Research Report - July 2015
STATE OF B2BSEARCHMARKETING 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 «
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
73% respondents say their companies invest in
search marketing» tweet this «
67% marketers use social media channels to
boost their SEO efforts» tweet this «
MAJORITY OF COMPANIES SAY THEY INVEST IN SEARCH MARKETING
© REGALIX RESEARCH STATE OF B2B SEARCH MARKETING 2015 / 03
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%NoYes
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.
© REGALIX RESEARCH STATE OF B2B SEARCH MARKETING 2015 / 04
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 / 05
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 / 06
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%NoYes
© REGALIX RESEARCH STATE OF B2B SEARCH MARKETING 2015 / 07
COMPANIES ROOT FOR BOTH SEO & SEM76 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 / 08
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?
7%55%38%Very well
integratedSomewhat integrated
Not at all integrated
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.
© REGALIX RESEARCH STATE OF B2B SEARCH MARKETING 2015 / 09
Which type of Search Marketing performs better in the pre-sales stage of the customer buying cycle?
66% 34%Paid SearchOrganic Search
Which type of Search Marketing performs better in the post-sales stage of the customer buying cycle?
66% 34%Paid SearchOrganic Search
© REGALIX RESEARCH STATE OF B2B SEARCH MARKETING 2015 / 10
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?
25%Increase offline sales revenue
40%Improve brand awareness
15%Complemente offline marketing efforts
50%Increase website traffic
25%Integrate search marketing data with CRM and other systems
30%Increase online sales revenue
5%Improve public relations
90%Increase lead generation
© REGALIX RESEARCH STATE OF B2B SEARCH MARKETING 2015 / 11
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?
10%Mobile Ads
Only search 40%
45%Dynamic remarketing
Only display 25%
50%Remarketing
© REGALIX RESEARCH STATE OF B2B SEARCH MARKETING 2015 / 12
Do you use retargeting as a search tactic? If yes, which of the following do you use?
80% 20%Retargeting with 3rd party tools(AdRoll, Retargeter, Fetchback, Chango)
Regargeting with AdWords
© REGALIX RESEARCH STATE OF B2B SEARCH MARKETING 2015 / 13
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?
15%YouTube video campaigns
Google Display Network campaigns 25%
30%LinkedIn campaigns
10%Google Shopping campaigns
Facebook campaigns 25%
90%Google Search Network campaigns
© REGALIX RESEARCH STATE OF B2B SEARCH MARKETING 2015 / 14
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?
65%Blogs
35%Asset tags
40%Link building
Content creation 70%
80%Meta tags
50%Responsive design
10%Rich snippet tags
Social media integration 65%
80%SEO landing pages
© REGALIX RESEARCH STATE OF B2B SEARCH MARKETING 2015 / 15
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?
22%Using keywords directing prospects to comparison pages on site
33%Specific features such as cost, benefits etc
11%Special offers and discounts
39%Gaining editorial traction in third party publications
22%Using placement targeting
33%Creating blog posts
44%Using generic informational keywords
© REGALIX RESEARCH STATE OF B2B SEARCH MARKETING 2015 / 16
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%NoYes
© REGALIX RESEARCH STATE OF B2B SEARCH MARKETING 2015 / 17
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?
0%Exclusive subdomain for mobile
High page speed 38%
44%Mobile XML sitemap
81%Responsive web design
Do you run advertising campaigns specially for mobile devices?
24% 76%NoYes
© REGALIX RESEARCH STATE OF B2B SEARCH MARKETING 2015 / 18
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?
39%Easily measurable
17%Lengthens sales cycle
Easy to track 39%
50%More exposure, branding & awareness
28%Quick results
Generates high volume of leads 39%
56%Generates high quality leads
© REGALIX RESEARCH STATE OF B2B SEARCH MARKETING 2015 / 19
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?
44%Cost per click
17%Ad position
56%Cost per acquisition
28%Increase in sales revenue
17%Tracking the performance of your branded v/s non-branded keywords
61%Increase in website traffic
39%Quality score
17%Increase in brand awareness
56%Number of leads generated
22%Improved ranking on search pages
6%Building calendar of search data
72%Conversion rate
© REGALIX RESEARCH STATE OF B2B SEARCH MARKETING 2015 / 20
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.
Continued growth of mobile ads and mobile
content
32% 36% 32%
Deeper convergence with social media
(targeted ads, contextual suggestions etc)
37% 47% 16%
Rise in the quantity and quality of content
creation
74% 21% 5%
Surge in video searches
39% 22% 39%
Increasing importance of knowledge graph and
semantic SEO
28% 61% 11%
Local SEO
25% 40% 35%
Rank the following Search Marketing trends in order of significance for your company/brand in the year 2015.
Highly Significant Not SignificantSignificant
In your opinion, what are the key challenges of Search Marketing?
22%Bid management
33%Difficult to work with an overwhelming amount of data
17%Leveraging new technologies within search strategy
44%Needs an expert knowledge
17%Regular updates
33%Difficulty in integrating search marketing data with marketing programs
44%Expensive
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.
© 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?
What percentage of your marketing budget is currently allocated towards Search Marketing?
25% - 50% 11%
25% - 50% 22%
61%10% - 25%
22%10% - 25%
Above 50% 0%
Above 50% 0%
28%Below 10%
56%Below 10%
© 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?
25% - 50% 17%
28%10% - 25%
Above 50% 17%
38%Below 10%
© 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
© REGALIX RESEARCH STATE OF B2B SEARCH MARKETING 2015 / 25
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.
ABOUT THE ANALYSTS
Nimish VohraSVP, 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 SeethapathySenior 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.
ABOUT REGALIX RESEARCH
Headquartered in Silicon Valley, we help the CMO organization leverage emerging digital practices for creating marketing leverage as they bring new products and innovation to market. Regalix Research helps marketers through research-based insights, consulting and peer-to-peer programs that guide marketing strategy development and execution. Our focus is helping Technology companies leverage innovation and best practices to create real differentiation. Our analysts are practitioners with a successful track record of delivering real marketing results for both leading Fortune 500 companies as well as venture backed firms.
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