MarketingSherpa 2012 SEO Benchmark Report
Posted on 31. Aug, 2011 by Lee Odden in benchmark report, Blog, marketingsherpa, report, research, Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Marketing
One of the report categories from MarketingSherpa that I’ve been reviewing for a long time, as in 5 or more years, is their coverage of Search Engine Marketing. In particular, the Search Engine Marketing Benchmark Report – SEO Edition. (See last year’s review here).
The sub-title is appropriately a great indication of the theme for this guide: “Research and Insights for Creating and Capitalizing on a Rich End-User Search Experience. This is a far cry from the days of “Boost Your Search Engine Rankings and More!”. As Online Marketers have matured, there is an increasing focus on optimizing for customers and customer experience vs. the sole KPIs of rankings and traffic.
Authored by Research Analyst Kaci Bower, MarketingSherpa’s 2012 Search Marketing Benchmark Report SEO Edition is broken down into an executive summary that outlines key findings from the survey from which the report is based, 10 chapters on everything from integrating Social Media & SEO to Mobile tactics to SEO Success Stories. There’s also an appendix that includes charts from the research.
If you’re a nut for data, charts and research based insights, this guide is priceless. The section on Planning and Tracking budgets as well as the Agency Perspectives offer helpful information for consultants and of course the SEO Objectives/Tactics, Local, Mobile and Content Marketing sections offer plenty of tactics and insights for practitioners.
If you read Online Marketing Blog, you know we’ve been promoting the notion of “optimize for customers” over a sole focus on keywords. That perspective blends well with the customer-centric theme of MarketingSherpa’s SEO Report.
Just think about the richness of users search experience today in stark contrast to the bland search results made up mostly of just web pages several years ago. With Google in particular, Universal Search, Personalized Search, Social Search, Instant Search, Local/Mobile, Preview and even the currently suspended Real-Time Search all factor together to give users what they’re looking for. The diversity of search experience is the basis for the research and recommendations in the 2012 SEO Guide.
One of the interesting insights from the research in this report includes the disconnect between marketers that consider SEO Strategy an important challenge to overcome, but not a a top objective. That mismatch in priorities can be costly in terms of ineffective prioritization of tactics and inefficient utilization of resources. The real irony is stated in the report, “Interestingly, increasing measurable ROI ranked higher as an objective than developing an actual strategy to do so!”
Another key finding concerns the importance of Content Marketing, which was rated as one of the most effective tactics for SEO but also one of the most difficult to implement. Content has been a hot topic for years, with many SEOs dismissing “content is king” as a whitehat SEO battle cry. But of course, relevant (optimized) content is effective for link building, sharing and certainly for inspiring prospects to become customers. The SEO Report identifies many other top SEO tactics as well, segmenting by organization SEO maturity and industry.
I could go on and on, but I think you get the idea. MarketingSherpa has done a great job at providing data sliced and diced every way you can imagine with this year’s version of the SEO Report. The survey findings presented according to level of SEO maturity is especially helpful for companies that have been utilizing SEO best practices for some time, but want to continue to advance their progress.
For organizations that are just starting to investigate a more holistic approach to SEO to professionals that want to incorporate SEO best practices in their areas of expertise (like Public Relations, Web Design, Interactive), the 2012 SEO Guide is full of data, examples and insights.
You can get a sneak peek at the Search Marketing Benchmark Report, SEO Edition and more information about the report overall on the MarketingSherpa website (affiliate link).
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B2B Marketing Best Practices – MarketingSherpa 2011 Handbook
Posted on 09. Jun, 2011 by Lee Odden in B2B, b2b marketing, Blog, btob marketing, Handbook, marketingsherpa, Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Marketing
B2B Marketing Best Practices 2011
We’ve been fans of MarketingSherpa reports, guides and handbooks for many years, recently reviewing their SEO Benchmark Report for 2011. As passionate B2B Marketers, we’re always on the lookout for qualitative information to improve our B2B client marketing as well as our own. That’s why I’m pretty motivated by the new 2011 B2B Marketing Advanced Practices Handbook from MarketingSherpa.
Led by Senior Research Analyst, Jen Doyle, this Handbook is nearly 200 pages of research based best practices, graphs, worksheets and of course, their FUEL Methodology for elevating B2B Marketing effectiveness. Here’s a rundown of the report:
According to MarketingSherpa, the top concerns of B2B Marketers revolve around getting more value and revenue out of limited resources – all in a fast paced world of increasing competition. Prioritizing resources for maximum impact is critical and MarketingSherpa has developed a methodology called, FUEL that works as a blueprint for B2B Marketing success.
Here’s what the FUEL acronym stands for:
F: Find and attract leads – Strategy to personas to tactical plan.
U: Uncover qualified leads – Lead scoring, nurturing and management.
E: Establish automated marketing processes – Automate for efficiency and scale.
L: Lift results – Continuous improvement and C-Level reporting.
MarketingSherpa provides a model for B2B Marketers to determine their maturity level: Trial Phase, Transition Phase and Strategic Phase as a baseline for making strategic changes to improve process and efficiency. In MarketingSherpa’s research, 50% of participants were Strategic, 36% were in Transition and 14% were in Trial with no formal process or guidelines.
Effective B2B lead generation involves know which tactics are most effective. MarketingSherpa’s research shows that websites, webinars, email and SEO are the most effective.
Within the area of B2B Search Engine Optimization tactics, the creation of content was rated by MarketingSherpa’s research as the most effective and requiring the most effort. I guess that’s why so many B2B companies hire TopRank 
On page optimization, link building and blogging were also highly rated SEO tactics for their impact.
The research data, case studies, screenshots, worksheets and insights provided in this Handbook will require readers to roll up their virtual sleeves and do some honest assessment. But the payoff will be a much more effective program that is worth many multiples of the cost of the report, which is $347 for the pdf version.
In fact, here’s a list of the worksheets included in the Handbook to give you an idea of the range of content and outputs you’ll get:
- Initial perceptions of buyer personas
- Questions to ask internal departments in developing buyer personas
- Questions to ask customers and prospects in developing buyer personas
- Recruiting a marketing-sales alignment team
- Qualities of qualified and unqualified leads
- Questions to ask when selecting a marketing automation platform
- Marketing automation vendor evaluation sheet
- Evaluating lead generation performance
- Questions to ask in evaluating marketing performance
- Marketing performance benchmarks
While I think the B2B Marketing Advanced Practices Handbook is a great tool and source of information, the endorsement from our client, Jon Miller of Marketo, provides the best summary I’ve read yet:
“The 2011 B2B Marketing Advanced Practices Handbook is a great “all-in-one” resource for B2B marketers, especially those of us who are responsible for driving revenue for the sales team. The FUEL methodology and associated marketing maturity model provide best practices for companies regardless of whether they are starting out with no processes, maturing with informal processes, or undergoing strategic optimization. The handbook tells you which tactics work – and which don’t – for generating leads, and then it goes on to talk about how to turn those leads into revenue, including practical advice for lead nurturing and lead scoring, automating the processes using marketing automation, and measuring results. If you’re looking for a one-stop-shot to take your B2B marketing to the next level, this handbook is for you!”
To get a free preview of the report or for more information and to get a copy, visit the MarketingSherpa site.
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© Online Marketing Blog, 2011. |
B2B Marketing Best Practices – MarketingSherpa 2011 Handbook | http://www.toprankblog.com
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