Search marketing up 31% in 2007
Web 2.0 isn’t a novelty for B2B marketers anymore. Your customers expect it. A study by Marketing Sherpa shows that in addition to search marketing (aka SEM, pay-per-click, PPC), search engine optimization (SEO) and natural search are also growing like crazy. This puts pressure on marketing departments to greatly improve their companies’ Web sites, making them two-way portals that encourage interaction and build relationships.
Blogs are also going strong. While attending a session on B2B blogs, I questioned blogs’ current popularity. Our agency had a blog 12 years ago that wasn’t all that successful. (Of course, the word “blog” didn’t even exist then.) Our Internet team answered in a single word: “technology.” Back then everyone had slow computers, slower transmission speeds and very little storage. Now it’s totally different. Lightning-quick technology makes video, interactive and just about anything else, instantaneous – including blogs.
In other words, even though we’ve been doing this “interactive” stuff for a long time, now it really works – and it’s not just for “computer nerds” and retailers selling to the Pepsi generation. It can work for you and your sales. Embrace the future and reap the rewards.