Summary
- A series of interesting insights from Conductor’s Seth Besmertnik into the growing dominance of search marketing.
- Agility and being able to pivot quickly are key in our ‘New Normal’ marketing environment.
- 53% of all trackable website traffic comes from organic search.
- Brands in the US spent an estimated $79.27 billion on SEO in 2020, with more spending expected this year.
- 76% of people who search for a nearby business visit one within a day. 28% of those searches end with a purchase.
- 39% of purchasers are influenced by a relevant search on Google.
What does this mean for your business?
Well, it’s simple — you need a strong digital presence that brings customers to your door.
So how have leading brands managed to stay afloat — and successful — despite the recent disruption across all business models?
CEO of Conductor, Seth Besmertnik, shared an inside look at how leading organisations have adapted their search marketing efforts during a webinar moderated by Loren Baker of SEJ, . Slide share below
‘Adapt or Die’ Is the Key Message for Marketers
Using Charles Darwin’s evolution analogy, Besmertnik described how birds survived the asteroid impact because of their ability to adapt.
All the trees were gone, but nuts and seeds were scattered all over the ground. With their beaks, birds were able to crack the seeds open to get food.
Despite being fierce predators, dinosaurs had nothing to eat — and they eventually became extinct.
Search marketing has been hit by its own digital “asteroid”. And just like prehistoric birds, it has been forced to adapt to survive.
Consumers are more informed and proactive than ever before. It’s now a buyer’s market in which consumers educate themselves about the products and services they want to buy.
According to a global survey, 59% of shoppers said they use Google to research a purchase they plan to make online.
While consumers have embraced this newfound freedom with gusto, marketers have been left struggling to create the kind of content that resonates in this new era of people power.
But there is still a tiny window of good news for marketers. As the traditional marketing door closes, the new search marketing door opens.
Businesses and marketers are no longer relying on traditional, direct forms of marketing. Instead, they’re creating valuable, insightful and educational content in the hope that consumers find it for themselves.
The Power of Search Marketing
Google processes 3.5 billion searches every day. That gives you a picture of how consumers are researching products and educating themselves.
Once consumers have the facts, they’re often open to suggestions. Yes, they know what they want, but they’re willing to shop around for it. And they’re less likely than ever to be seduced by traditional advertising. What they want is content that helps them to make informed purchasing decisions.
That’s the power of search.
And this is where things get interesting. The likes of Google, YouTube and Alexa, don’t actually provide us with viable solutions; they simply give us a nudge in the right direction.
Search engines and content platforms just connect us to those responsible for providing the answers we’re looking for. The information we need to make informed purchasing decisions comes from several sources, including:
- Content marketers
- Businesses
- Non-Profits
- Creators
It’s not enough to grab a consumer’s attention with a glossy ad. You have to earn their trust and confidence.
And that’s the essence of organic marketing. Provide valuable information that consumers won’t get anywhere else, and you’ll earn their confidence in an increasingly competitive global marketplace.
How to Boost a Website’s Organic Traffic
Creating a robust and successful organic marketing campaign is a hard nut to crack. Especially when you consider that more than 90% of content doesn’t get organic traffic from Google.
So how do you tip the balance when it comes to acquiring organic traffic?
First, you have to accept that this is a long-term strategy. How long you have to wait for your organic traffic to increase depends on the efficacy of your content marketing strategies.
According to research by HubSpot, companies that post content at least 16 times per month gain more organic traffic than those who post less often.
In his presentation, Seth outlined four fundamentals of organic marketing success:
- Collaboration with SEO experts
- Creation of a clear workflow
- A solid system of reporting metrics
- The right tools for the job
What to Take Away From This
Flexibility is vital to the success of any marketing campaign. But that doesn’t mean it’s about trial and error. Making the wrong move at the wrong time could leave you languishing behind your competitors.
Embrace the brave new world of search marketing. Don’t be a dinosaur — fly high like a bird.