Search Marketing Returns Improve Despite Increased Competition
SEARCH marketers are reporting better Return On Investment from their Pay Per Click campaigns despite rising costs, according to a new survey from Marketing Sherpa.
Researchers believe this is largely due to better marketing and use of analytics – trends that are also contributing to improved ROI for Search Engine Optimisation strategies.
“For years, Sherpa has asked marketers to gauge the ROI of search using the scale above,” the company said. “Recently, there has been an expectation that the needle for PPC would drop because of rising costs. That hasn’t happened so far.
“One-fifth of respondents called SEO their “strongest tactic” for ROI – up 3 percentage points from 2007 to 21%. Also, “good ROI” jumped 2 points to 38%.
“More importantly, we see a 6-point drop (28%) in those who call the results of SEO “hard to gauge.” That’s a direct result of the proliferation and integration of analytics.
“Smart marketers have moved beyond the basics of top referral pages. They are looking deeply into how traffic is generated and how that traffic differs by source. For many, traffic driven by natural search converts at a higher rate than any other.
“Paid search also fared well in this year’s benchmark research. The number of marketers calling it their “strongest tactic” dropped a couple of points, but the percentage designating it as having “good ROI” rose markedly by 7 points (20%).
“This was the result of two shifts: a drop in those who found search a “low value” tactic as marketers either improved or eliminated their paid search spending; a drop in those who find it “hard to gauge.”
Key takeaway: Knowledge trumps rising costs in search. Marketers who are devoted to understanding their analytics and have the discipline to keep learning will continue to see positive returns from their search investment. www.marketingsherpa.com
Search Engine Room: July 29, 2008
