2,000 marketing executives agree: Search is the new Email
Back in the 1990s when the internet was catching on, email was often the primary point of entry. The web was slow and designers hadn’t yet learned how to make it the aesthetic candyland you see before you today. Search engines weren’t at all useful compared to today’s counterparts–Larry Page and Sergey Brin were only just starting Google in 1998. Mobile internet? Maybe on Planet Melmac.
Email is what got most of us moving a decade ago, and in marketing in the 21st century, it’s still the gold standard. In a survey of over 2,000 leading marketing professionals, these are the numbers:
- 82% expect their company to increase use of email marketing
- 81% expect return on investment (ROI) to equal or exceed other marketing channels
- 67% believe email marketing has helped sales through other channels
There’s no doubt that the email channel is at a mature, profitable point in its life cycle within the marketing mix.
This begs the question–what is next? Which marketing channel will replace email as the high-return investment of choice? The answer is search engines, and Datran agrees:
In each case, almost 3 out of 4 agree that search engine marketing is the next big thing.
Where to begin? These are some of the bedrocks of a strong search engine marketing campaign:
- competitive analysis of industry leaders’ search engine presence
- well-optimized campaign to help your website rank for strategic keywords
- a strong public relations campaign founded on user feedback and social media
- presence in local search channels, particularly for businesses with retail locations
- strong commitment to dynamic content development, including a company blog
Email won’t go away–internet adoption is still on the rise, and email will remain a primary point of entry for most adoptees. This is particularly true for small businesses without a massive war chest for aggressive marketing innovation. But for a safe bet on the next medium of comprehensive marketing efficacy to both businesses and consumers, it’s hard to beat the search engine.
The 2nd Annual Marketing & Media Survey was conducted in December 2007 by Datran Media.
This entry was posted on Saturday, January 26th, 2008 @ 7:47 am on the category Blogging, Local search, SEM, SEO, Small business, Social media.
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