 15% of agencies stating that budgets are fixed compared to just 12% of brands. Figure 25: How much flexibility do you (or your clients) have to change social media marketing budgets based on ongoing return on investment (ROI)? Company respondents: 89 Agency respondents: 158 State of Search Marketing Report 2013 In association with SEMPO Page 35

36 Flexibility in marketing budgeting Companies are significantly more likely to be given a fixed budget for marketing budgets, regardless of ongoing return on investment. Although just over a third (34%) of brands are given a great deal of flexibility, a quarter are given no flexibility at all, in comparison to just 11% of agency clients under the same budgetary conditions. Figure 26: How much flexibility do you (or your clients) have to change marketing budgets based on ongoing return on investment (ROI)? Company respondents: 92 Agency respondents: 116 State of Search Marketing Report 2013 In association with SEMPO Page 36

37 Flexibility in mobile marketing budgeting Of all marketing disciplines, mobile marketing creates the most disparity between companies and agencies. One in four companies are given no flexibility with their mobile marketing budgets compared to just 9% of agency clients. In addition, 56% of agency clients are given some flexibility to change their mobile marketing budgets, while only 36% of companies have a similar amount of power over their budgets. Figure 27: How much flexibility do you (or your clients) have to change mobile marketing budgets based on ongoing return on investment (ROI)? Company respondents: 109 Agency respondents: 76 State of Search Marketing Report 2013 In association with SEMPO Page 37

38 4.3. Objectives and metrics Current success with digital marketing For the first time in this survey, both companies and agencies were asked to detail how successful they thought they were with digital marketing. The results indicated that those on the supply side (i.e. agencies) were much more likely to rate themselves as very successful or successful; 90% of agency respondents described themselves in such a fashion, compared to only 63% of company respondents. Figure 28: In your opinion, how successful is your company with digital marketing? Company respondents: 126 Agency respondents: 228 State of Search Marketing Report 2013 In association with SEMPO Page 38

39 Ability to measure ROI In the same way as last year, companies and agencies were asked to provide details on their (or their clients ) ability to measure return on investment from various marketing channels. Company results are shown in the chart below, with results from the previous year on the following page. One of the most significant findings was that the number of marketers who rate their ability as good within each area has seen a significant drop since 2012, with the following percentage changes: Paid search has fallen by nearly a third, from 79% to 47%. has fallen from 57% to less than half (41%). Digital display (i.e. display media) has fallen from 37% to 28%. Social has fallen from 15% to 11%. Although it is difficult to be certain as to the reason for these changes, there have been a large number of developments within digital marketing in the time between the two surveys. Broadly speaking and aside from channel-specific explanations, these include the increased use of multiple devices by consumers (leading to problems with attributing media spend and marketing effort) along with the speed at which best practice develops within digital marketing. In short, what is viewed as good today in terms of measuring ROI may be vastly different from what was perceived to be good a few years back. Companies Figure 29: How would you describe your ability to measure return on investment from the following marketing channels? Respondents: 96 State of Search Marketing Report 2013 In association with SEMPO Page 39

40 Companies 2013 survey results How would you describe your ability to measure return on investment from the following marketing channels? Agencies Figure 30: How would you describe your clients ability to measure return on investment from the following marketing channels? Respondents: 186 State of Search Marketing Report 2013 In association with SEMPO Page 40

41 Objectives and metrics for paid search For this year s research, both companies and agencies were asked to indicate what their primary objective for paid search marketing was. On the company side, this year s results indicate that the most common primary objective for paid search was to sell products, services or content directly online, with 40% citing this objective. This was closely followed by lead generation with 36%. While previous years [see Figure 32] have seen a gradual fall in the percentage citing selling products, services or content directly online and generating leads on the agency side, the most recent results appear to indicate a change in focus on these core objectives. As digital marketing continues to evolve and best practice shifts, the way in which channels are used to reach marketing goals will continue to change. Figure 31: What is the primary objective that you (or your clients) are trying to achieve with paid search marketing? Company respondents: 88 Agency respondents: 156 State of Search Marketing Report 2013 In association with SEMPO Page 41

42 Agencies historic data What is the most important objective your clients are trying to achieve through paid search? In addition to the primary objectives for paid search changing, there also appear to be some changes to the popularity of certain metrics which companies use for gauging the success of paid search marketing. For the 2013 survey, the most commonly cited metrics for company respondents were conversion rate (65%), return on investment (47%) and traffic volume (36%). For the previous survey the top three were return on investment (43%), conversion rate (42%) and number of sales/leads (42%). State of Search Marketing Report 2013 In association with SEMPO Page 42

43 Figure 32: What are the three most important metrics you (or your clients) use for gauging the success of paid search marketing? Company respondents: 89 Agency respondents: 163 Companies 2012 survey results What are the three most important metrics you (or your clients) use for gauging the success of paid search marketing? Respondents: 200 State of Search Marketing Report 2013 In association with SEMPO Page 43

44 Objectives and metrics for search engine optimization In the same way that respondents were asked to detail their primary objectives for paid search, they were also asked to provide details on search engine optimization. For company respondents, the most commonly cited primary objective was to drive traffic to the website, with 34% indicating this. The same percentage of respondents on the agency side stated that this was typically their clients primary objective. But on the agency side there have been some significant differences between this survey and the previous one: Just 29% cited lead generation as a primary objective this year, compared to 34% in the previous survey. The proportion of those indicating that driving traffic to the website is the primary objective has increased from 26% to 34%. Whereas a small number (3%) cited improving customer service / customer satisfaction last year, none did so this year. The chart on the following page illustrates responses from the preceding three surveys. Figure 33: What is the primary objective that you (or your clients) are trying to achieve with search engine optimization? Company respondents: 96 Agency respondents: 184 State of Search Marketing Report 2013 In association with SEMPO Page 44

45 Agencies historic data What is the most important objective your clients are trying to achieve through search engine optimization? There were also some differences on the company side for the metrics used in gauging success. The following two charts show a significant shift towards the importance of increasing the volume of traffic. Figure 34: What are the three most important metrics you (or your clients) use for gauging the success of search engine optimization? Company respondents: 96 Agency respondents: 188 State of Search Marketing Report 2013 In association with SEMPO Page 45

46 Companies 2012 survey results What are the three most important metrics you (or your clients) use for gauging the success of search engine optimization? State of Search Marketing Report 2013 In association with SEMPO Page 46

47 Objectives and metrics for digital display marketing While both companies and agencies agree that the primary objective of digital display is to increase brand awareness/enhance reputation, agencies state it is more important to their clients than companies themselves indicate. The chart on the next page shows the metrics companies and agencies deem the most important for measuring the success of digital display. Companies appear to prefer using more tangible metrics, such as ROI (44%), traffic volume (40%) and click-through rate (39%). In comparison, 47% of agencies say their clients use brand perception/awareness to measure digital display, which falls in line with what the largest proportion of agencies deem as their clients primary object for digital display. Figure 35: What is the primary objective that you (or your clients) are trying to achieve with digital display marketing? Company respondents: 61 Agency respondents: 102 State of Search Marketing Report 2013 In association with SEMPO Page 47

48 Figure 36: What are the three most important metrics you (or your clients) use for gauging the success of digital display marketing? Company respondents: 62 Agency respondents: 103 State of Search Marketing Report 2013 In association with SEMPO Page 48

49 Objectives and metrics for social media marketing Social media has become an increasingly important channel over the past few years as companies look to connect on a personal level with their audiences. For agency clients, the most commonly cited primary objective for social media marketing has consistently been to increase brand awareness / enhance reputation. However, between this year and the last, there seems to have been a further increase in focus on this. One potential reason for the increase in enhancing brand awareness is the increasing number of options available through which companies can reach their core audiences to support their brand awareness objectives. For example, as of January 2014, advertisers on Twitter can now target users based on their address. Figure 37: What is the primary objective that you (or your clients) are trying to achieve with social media marketing? Company respondents: 78 Agency respondents: 147 State of Search Marketing Report 2013 In association with SEMPO Page 49

50 Agencies historic data What is the most important objective your clients are trying to achieve through social media marketing? There also appears to be some shift in what the most common social media marketing metrics are, as shown in the next two charts. Figure 38: What are the three most important metrics you (or your clients) use for gauging the success of social media marketing? Company respondents: 80 Agency respondents: 150 State of Search Marketing Report 2013 In association with SEMPO Page 50

51 Companies 2012 survey results What are the three most important metrics you (or your clients) use for gauging the success of social media marketing? State of Search Marketing Report 2013 In association with SEMPO Page 51

52 Objectives and metrics for mobile marketing For more than two in five companies (43%) the primary objective they are trying to achieve with mobile marketing is to generate leads. Meanwhile just under a quarter (24%) see mobile marketing s main function as selling products, services or content directly online. According to agencies, their clients value mobile as a vehicle for sales more than companies themselves indicate, with 34% of agencies stating the primary aim for mobile marketing is to drive sales. This is reinforced in figure 40, with agencies being 16% more likely than companies to state number of sales/leads as an important metric for measuring the success of mobile marketing. Figure 39: What is the primary objective that you (or your clients) are trying to achieve with mobile marketing? Company respondents: 42 Agency respondents: 94 State of Search Marketing Report 2013 In association with SEMPO Page 52

53 Figure 40: What are the three most important metrics you (or your clients) use for gauging the success of mobile marketing? Company respondents: 44 Agency respondents: 102 State of Search Marketing Report 2013 In association with SEMPO Page 53

54 Objectives and metrics for marketing The following charts show the primary objectives and metrics for marketing. Figure 41: What is the primary objective that you (or your clients) are trying to achieve with marketing? Company respondents: 76 Agency respondents: 100 Figure 42: What are the three most important metrics you (or your clients) use for gauging the success of marketing? Company respondents: 82 Agency respondents: 109 State of Search Marketing Report 2013 In association with SEMPO Page 54

55 4.4. Resourcing Time invested in digital marketing research In a new question for the 2013 survey, respondents were asked to detail how much time they spend reading, researching and learning about the latest trends across various digital marketing areas. The results are shown in the chart below. The area which marketers spend the most time on is search engine optimization, with close to half (45%) of respondents spending more than two days catching up in this area. This data should provide valuable insight for those in charge of learning and development within their companies, as it appears marketers are spending a lot of their time learning in an effort to make their work as effective as possible. Figure 43: On average, how much time do you spend each month reading, researching and learning about the latest trends in the following areas of digital marketing? Respondents: 288 State of Search Marketing Report 2013 In association with SEMPO Page 55

56 Testing new technology Figure 44 shows how experimental companies are with regards to their approach with various strands of digital marketing. Out of the six digital marketing disciplines, mobile marketing emerged as the area which most companies are highly experimental (24%) with. Despite this, companies are most likely to experiment with social media marketing, with 73% of respondents being either highly or somewhat experimental with their approach to social. Companies Figure 44: When it comes to testing out new techniques and technologies, how would you best describe your company s approach to the following kinds of marketing? Respondents: 98 State of Search Marketing Report 2013 In association with SEMPO Page 56

57 Agencies Figure 45: When it comes to testing out new techniques and technologies, how would you best describe your clients' typical approach to the following kinds of marketing? Respondents: 188 State of Search Marketing Report 2013 In association with SEMPO Page 57

58 4.5. Where is the growth in digital marketing? The following section provides qualitative information as to where marketers think there is most untapped potential for each of the six marketing channels explored throughout this report. Word clouds represent the responses given to these questions (with the size of the word indicating the frequency with which it is mentioned), while the pull-out boxes illustrate a selection of quotes that shine some light on the feelings and opinions of marketers with regards to each channel Untapped potential in paid search marketing Companies Figure 46: Where do you think the most untapped potential for paid search marketing lies and why? Where do you think the most untapped potential for paid search marketing lies and why? Product Listing Ads (PLAs) search queries are becoming more long-tail and PLAs have the opportunity to provide the customer with a better experience. Search marketers should be putting more than ~20-30% into PLAs. Product Listing Ads the new format of PLAs in the mobile space allows users to instantly find and select the products they wish without navigating through several clicks. As well as product listing ads, doing paid search based on local inventory and pricing. Tying paid search really closely to content marketing, holes in long-tail SEO and social media marketing. Diving more into contextually relevant search, because so few do it well. Company respondents State of Search Marketing Report 2013 In association with SEMPO Page 58

59 Agencies Figure 47: Where do you think the most untapped potential for paid search marketing lies and why? Where do you think the most untapped potential for paid search marketing lies and why? Device, day-parting and geotargeting I believe there is a lot of room for brands to market to consumers based on what device they are using, at what time of day, on what day of the week and in what location to better tailor ad messaging and ultimately drive conversions. Mobile. This is due to the fact our clients do not have mobile-friendly sites or the ability to sell products or services to customers using their mobile devices. Conversion optimization of landing pages and leveraging mobile targeting. The untapped potential is with advertising on Bing/Yahoo. This potential exists because their advertising platform is not user/advertiser-friendly (compared to Google AdWords). Integration with display advertising. As paid search is in the last part of the conversion funnel, understanding and getting the most of its relation with display is key to generate more value for every media dollar. Agency respondents State of Search Marketing Report 2013 In association with SEMPO Page 59

60 Untapped potential in search engine optimization Companies Figure 48: Where do you think the most untapped potential for search engine optimization lies and why? Agencies Figure 49: Where do you think the most untapped potential for search engine optimization lies and why? State of Search Marketing Report 2013 In association with SEMPO Page 60

61 Where do you think the most untapped potential for search engine optimization lies and why? Long-tail keywords as customers that click on the landing pages are more likely to convert. Using local language and terms for regional landing pages. Connecting keywords to user intent to uncover the most valuable warm prospects. Voice search and Jarvis reading back relevant teaser data to compel the searcher to dig deeper. Persona-based keyword research will help us find untapped keywords to try to optimize for those that may be completely unrelated to our products. Local business, as they are a huge market that is under-served and hard to service. Company respondents Mobile SEO is not well understood and often budgeted for, but it represents a huge opportunity for many brands. There is plenty of potential in the understanding of semantic search as we begin to move away from keywords. Most brands have a strong division between lifestyle and promotion keeping content within each siloed (blogs vs product listings). Retail brands like One Kings Lane and The Porter Group are showing that inserting blog-like snippets of information into a search result or category page or listing products beneath a blog post not only boosts sales, but boosts organic search results as well. Authorship and content optimization. Clients are not leveraging their material as thoroughly as they can to enhance credibility. Also, only a handful of businesses are taking advantage of Google+. Agency respondents State of Search Marketing Report 2013 In association with SEMPO Page 61

62 Untapped potential in digital display marketing Companies Figure 50: Where do you think the most untapped potential for digital display marketing lies and why? Agencies Figure 51: Where do you think the most untapped potential for digital display marketing lies and why? State of Search Marketing Report 2013 In association with SEMPO Page 62

63 Where do you think the most untapped potential for digital display marketing lies and why? Retargeting contextually. Customers want to interact with brands, but on their terms. Marketers need to do a better job at reaching consumers at the right time with the right message. Most companies use display for awareness but don t compliment it with a SEM strategy, therefore they potentially lose out on that lift. Video targeting through new platforms, various triggered activity, rich media units. Company respondents Audience targeting using data to build stronger display ad campaigns that not only provide brand awareness to the right people, but also support performance beyond the impression. Clients are more and more asking questions of their display ad campaign performance and the way in which media is planned needs to adapt to this need for real results. In some areas this is totally under-utilized. And where it is used, it is mainly used as billboard ads are used. The opportunities are in combining billboard style ads with services such as coupons, loyalty and QR. Real-time bidding (RTB) is still relatively new and many advertisers/agencies are still hesitant on trying it out. Agency respondents State of Search Marketing Report 2013 In association with SEMPO Page 63

64 Untapped potential in social media marketing Companies Figure 52: Where do you think the most untapped potential for social media marketing lies and why? Agencies Figure 53: Where do you think the most untapped potential for social media marketing lies and why? State of Search Marketing Report 2013 In association with SEMPO Page 64

65 Where do you think the most untapped potential for social media marketing lies and why? Driving engagement around the brand and then converting segments to specific revenue-driven CTA. Finding out where your audience is, sharing relevant topics to your business and making sure you are there participating and creating communities on those platforms. Paid marketing as paid social media content is still seen as spam. Integrating CRM across all channels properly as not to overlap message. Company respondents Leveraging marketing technology that will allow social media to replace marketing to a certain extent. is becoming so saturated and with anti-spam laws becoming stricter, marketers need to leverage social media at a more sophisticated level to mitigate marketing risk. Google+ it s not going away and Google will continue to advance it. Creating an overarching strategy that aligns with business goals seems to be a challenge for most social media marketers, as they re too focused on what s funny or interesting or exciting to them personally, rather than business metrics. Social media is a haven for data. Many companies are still treating social media marketing similar to general display marketing. However, they need to take advantage of the treasure trove of data that lies within, for example, Facebook, to both better target their audiences as well as learn from them. Agency respondents State of Search Marketing Report 2013 In association with SEMPO Page 65

66 Untapped potential in mobile marketing Companies Figure 54: Where do you think the most untapped potential for mobile marketing lies and why? Agencies Figure 55: Where do you think the most untapped potential for mobile marketing lies and why? State of Search Marketing Report 2013 In association with SEMPO Page 66

67 Where do you think the most untapped potential for mobile marketing lies and why? Local search marketing. The entire nature of mobile is mobility people using their phones on the go are generally searching for something specific. You want to make sure your brand is able to compete in the local market. Better targeting and integration between multiple channels to drive context of mobile/location with intent. Location-based marketing. There is potential for incremental sales at the emotional decision point of purchase. Company respondents Many brands framing mobile as if it is a one-off project, like the building of an app or a redesign of a website. As companies take more of a strategic approach towards mobile, they will derive much richer benefits. Delivering effective sales experience in the mobile environment. Companies that can coerce their customers to buy on many devices will be in a very strong position. The continued growth of proximity marketing with things like ibeacons being rolled out could potentially be the key to providing messaging that can capitalize on when consumers are in buying mode. Agency respondents State of Search Marketing Report 2013 In association with SEMPO Page 67

68 Untapped potential in marketing Companies Figure 56: Where do you think the most untapped potential for marketing lies and why? Agencies Figure 57: Where do you think the most untapped potential for marketing lies and why? State of Search Marketing Report 2013 In association with SEMPO Page 68

69 Where do you think the most untapped potential for marketing lies and why? Responsive designs. Most people are now checking their s on their phones and tablets and thus you have to have a layout that makes it easy for them to read on any device. Changing times of marketing sending to define when is the best time to send the s for profitability. Integrating CRM across all channels properly so that is just a part of a multichannel brand experience. Company respondents Developing newsletters with helpful content that doesn t necessarily come from you being confident enough to share useful material from other sources. Need to make people look forward to your s not delete them on sight. Simply adding an form or sending out a monthly campaign is easy, yet marketers are slow to do these simple tasks. Most are not strategic enough in coming up with viable content to send out, and end up selling too hard. Personalization. While most businesses encourage users to sign up to newsletters, they also do a terrible job of getting more detailed data on their new subscribers. Simply follow up an sign-up with a profile or preferences confirmation . Agency respondents State of Search Marketing Report 2013 In association with SEMPO Page 69

70 5. Appendix Respondent Profiles 5.1. Type of organization Figure 58: Which most accurately describes the organization you work for? Respondents: 402 State of Search Marketing Report 2013 In association with SEMPO Page 70

71 5.2. Respondent roles Companies Figure 59: Which of the following best describes your role? Respondents: 126 State of Search Marketing Report 2013 In association with SEMPO Page 71

72 5.3. Business focus Figure 60: Which of the following best describes the primary target of your digital marketing? Company respondents: 126 Agency respondents: 233 State of Search Marketing Report 2013 In association with SEMPO Page 72

73 5.4. Business sector Companies Figure 61: In which business sector is your organization? Respondents: 98 State of Search Marketing Report 2013 In association with SEMPO Page 73

74 5.5. Type of agency Agencies Figure 62: Which of the following best describes your agency or business? Respondents: 184 State of Search Marketing Report 2013 In association with SEMPO Page 74

75 5.6. Geography Figure 63: In which country are you based? Respondents: 402 State of Search Marketing Report 2013 In association with SEMPO Page 75

76 5.7. Size of company by revenue Companies Figure 64: Approximately how much did your company generate in revenue in the last fiscal year? Respondents: 99 State of Search Marketing Report 2013 In association with SEMPO Page 76

77 5.8. Size of company by number of employees Companies Figure 65: How many employees are there in your organization? Respondents: 98 State of Search Marketing Report 2013 In association with SEMPO Page 77