Q2 Marketing Blog» Q2 Marketing Blog – Technology Marketing, Public Relations, Brand Consulting

New eMarketer report on SEO and SEM Spending

Becky Sheetz-Runkle — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 13:34:32 +0000

Search is fundamental to customer acquisition. And search engine optimization (SEO) is projected to grow consistently, according to eMarketer’s Search Marketing Trends report.

Read the rest at blogs.aquent.com: http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/author/kelly-boykin/2009/06/

The Top 10 SEO Software Products in the World!

Becky Sheetz-Runkle — Thu, 27 May 2010 14:09:30 +0000

Search engine optimization. Can you really market effectively without it? Probably not. But SEO is about much more than keyword optimization and whose linking back to who. It’s about strategy, content, credibility and great attention to detail.

That’s why a lot of pros don’t go it alone. They pick an SEO software product to help automate the many tedious and time consuming aspects of SEO. The rules and techniques are constantly changing.

To help, I’ve impartially evaluted and compared the top 10 SEO software products in the world. And I do mean world. Only one is based in the U.S.

The top three were:

Web CEO
Advanced Web Ranking
iBusiness Promoter

Find out why they finished at the top and learn about the other seven, price points and more at my TopTenREVIEWS SEO product comparison site.

Enjoy!

Still not sure of the ROI of email marketing?

Becky Sheetz-Runkle — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 15:56:49 +0000

What’s the return on investment of email marketing? It’s easy to get a bit jaded when it comes to email marketing, as we’re cleaning out our inboxes. It seems like on a good day the proportion of solicited messages to unsolicited messages is 1:10. On a good day. . .

But, marketers, don’t allow your assumptions to cloud your judgments. Email marketing has a very real ROI.

According to the Direct Marketing Association, email marketing returned $43.62 for every dollar spent on it in 2009. Yes, the nice people at the DMA might have a dog in the fight. (I really hope people aren’t googling dog fighting and ending up on the TechnologyMarketingBlog.) But who else are you going to trust to measure it?

And while down a bit, they estimate email marketing is expected to return $42.08 for every dollar spent on it this year.

So, if you’re not consistently using email marketing, maybe you should be. And if you’re not getting a healthy ROI, it’s time to evaluate your methods.

Report: Online Ad Revenue Reaches Record High $6.3 Billion in Q4 ’09

Becky Sheetz-Runkle — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 19:46:40 +0000

The online ad marketing had it’s best quarter ever in Q4 09, according to a report from the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).

This record $6.3 billion in revenues speaks to the worst of the ad slump behind us, according to PwC’s David Silverman.

Other highlights of the report:

Search and display advertising is still the largest overall interactive advertising spend. Search revenues comprise 47% of the total spending.
Digital video in particular is strong, with an almost 39% increase from 2008 to 2009.
Based on data from PwC from 2005 to 2009 in tv, radio, newspapers, consumers magazines and Internet, the Internet’s share of combined ad revenue more than doubled from 8% to 17%.

Find out more at http://www.iab.net/about_the_iab/recent_press_releases/press_release_archive/press_release/pr-040710

Social Media Use Doubles for Small Businesses

Becky Sheetz-Runkle — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 16:04:44 +0000

Small business use of social media is steeply on the rise in the U.S. The third wave of the Small Business Success Index™ (SBSI), sponsored by Network Solutions® and the Center for Excellence in Service at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business, reports that social media is being used by twice as many small businesses since last year.

How does your business measure up?

Read more and see the breakdown at http://growsmartbusiness.com/small-business-success-index-highlights/.

Traditional Ad Revenue to Decline, Online Spending to Double

Becky Sheetz-Runkle — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 20:14:46 +0000

BIA/Kelsey has released the results of its U.S. Local Media Annual Forecast (2009-2014). Though local advertising is anticipated to increase modestly over the next four years, online ad spending is predicted to double. Read more about the survey:

http://www.bia.com/pr220210.asp

SEO, PPC, Social Media & More–Find the Top Online Marketing Firms

Becky Sheetz-Runkle — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 13:36:35 +0000

Here is a TopTenREVIEWS review of the top internet marketing companies. Various service areas are evaluated, including search engine optimization (SEO), pay per click (PPC), link building, social media optimization and more.

Read the online marketing services firms review.

IT Spending to Rise 6.6% in 2010, Says Forrester

Becky Sheetz-Runkle — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 14:19:24 +0000

Forrester Research predicts IT spending will rise 6.6 percent in 2010. This is a stark contrast to 2009, where IT spending fell 8.2 percent in the U.S. and and 8.9 percent overall in international markets.

Hardware and software investments will drive the rise in spending, with software projected to rise 9.7 percent.

Read more from Nasdaq.com. Here’s to a strong tech marketing 2010!

Q2 Marketing Cited in Slideshare’s Content Marketing Predictions for 2009

Becky Sheetz-Runkle — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 16:22:08 +0000

Slideshare’s Content Marketing, Social Media and Marketing Predictions for 2009 cites research commentary from Q2 Marketing. Find the presentation, full of great resources, here:

http://www.slideshare.net/ambal/clickdocuments-content-marketing-cheat-sheet

Brand Loyalty–Another Recession Consequence

Becky Sheetz-Runkle — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 13:42:29 +0000

For most of you out there, another fallout of this strange economy is the loyalty of your customers. Buyers are increasingly looking to make the absolute best decisions with their budgets. In an attempt to shave dollars, they will even incur greater risk by swapping you out for a new product or service provider. And there’s also the risk of them cutting your portion of the budget entirely.

Forrester’s George F. Colony says in the Huffington Post:

Brand loyalty will be limited. For five years, Forrester has been tracking the precipitous decline in brand loyalty — particularly for complex products like cars. Brands will afford only limited protection for your company in the new world — because choice has been radically expanded. All brands are subject to consumer testing, discussion, disclosure, and transparency. You can no longer own your customer — your customer will own you.

Wow. Your customer will own you. Seeing any of that in your industry?

Now, if you’ve been paying attention, you know the Technology Marketing Blog isn’t about gloom and doom or hand wringing. We’re about solutions here, people. The question is–what are you going to do with this information?

We all know that new customer acquisition is a high priority. But an even higher priority is keeping the customers you’ve worked so hard to attain. If your pipeline has slowed, you certainly can’t afford to lose customers. But if customer retention isn’t part of your current marketing strategy, be prepared to face that unpleasant reality.

Later this week we’ll discuss marketing activities you really should be doing to increase customer retention.

Another interesting, if harrowing read, is from NakedCapitalism.com. If you’re not on board with the severity of this issue, this is pretty convincing.

Join us next week for solutions, and visit www.q2marketing.com for lots of other ways to solve your tech marketing challenges. Till next time….