Effective marketing is key for retailers to survive and stay ahead of competition, especially in recessionary times. It is proven that search engine marketing is helping many small and medium scale enterprises to fortune 500 companies to market their products and services online effectively. Search marketing helps to increase ROI by creating a strong online presence while making it easy for customers to find the retailer online.
First page search listings – crucial for website traffic
According to comScore, the core search volume for April 2009 in US has reached a significant 14.8 billion. However, a majority of population who search online go with only first 3 page search results. A survey done by iProspect, JupiterResearch and the NPD group in 2008 revealed that 92% of people who search online click on a result within the first three pages. This shows the importance of listings in search results of first three pages.
SEM – a key driver of sales for retailers
A survey from Internet Retailer/Vovici in 2008 revealed that a significant 54.5% of retailers were able to generate more than 25% of sales from search marketing campaigns. Around 29% of these retailers were able to drive more than 50% of sales from their search marketing campaign. This shows the potential of search marketing to generate consistent sales for retailers.
Increasing the effectiveness of display ads with SEM
A recent “SEM and Online Display Advertising Integration Study” from iProspect shows that the primary response of Internet users to a display ad is a search rather than a direct purchase. While a 31% of the Internet users respond to display advertising by clicking on the ad, about 27% of them respond to it by conducting a search about it on a search engine. This proves the potential of search engines to boost the effectiveness of display advertising.
Search marketing has a bright future
A prediction from eMarketer, says that search is going to capture almost half of the US online ad spending till 2013. The overall online ad spending is going to hit $25.7 billion by the end of the year and reach $42 billion by 2013. During this entire period, search is predicted to capture around 50% share of total online ad spending followed by display ads with around 20% of the share. This shows a bright future for search marketing, but a tough competition for businesses in the search battle.
Search marketing evolved as an essential method of marketing for both brick and mortar, and online retailing companies. From the above information, it is no-brainer that search marketing is an effective solution for retailers.
