STATE OF B2B SEARCH MARKETING 2015

STATE OF B2B SEARCH MARKETING 2015 Research Report - July 2015 keyword

WHO WE SPOKE TO Given the continuing importance of search in driving online traffic, we wanted to understand the state of Search Marketing among B2B marketers today. So we spoke to senior marketing professionals in B2B companies to get their perspectives on Search Marketing and what the commonly followed best practices in the industry are. We got in touch with both product & service companies. While the survey was done globally, a sizeable number of companies in our survey were from the US (46%) and India (26%). REGALIX RESEARCH STATE OF B2B SEARCH MARKETING 2015 / 01

KEY FINDINGS: 76% respondents consider both SEO and SEM as part of their search marketing strategy» tweet this «73% respondents say their companies invest in search marketing» tweet this «67% marketers use social media channels to boost their SEO efforts» tweet this «66% marketers rate organic search over paid search in terms of performance» tweet this «56% respondents say they expect their search marketing budget to increase over the next 12 months» tweet this «REGALIX RESEARCH STATE OF B2B SEARCH MARKETING 2015 / 02

MAJORITY OF COMPANIES SAY THEY INVEST IN SEARCH MARKETING 73 percent of respondents said their companies invest in Search Marketing; but a surprisingly high number of respondents (27%) also said their companies did not. Does your company invest in Search Marketing? 73% 27% Yes No REGALIX RESEARCH STATE OF B2B SEARCH MARKETING 2015 / 03

TWO-THIRDS OF COMPANIES WE SPOKE TO, ARE USING SEARCH MARKETING FOR OVER 3 YEARS In fact, 37% of companies said they have been using Search Marketing for over 5 years now. How long has your organization been using Search Marketing? 33% 30% 37% Less than 3 Years 3-5 Years More than 5 Years REGALIX RESEARCH STATE OF B2B SEARCH MARKETING 2015 / 04

MAJORITY OF RESPONDENTS FIND THEIR SEARCH MARKETING EFFORTS TO BE SOMEWHAT EFFECTIVE As high as 72% of respondents rated their Search Marketing efforts as being somewhat effective; only 21% chose to rate it as being very effective. Encouragingly, only 7% of respondents felt their efforts were not at all effective. How effective has Search Marketing been for your organization? 7% 72% 21% Not at all effective Somewhat effective Very effective REGALIX RESEARCH STATE OF B2B SEARCH MARKETING 2015 / 05

ONLY 29% OF COMPANIES OUTSOURCE THEIR SEARCH MARKETING ACTIVITIES 71 percent of respondents, on the other hand, said they do not outsource their Search Marketing activities. Given the numerous possibilities that exist in Search Marketing and the increasing role that analytics play, we feel there is a place for external agencies to fill in a need here. Do you outsource your Search Marketing activities? 29% 71% Yes No REGALIX RESEARCH STATE OF B2B SEARCH MARKETING 2015 / 06

COMPANIES ROOT FOR BOTH SEO & SEM 76 percent of marketers we spoke to, said they considered both SEO & SEM as part of their Search Marketing strategy. Which of the below Search Marketing strategies do you consider for your organization? 10% 14% 76% SEM SEO Both REGALIX RESEARCH STATE OF B2B SEARCH MARKETING 2015 / 07

38 PERCENT OF RESPONDENTS SAY THEIR SEARCH MARKETING STRATEGY IS VERY WELL INTEGRATED WITH THEIR OVERALL MARKETING PROGRAM 55 percent of respondents said their Search Marketing strategy was somewhat integrated with their marketing program. Only 7% felt their Search Marketing strategy was not at all integrated with their marketing program. How well integrated is your Search Marketing strategy with your overall marketing program? 38% Very well integrated 55% Somewhat integrated 7% Not at all integrated REGALIX RESEARCH STATE OF B2B SEARCH MARKETING 2015 / 08

ORGANIC SEARCH WINS OVER PAID SEARCH BOTH IN THE PRE-SALES & POST-SALES STAGES 66 percent of marketers we spoke to, rated organic search over paid search in terms of performance both during the pre-sales and post-sales stages of the customer buying cycle. Which type of Search Marketing performs better in the pre-sales stage of the customer buying cycle? 66% 34% Organic Search Paid Search Which type of Search Marketing performs better in the post-sales stage of the customer buying cycle? 66% 34% Organic Search Paid Search REGALIX RESEARCH STATE OF B2B SEARCH MARKETING 2015 / 09

INCREASE LEAD GENERATION TOPS LIST OF KEY SEARCH MARKETING OBJECTIVES 90 percent of respondents chose increase lead generation as the key objective of their Search Marketing strategy. Increase website traffic came in next with a 50% response rate. What are the key objectives of your Search Marketing strategy? Increase lead generation Increase website traffic Improve brand awareness Increase online sales revenue Increase offline sales revenue Integrate search marketing data with CRM and other systems Complemente offline marketing efforts Improve public relations 90% 50% 40% 30% 25% 25% 15% 5% REGALIX RESEARCH STATE OF B2B SEARCH MARKETING 2015 / 10

REMARKETING & DYNAMIC REMARKETING SCORE OVER OTHER TACTICS IN TARGETING CUSTOMERS WHO HAVE BEEN TO THE WEBSITE 50 percent of respondents said they use remarketing while 45% said they use dynamic remarketing to target people who have already visited their website. Among the respondents who said they used remarketing, AdWords came out as the most popular platform with an 80% response rate. Which of the following Search Marketing tactics do you use to target people who have already visited your site? Remarketing Dynamic remarketing 50% 45% Only search 40% Only display 25% Mobile Ads 10% REGALIX RESEARCH STATE OF B2B SEARCH MARKETING 2015 / 11

Do you use retargeting as a search tactic? If yes, which of the following do you use? 80% 20% Regargeting with AdWords Retargeting with 3rd party tools (AdRoll, Retargeter, Fetchback, Chango) REGALIX RESEARCH STATE OF B2B SEARCH MARKETING 2015 / 12

GOOGLE SEARCH NETWORK IS BY FAR THE MOST POPULAR CAMPAIGN TYPE 90 percent of marketers voted Google Search Network campaigns as the most effective; with LinkedIn campaigns coming in second place at 30%. Google Display Network campaigns & Facebook campaigns came in third with 25% each. Which of these Search Marketing campaigns do you find most effective? Google Search Network campaigns LinkedIn campaigns 90% 30% Google Display Network campaigns 25% Facebook campaigns 25% YouTube video campaigns Google Shopping campaigns 15% 10% REGALIX RESEARCH STATE OF B2B SEARCH MARKETING 2015 / 13

SEO LANDING PAGES & META TAGS TOP THE LIST OF SEO TACTICS EMPLOYED BY ORGANIZATIONS While SEO landing pages & Meta tags topped the list of SEO tactics employed by organizations, with a response rate of 80% each, organizations were also seen taking various other initiatives, including content creation (70%), social media integration (65%), and blogs (65%), amongst others. Which of the following tactics are deployed by your organization as a part of your Search Engine Optimization? SEO landing pages Meta tags 80% 80% Content creation 70% Social media integration 65% Blogs Responsive design Link building Asset tags Rich snippet tags 65% 50% 40% 35% 10% REGALIX RESEARCH STATE OF B2B SEARCH MARKETING 2015 / 14

USING GENERIC INFORMATIONAL KEYWORDS GIVE THE BEST RESULTS, SAY MARKETERS 44 percent of respondents said using generic informational keywords as a keyword strategy gave them the best results; 39% of respondents chose gaining editorial traction in third party publications. In your opinion, which of the following keyword strategies generates the best results? Using generic informational keywords 44% Gaining editorial traction in third party publications 39% Specific features such as cost, benefits etc 33% Creating blog posts 33% Using keywords directing prospects to comparison pages on site 22% Using placement targeting 22% Special offers and discounts 11% REGALIX RESEARCH STATE OF B2B SEARCH MARKETING 2015 / 15

TWO-THIRDS OF MARKETERS USE SOCIAL MEDIA CHANNELS TO BOOST SEO EFFORTS 67 percent of marketers we spoke to, said they used social media channels to boost their SEO efforts; the remaining 33% said they didn t. Do you use Social Media channels to boost your SEO efforts? 67% 33% Yes No REGALIX RESEARCH STATE OF B2B SEARCH MARKETING 2015 / 16

RESPONSIVE WEB DESIGN DOMINATES MOBILE SEO EFFORTS OF MARKETERS 81 percent of respondents chose responsive web design as the tactic they used as part of their mobile SEO efforts; while 44% picked on mobile XML sitemap. Interestingly, there were no takers for an exclusive sub-domain for mobile. 76 percent of respondents also said no, when asked whether they ran advertising campaigns for mobile devices. Which of the following tactics do you use as a part of your Mobile SEO efforts? Responsive web design Mobile XML sitemap 81% 44% High page speed 38% Exclusive subdomain for mobile 0% Do you run advertising campaigns specially for mobile devices? 24% 76% Yes No REGALIX RESEARCH STATE OF B2B SEARCH MARKETING 2015 / 17

GENERATING LEADS & BRAND AWARENESS ARE THE KEY BENEFITS SEEN IN SEARCH MARKETING Generating high quality leads (56%), and more exposure, branding & awareness (50%) were voted by our respondents as the top benefits of Search Marketing. What are the key benefits of Search Marketing? Generates high quality leads 56% More exposure, branding & awareness 50% Easy to track 39% Generates high volume of leads 39% Easily measurable 39% Quick results 28% Lengthens sales cycle 17% REGALIX RESEARCH STATE OF B2B SEARCH MARKETING 2015 / 18

CONVERSION RATE & INCREASE IN WEBSITE TRAFFIC MEASURE THE SUCCESS OF SEARCH MARKETING CAMPAIGNS Conversion rate (72%) & increase in website traffic (61%) were the most popular metrics used by marketers to measure the success of their Search Marketing campaigns. Cost per acquisition & number of leads generated at 56% each, came in next. What are key metrics used by your organization to measure the success of Search Marketing campaigns? Conversion rate Increase in website traffic Cost per acquisition Number of leads generated Cost per click Quality score Increase in sales revenue Improved ranking on search pages Ad position Increase in brand awareness Tracking the performance of your branded v/s non-branded keywords Building calendar of search data 72% 61% 56% 56% 44% 39% 28% 22% 17% 17% 17% 6% REGALIX RESEARCH STATE OF B2B SEARCH MARKETING 2015 / 19

MAJORITY OF MARKETERS SEE RISE IN CONTENT CREATION AS THE MOST SIGNIFICANT SEARCH MARKETING TREND 74 percent of respondents said they see the rise in the quantity & quality of content creation as a Search Marketing trend that is highly significant to them; 61 percent of respondents also felt the increasing importance of knowledge graph and semantic SEO as being significant. Rank the following Search Marketing trends in order of significance for your company/brand in the year 2015. Highly Significant Significant Not Significant 32% 36% 32% 74% 21% 5% 28% 61% 11% Continued growth of mobile ads and mobile content Rise in the quantity and quality of content creation Increasing importance of knowledge graph and semantic SEO 37% 47% 16% 39% 22% 39% 25% 40% 35% Deeper convergence with social media (targeted ads, contextual suggestions etc) Surge in video searches Local SEO REGALIX RESEARCH STATE OF B2B SEARCH MARKETING 2015 / 20

COST & EXPERTISE - KEY CHALLENGES FACED BY MARKETERS IN SEARCH MARKETING Expensive (44%) & needs an expert knowledge (44%) were the top Search Marketing challenges picked by marketers. As mentioned by us earlier, given the need for expert knowledge, outsourcing Search Marketing activities could be a way of addressing this challenge. In your opinion, what are the key challenges of Search Marketing? Expensive 44% Needs an expert knowledge 44% Difficult to work with an overwhelming amount of data Difficulty in integrating search marketing data with marketing programs 33% 33% Bid management 22% Regular updates 17% Leveraging new technologies within search strategy 17% REGALIX RESEARCH STATE OF B2B SEARCH MARKETING 2015 / 21

FOR A MAJORITY OF COMPANIES, REVENUE FROM SEARCH MARKETING EDGES PAST INVESTMENT 56 percent of respondents said less than 10% of their budget was allocated toward Search Marketing; against which 61% of respondents said 10% - 25% of their revenue was generated from it. What percentage of your revenue is generated from Search Marketing? Below 10% 10% - 25% 28% 61% 25% - 50% 11% Above 50% 0% What percentage of your marketing budget is currently allocated towards Search Marketing? Below 10% 10% - 25% 56% 22% 25% - 50% 22% Above 50% 0% REGALIX RESEARCH STATE OF B2B SEARCH MARKETING 2015 / 22

17 PERCENT OF RESPONDENTS SAY THAT OVER 50% OF THEIR WEBSITE VISITS ARE DRIVEN BY SEARCH CAMPAIGNS In all, a third of the respondents we spoke to, said over 25% of their website visits were coming from search campaigns. What percentage of your website visits is driven by your search campaigns? Below 10% 10% - 25% 38% 28% 25% - 50% 17% Above 50% 17% REGALIX RESEARCH STATE OF B2B SEARCH MARKETING 2015 / 23

MARKETERS DO NOT SEE THEIR SEARCH MARKETING BUDGETS DECREASE OVER THE NEXT 12 MONTHS When asked how they see their Search Marketing budget change over the next 12 months, 56% of marketers said they expect it to increase; the rest 44% said they expect it to remain the same. How do you see your Search Marketing budget change over the next 12 months? 56% 44% Increase Remain the same REGALIX RESEARCH STATE OF B2B SEARCH MARKETING 2015 / 24

FINAL THOUGHTS Given the increasing complexity of a digital multi-channel environment and the increasing dominance of mobile, companies need to keep their eyes wide open while navigating the Search Marketing space. The possibilities are numerous. Paid or organic search, recent studies have shown that organic search is still by far the biggest driver of traffic on the web. So one can t get away with just a paid search strategy. On the other hand, a combination of paid and organic search strategies seem to bring in better results. So, content is important. Social media presence is key. Mobile is critical. And search algorithms, for better or worse, keep changing. There are no right or wrong answers here. Companies need to see what works best for them. In our survey, we found that companies were already pursuing multiple strategies to achieve their search objectives. Search Marketing, in our opinion, will always remain a work-in-progress. While costs are an important factor, companies will do well to seek help from outside when the going gets tough. REGALIX RESEARCH STATE OF B2B SEARCH MARKETING 2015 / 25

ABOUT THE ANALYSTS Nimish Vohra SVP, Principal Analyst Nimish, Senior Vice President, works with CMOs and senior marketing professionals. His research focuses on customer experience management, predictive analytics, mobile enablement and other emerging trends that help customers leverage technology as an enabler of marketing and business outcomes. Srinivasan Seethapathy Senior Marketing Manager Srinivasan s research is focused on optimizing customer experiences across all channels. His research is aimed at marketers who want to understand how they can spend their budgets more efficiently by improving customer experiences across marketing channels.

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