2012 State of Digital Marketing Report

Key Findings from the 2012 State of Digital Marketing Report

Webmarketing123 released their 2012 State of Digital Marketing Report which is the 2nd consecutive year that they have released findings from a survey of more than 500 digital marketers, with respondents comprised a mix of B2B and B2C digital markets.

The fact that this is the 2nd year of the study is great as the findings from the 2011 State of Digital Marketing Report can be contrasted with those from the 2012 Report as seen from the infographic published by Webmarketing123 (included below).

The three Internet marketing tactics analyzed by the Webmarketing123 study include SEO, PPC and Social Media, with survey response data aggregated then segmented between responses from B2C versus B2C marketers.

According to Webmarketing123 report, the study participants included digital marketers from: Sony, Olympus, Phillips, IBM, Hitatchi, Cisco, Agilent, Microsoft, Citrix, Medtronic, Merck, Novo Nordisk, Blue Shield, ADP, Pitney Bowes, Monster.com, Angie’s List, GE, John Deere, Aramark, Thomson Reuters, Federal Express, Bose, and Nestlé.

The 2012 State of Digital Marketing survey questions focused on:

• Top business objectives of digital marketing programs
• Biggest impact on lead generation by Internet marketing tactic
• 2013 digital marketing budget and allocation
• Ability to measure ROI for SEO, PPC and Social Media
• In house vs agency management of SEO, PPC and Social Media campaigns
• Satisfaction levels with SEO, PPC and Social Media tactics
• Spending by Social Media channel (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Google+ and Pinterest)
• Making money % of digital marketers who have generated leads, sales by Social Media channel

The study findings can be referenced as one industry benchmark to compare and contrast your own Internet marketing strategy and digital marketing tactics against.

Key Takeaways from 2012 Digital Marketing Report for B2B Marketers

• B2B digital marketers’ top focus is generating leads
• SEO is Overwhelmingly viewed as most effective digital marketing tactic at 59%, with Social Media at 21% and PPC at 20%
• SEO campaigns are 3 times more likely to be managed by agencies versus managing SEO campaigns in-house
• PPC campaigns are more evenly split but slightly more likely to be managed by in-house (53%) versus an agency (47%)
• A majority (63%) are moderately to highly engaged with Social Media
• Facebook (40%) and LinkedIn (39%) are top social media channels respondents indicated that they are currently investing in
• LinkedIn is the top social channel for with 44% respondents generating leads and 23% reporting a sale

Key Takeaways from 2012 Digital Marketing Report for B2C Marketers

• B2C Digital Marketers Top Focus is Increasing Awareness
• SEO is viewed as most effective digital marketing tactic at 49%, with PPC at 26% and Social Media at 25% though not as strongly favored as with B2B digital marketers
• SEO campaigns are 2 times more likely to be managed by agencies versus managing SEO campaigns in-house
• PPC campaigns are more than twice as likely to be managed by an agency (68%) versus in-house (32%)
• A majority (70%) are moderately to highly engaged with Social Media
• Facebook (65%) and twitter (39%) are top social media channels respondents indicated that they are currently investing in
• Facebook is the top social channel for with 67% respondents generating leads and 39% reporting a sale

The study found that the gap between B2C and B2B digital marketers adoption of Social Media is closing with only a 3% difference in marketers  who are moderately to highly. The fact that more than twice the number of B2B marketers found SEO more than effective than PPC and Social Media to generate leads. This is a good indication that SEO is still a solid Internet marketing strategy and one that digital marketers continue to rely on for driving targeted traffic necessary for lead generation.

Another key takeaway for both B2B and B2C digital marketers is that ROI for SEO remains elusive, with 70% of marketers unable to attribute ROI to SEO campaigns. ROI attribution issues for Social Media (40%) and PPC (20%) demonstrate the clear need for marketers to adopt closed loop marketing with integrated anlaytics to help track ROI across SEO, Social Media and PCC campaigns so that multi point attribution can be effectively measured and monitored.

Lastly, the study findings showed that companies using an agency were twice as likely to be satisfied with the SEO efforts. This is likely due to the highly specialized and dynamic nature of SEO. It’s like saying that the outcome of your auto repair will likely be enhanced if you take your car to a certified mechanic versus trying the repair yourself.