UK Search Engine Marketing Benchmark Report 2010

Transcription

1 Market Data / Supplier Selection / Event Presentations / User Experience Benchmarking / Best Practice / Template Files / Trends & Innovation UK Search Engine Marketing Benchmark Report 2010 In association with Guava

2 UK Search Engine Marketing Benchmark Report 2010 Published June 2010 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 2010 Econsultancy London 2nd Floor, 85 Clerkenwell Road London EC1R 5AR United Kingdom Telephone: +44 (0) Econsultancy New York 41 East 11th St., 11th Floor New York, NY United States Telephone:

3 Contents 1. Executive Summary and Highlights Introduction from Guava About Guava About Econsultancy Methodology and Sample Methodology Respondent profiles Company or agency marketer? Annual company turnover Business sector Geography Findings Type of search activity and search services Proportion of companies carrying out search and social media marketing Agency focus Are search and social media marketing done in-house or by an agency? Paid search services (supply and demand) SEO services (supply and demand) Multi-lingual and multi-territory search campaigns Search budget Paid search budget Annual change in paid search budgets SEO budget Annual change in SEO budgets Social media marketing budget Annual change in social media budgets Agency perspective on budgets Annual change in digital marketing budgets Technology and analytics Bid management technology Criteria for selecting bid management technology Conversion and attribution Objectives, effectiveness and ROI Primary objectives for paid search UK Search Engine Marketing Benchmark Report 2010 In association with Guava

4 Primary objectives for SEO Primary objectives for social media marketing Impact on brand Tracking ROI from paid search Tracking ROI from SEO Tracking ROI from social media marketing Effectiveness of ROI tracking Effectiveness of social media campaigns Annual change in ROI Factors impacting ROI from paid search Issues affecting ROI from SEO and paid search Changes in levels of referred traffic Search engines Search engines used for paid search ROI from search engines Search engine budgets Keyword price change Effectiveness of particular search engines Types of search engine marketing and social media sites Areas companies are involved with Social media sites Barriers to effective search and social media marketing Barriers to paid search Barriers to SEO Barriers to social media UK Search Engine Marketing Benchmark Report 2010 In association with Guava

5 1. Executive Summary and Highlights This is the fourth annual UK Search Engine Marketing Benchmark Report published by Econsultancy in association with Guava. The research, which covers search engine optimisation (SEO), paid search and social media marketing, is based on a survey of more than 500 advertisers and agencies which was carried out in February and March Overall picture The outlook for the search marketing and social media sectors is significantly healthier than it was a year ago, which can be attributed to better economic circumstances and increased appetite for SEO, PPC and social media. The social media industry is particularly buoyant, and is going through an exponential growth phase in terms of spending. Two thirds of companies (65%) say they are planning to increase their spending on social media marketing over the next 12 months, an increase from 48% in More than half of companies (56%) are planning to boost social media budgets by more than 20%, while 15% are planning to increase their social media spending by more than 100%. The proportion of companies planning to increase SEO spending over the next 12 months has jumped significantly this year (from 55% in 2009 to 60%), as has the percentage of firms planning to raise paid search budgets (up from 45% to 52%). UK Search Engine Marketing Benchmark Report 2010 Page 1

6 2. Introduction from Guava We are pleased to be Econsultancy s research partner on this project for the fourth year running. This year we are especially pleased to note that most companies appetites are up in terms of spend on search engine optimisation, paid search and social media; demonstrating how these specialities justify investment even in a difficult economic climate. We were delighted by the response to the previous reports and feel we have achieved our aim of providing the most comprehensive and useful piece of year-on-year Search Engine Marketing research in the UK. Amazingly 23% of companies surveyed are not using any form of technology to manage or track their PPC activity. Despite this, paid search budgets do seem to be increasing year-on-year, with 13% of the respondents spending at least 1million a year, up from 8% last year. As a result of our status as a Google Analytics Authorized Consultant and Omniture Premiere Partner and the capabilities of our team, Guava will be focusing its efforts this year in assisting companies with ensuring that their analytics accounts have been correctly configured, in order that clients receive the most granular information about their search-based marketing campaigns and, importantly, how these interact with other marketing channels. Social media continues to hold a significant part of companies marketing strategy with Facebook and Twitter ever dominant. Companies are now committing a larger portion of their budget towards this, at the same time citing a lack of internal resource and inability to measure their success. Guava have recently partnered with Radian6 and are able to offer a full social media consultancy and monitoring service to assist clients in using these channels to drive real business benefit, whether this is based on sales, marketing or customer service metrics. We hope that you find the results presented an interesting insight into the Search Engine Marketing landscape in the UK and that they are useful for you and your company in the coming months. Lucy Cokes, Director Guava UK Search Engine Marketing Benchmark Report 2010 Page 2

7 2.1. About Guava Guava is a fresh thinking, highly energetic digital marketing agency with over 200 employees and offices in the UK, Denmark and Sweden. Guava offers considerable expertise across the spectrum of digital communication, including Search Marketing (SEO and Paid Search) Web Development and Social Media. For the last ten years, we've evolved with each new development in the industry, always responding in the brightest, most forward-thinking way. Most importantly, we've helped our clients evolve too, ensuring their growth in these ever-changing times. Guava currently works with clients including Confused.com, Argos, Homebase, Telstra International and The Royal Mail. For more information about the search engine marketing services provided by Guava, please contact Martin Dinham on or uk@guava.com 2.2. About Econsultancy Econsultancy is a digital publishing and training group that is used by more than 200,000 internet professionals every month. The company publishes practical and time-saving research to help marketers make better decisions about the digital environment, build business cases, find the best suppliers, look smart in meetings and accelerate their careers. Econsultancy has offices in New York and London, and hosts more than 100 events every year in the US and UK. Many of the world's most famous brands use Econsultancy to educate and train their staff. Some of Econsultancy s members include: Google, Yahoo, Dell, BBC, BT, Shell, Vodafone, Virgin Atlantic, Barclays, Deloitte, T-Mobile and Estée Lauder. Join Econsultancy today to learn what s happening in digital marketing and what works. Call us to find out more on +44 (0) (London) or (New York). You can also contact us online. UK Search Engine Marketing Benchmark Report 2010 Page 3

8 3. Methodology and Sample 3.1. Methodology This is the fourth annual UK Search Engine Marketing Benchmark Report published by Econsultancy in association with Guava. Many of the questions in the survey have been repeated over this time period, enabling us to compare data and look at trends. There were around 600 respondents to our 2010 research request, which took the form of an online survey 1 in February and March Respondents included both client-side (in-house) marketers (i.e. advertisers) and supply-side respondents (including agencies and consultants). The findings are shown for both client-side (or company respondents ) and supplier-side ( agency respondents ) separately. Information about the survey, including the link, was ed to Econsultancy s user base and promoted on Twitter. The incentive for taking part was access to a complimentary copy of this report just before its publication on the Econsultancy website. If you have any questions about the research, please Econsultancy s Research Director, Linus Gregoriadis (Linus@econsultancy.com) Respondent profiles Survey respondents included 313 client-side marketers (company respondents) and 236 supplyside respondents from agencies and consultancies. Results are shown separately for both types of respondent. 1 Econsultancy uses Clicktools for its online surveys UK Search Engine Marketing Benchmark Report 2010 Page 4

9 Company or agency marketer? Figure 1: Which of the following most accurately describes your job role? Response: 595 UK Search Engine Marketing Benchmark Report 2010 Page 5

10 3.2.3 Business sector The most strongly represented business sectors are retail (17%), travel (12%), financial services (9%) and publishing (8%). Other sectors represented include consumer electronics, information technology and legal services. Companies Figure 4: In which business sector is your organisation? Response: 253 UK Search Engine Marketing Benchmark Report 2010 Page 6

11 4. Findings 4.1. Type of search activity and search services Proportion of companies carrying out search and social media marketing Figure 7 shows a decrease in the proportion of client-side companies carrying out both SEO and paid search since In previous years, the proportion of companies involved in natural search activity has been consistently above 95%, but that figure has dropped this year to 88%. Similarly, the proportion of companies doing pay-per-click advertising has fallen this year, from 84% last year to 76% this year. In 2007 and 2008 the equivalent percentage was 88%. Companies Figure 7: Is your organisation involved in the following types of marketing? Note: There is no trend data available on the proportion of companies involved with social media Response: 301 UK Search Engine Marketing Benchmark Report 2010 Page 7

12 4.2 Search budget Paid search budget Almost half of UK companies (49%) are now spending at least 50,000 a year on paid search marketing, up from 45% last year and 39% in There has been a significant decrease in the proportion of responding companies who spend less than 5,000 a year on paid search, from 25% last year to 14% this year. This is indicative of both the success of paid search and the increased costs associated with this marketing activity. At the other end of the spectrum 13% of companies are now spending at least 1 million a year on paid search, up from 8% last year. Companies Figure 24: How much do you spend on paid search per year? Response: 228 UK Search Engine Marketing Benchmark Report 2010 Page 8

13 4.4 Objectives, effectiveness and ROI Primary objectives for SEO The proportion of companies who say that driving traffic is a primary objective of search engine optimisation has increased from 63% last year to 72% in Around half of respondents say that lead generation (50%) and direct online sales (48%) are primary SEO objectives. A higher proportion of companies say that branding is a main objective for SEO (39%) than for paid search (30%). However, fewer companies now regard branding as an SEO objective than was the case in 2008 when the equivalent percentage was 44%. Companies Figure 48: What are your primary objectives from SEO? Response: 268 UK Search Engine Marketing Benchmark Report 2010 Page 9

14 4.4.7 Tracking ROI from social media marketing There have been increases in the use of the full range of social media metrics covered in this survey. Most notably, the proportion of companies looking at the number of clicks / visitors to track social media ROI has increased from 38% in 2009 to 52% in There have also been significant increases in the proportion of companies using page impressions (+8%), position / branding (+7%), number of sales (+6%) and leads (+6%). While paid search and SEO are maturing as digital marketing disciplines, there has evidently been a tipping point in the last year for the use and measurement - of social media marketing. Agency respondents have also observed increases in the use of social media metrics. Again, the biggest jump has been for clicks / visitors, which now stands at 50% compared to 37% in Companies Figure 62: How are you tracking return on investment from social media? Response: 267 UK Search Engine Marketing Benchmark Report 2010 Page 10

15 4.7 Barriers to effective search and social media marketing Barriers to SEO The changes in SEO barriers to success since last year are not as marked as they are for paid search. Agencies now see lack of internal buy-in (+11%) as a much bigger problem. This suggests that clients have the knowledge and ability to make changes to improve SEO, but that key stakeholders are not sold on the benefits. Company trends Figure 109: Barriers to effective SEO - change since 2009 UK Search Engine Marketing Benchmark Report 2010 Page 11