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Search spending delivered greater growth (a 23.6% gain) in the first half of 2008 than any format other than video advertising (which is coming from a minuscule base). Search’s share of the total spend reached 44% in the first half of 2008, too, up from its 41% slice in 2007’s first half.

SEO Searching for New Customers in the Recession?

FEBRUARY 25, 2009

Hiding in plain sight

It makes sense when you think about it. As tough times force many customers to buy less—and to be pickier about what they do buy—search is becoming ever more important to marketers.

“The recession is driving marketers to concentrate on gaining new business, even more than on customer retention objectives,” says David Hallerman, eMarketer senior analyst and author of the new report, Search Marketing Trends: Back to Basics. “Search is the ultimate online acquisition tool, and therefore is positioned to do relatively well in this economy.”

The four basic search options are paid search, contextual advertising, paid inclusion—all three are types of advertising—and search engine optimization (SEO).

All four options will experience increased spending through 2013. By then eMarketer estimates total US search marketing outlays will surpass $23 billion.



“While paid search traditionally has gotten most of the attention and money,” says Mr. Hallerman, “as they seek to acquire new customers, marketers are increasingly turning to SEO.”

There are key differences between paid search and SEO.

“Paid search’s effects are immediate, but marketers need to spend consistently for sponsored-link ads to appear in search queries,” says Mr. Hallerman. “SEO takes time, and marketers need to constantly maintain their Websites to sustain high organic results.”

As marketers better understand the purpose of Website optimization in their overall campaigns, compared with the other three types of search marketing, SEO spending will grow at a higher yearly rate.

“Customers are going to search engines because they are looking for better deals,” says Mr. Hallerman. “And marketers are going to search engines because that’s where the customers are.”

US Online Advertising:
Resilient in a Rough Economy

Even with the Olympics and presidential election campaigns on the horizon, overall ad spending in the US is in the doldrums. Except online where US Internet advertising will not only be more resilient than traditional media, it will grow. In fact, in 2009, 10% of all US ad dollars will go online.

The US Online Advertising report analyzes the factors that are contributing to the continued growth of the Internet channel in tough economic times.

Even as the growth rate declines through 2009, overall Internet ad spending increases will remain in positive territory—in the mid-teens or higher through 2011.

This growth, even if less than in years past will surpass all other major media.

Key questions the “US Online Advertising” report answers:

• How much will a recession shape US Internet ad spending?
• Why might advertisers shift budgets to the Internet?
• What are the US ad revenue trends among the Big Four portals?
• Are any online ad formats truly “recession proof”?
• What forces will support growth in total media ad spending?
• And many others…

eMarketer Reports—On Target and Up to Date
The US Internet Ad Spending report aggregates the latest data from international marketing and communications researchers with eMarketer analysis to provide the information you need to make smart, accurate business decisions.

Videos for Local Search Marketing
 LOCAL AND MOBILE SEARCH
By Mary Bowling, The ClickZ Network

I've been watching more videos on the Internet during the last year, and so have plenty of other people. YouTube, Google's video-sharing Web site, is now the second most popular place to search on the Web. In August, more searches were conducted on YouTube than on either Yahoo or MSN. This fact is amazing, but understandable.

Watching videos online is a less than satisfactory experience without a fast connection. As broadband becomes more available and affordable, more Internet users are embracing online video.

More than ever, good videos are available online. Right now, most people watch them for entertainment. However, the Internet's video library has grown to include many that explain, teach, communicate, review, demonstrate, and perform other functions to meet various needs. So, how can you use videos for marketing your local business?

Create Videos Any Way You Can
You don't need expensive equipment or special software to make videos. Use whatever you have, can borrow, or can buy at a reasonable price. Just do it!

Before offering you this advice, I tried it myself. I borrowed my boss's new Flip video camcorder and had a quick clip online within minutes. Yes, I'm serious.

A whole new generation of mini cameras are about the size and cost of a digital camera. The Flip costs between $100 and $180, depending on the source and model. Others that I haven't tried myself, but are in the same price range and get good reviews, are the DXG-567V high-definition camcorder and the Vado Pocket Video Cam.

These cameras won't make you a Hollywood filmmaker. But as long as you shoot in good light and try to keep the background noise to a minimum, the results will be just fine for Internet use. These less-than-professional movie clips are often more appealing to prospective customers because they seem genuine compared to the slick ads they're used to seeing (and ignoring).

Free and inexpensive video editing software programs, such as Windows Movie Maker and Eyespot, allow you to create titles, captions and transitions, and add simple effects. They're also intuitively easy to use, so just dive in and give them a try.

Put Your Videos on YouTube

More people will find them here than anywhere else. In addition, the videos will have a good chance of appearing in the Google Video search results and in the universal results for Google for relevant searches. After all, Google owns YouTube.

Even if you don't have much time or inclination to optimize your videos for YouTube, make sure to give your clips a good keyword-rich title and tag them properly.

Once your videos are on YouTube, you can grab the code they give you and embed it onto your own Web pages. Then, people can play them directly from your site, rather than going to YouTube to watch them.
Also, you can now add your videos to your Local Business Listing on Google Maps. Your videos must be on YouTube before they can appear in your listing.

Make Marketing Videos
Much of online video's appeal is in the entertainment value, especially of humorous clips. But that's not the prime focus of marketing videos. Sure, being funny will help your videos get shared across the Internet, but for most local businesses, it doesn't matter much if people who will never be your customers see them or not.

Instead, use videos to introduce yourself to potential buyers and earn their confidence and trust. Tell them how you can help solve their problems. Show them your expertise in your niche. Let them view testimonials from happy customers. Show off your new store or equipment. Demonstrate how something you sell works.

Look around on Web sites, on Google Maps, and within YouTube for new ideas of how to promote yourself, your services, and your products. Here's an example to inspire you.

Don't wait until everyone else is using videos for marketing. Instead, jump on board now to gain any advantage you can in your local marketplace.