I recently read an outstanding white paper written by members of Omniture, and SearchMarketingNow about integrating the New Digital Team. I highly recommend this white paper, here is the link to the Omniture website, if you would like to download the white paper.
Here are a few of the highlights, as well as my own interpretation of the best practices for your marketing plan.
First, understanding your data is as important as dominating the search results. Second, the more you understand about all website traffic, the more reach or lift you will have with them. Most important, how all your teams communicate and then collaborate with each other, will play a significant factor in how successful your Search Marketing Campaigns will be.
Here are a few highlights from the white paper:
– It is now estimated that Paid Search, now represents the largest portion of online advertising budgets according to Internet Advertising Bureau. I guarantee all the SEO’s just perked up.
– It is estimated that SEO drives 75% of traffic, but only receives 15% of the marketing budget, whereas PPC (Pay Per Click) receives 80% of the budget, but only generates 25% of the the traffic. I would argue that if you understood your data and your analytic’s, you could raise the qualified traffic from PPC.
– SEO is largely seen in most companies as an “IT Function”, whereas PPC is seen as a “Marketing Function”. As long as there is outstanding communication between both departments, they can both be successful, but that’s not often the case. That can leave both dollars and efficiency left on the table. As the landscape continues to get more an more competitive, you will need to centralize your Search Marketing.
Much more from this beneficial white paper, but I will need to read through and analyze each section in order to pull from it the most beneficial information. Please contact us, if you are interested in a quick review to determine if your Digital Team is integrated.
