Are You Still Spending More on Less? The Status of Search Engine ...

It?s a fair enough question ? are you spending more but getting less? According to a recent survey conducted by SEMPO, the answer is ?yes? especially if you are like most small business owners. As a nationwide social media management firm, we obviously enjoy the benefit derived from proper implementation of social media marketing as well as local social search to enhance traditional SEO efforts but the sad reality is that few others are using these options. In fact, statistics show a somewhat dismal state of affairs. Keep reading to learn why so many business owners are spending more money than ever?while getting less?and how a properly designed local social search strategy can transform your results from exhausting to exciting.

Dedicated Spending Increases

Fewer than 10% of business owners report a fixed SEO budget; down considerably from prior years where the majority of corporations set aside a small stipend to ?try out? ideas like SEO or social media marketing. With the majority of organizations now viewing Internet marketing as mainstream, over 50% report a flexible budget and just under 40% report their budget to be ?very flexible? contingent entirely on the ROI of the initiate.

Big Budgets

Not only are business owners putting their money where their mouth is when it comes to online marketing efforts but there are some notable changes taking place. For example, while the actual dollar amounts spent for all forms of Internet marketing have increased for the third year in a row (an impressive feat considering the overall state of the economy and steady decline experienced among nearly all traditional marketing methods including Yellow Pages, direct mail, telemarketing, radio and newspaper classified advertising), the actual amount spent on SEO alone is declining. So, how much are business owner spending on SEO?

• Roughly 5% are spending $1 million or more on SEO (down from approx 10% two years ago).
• Roughly 7% spend $250,000 to $1 million (down from 15%).
• 5% spend $150,000 to $250,000 (down from a high of 13%).
• 13% spend $75,000 to $150,000 (holding steady).
• 18% spend between $25,000 t0 $75,000 (down from 26%).
• 43% spend less than $25,000 (up from 39% last year and 32% the prior year).

In every category, SEO spending has decreased except for the lowest level of spending. So, where is the rest of the Internet marketing money going? It?s going into social media marketing and with good reason. A quick review of how and why is not only useful but provides an exceptional glimpse into one of the fastest growth areas in advertising and marketing today.

What?s Important?

When asked what is most important to their Internet marketing metrics, 30% of business entities listed keyword rankings as a top priority?even more important than the number of sales leads, traffic or conversion rates. But are keywords still that important? Well we will be the first to admit that it?s nice to see our name at the top of the list when performing a search but let?s face it, keywords are only one part of the equation. The reality is marketing is there to make money and that should be reflected in other important metrics including the number of actual sales leads, traffic volume, conversion rates, ROI, brand awareness, customer engagement, cost of generating offline sales and so forth. What this really reflects is a lack of understanding regarding the full potential of Internet marketing?much less a comparison between SEO and social media.

What About PPC?

Remember PPC? Yes, it?s still alive and well; according to the study, 77% of participants are spending MORE on PPC despite a decline in ROI. Ouch! Again, this reflects a distinctive lack of understanding of how the various components of Internet marketing and adverting are able to work together. On the other hand, as we have already mentions, there are still positive signs of growth including the rapid rise in social media and mobile marketing. Just under 50% of business entities rate mobile as a major trend followed by Google algorithm updates (39%) and then local social search (29%).

More Money = Fewer Results?

Sadly, many people are indeed spending more money for fewer results. Social media management firms have used SEO in collaboration with video, mobile marketing, local social search and the numerous other Internet marketing options but it?s not a ?one size fits all approach?. Instead, we recognize the fact that social media enhances the ratings and rankings of each method while retaining distinctive benefits not to be found in other options. For example, Google has been shrinking search results from the top 10 down to the top 7 for the first page?even while everything beyond the top 3 continues to decline in relative value. Equally disturbing has been the algorithm changes and increased reliance upon social input for ratings. So, what can you do to improve your results? Oddly enough, most experts agree?focus less on SEO and more on social and local. Want to learn more about how local social media search can help boost SEO and other Internet marketing efforts? Take a few moments to contact our us!

Source: https://maximizesocialmedia.com/social-media-consulting-are-you-still-spending-more-on-less-the-status-of-search-engine-marketing

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