Branding and Direct Sales Lead Objectives for SEM Advertisers

06/20/2008

According to the Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization's (SEMPO) 2007 State of the Market survey, advertisers had two clear objectives in mind when spending money online: i) branding (61%); and ii) direct sales.

While search engine marketing continues advancing, it is largely viewed as a performance medium. According to SEMPO chairperson Dana Todd, “We're very gratified to see its flexibility and to understand it as a medium that has equal value as both a branding mechanism and as a business acquisition mechanism.”

Another interesting finding of the study is that SEM budgets continue to be ciphered from mostly offline marketing monies, eg, television and print ads. Some advertisers reported diverting funds from online marketing budgets as well, like website development.

Online marketers also showed interest in other upcoming media outlets like mobile search and video. Of those surveyed, 83% showed an interest in these two mediums (43% in contextually targeted advertising attached to video and 40% in mobile search).

And, they’re willing to pay for it – as long as it’s about the same as they pay for traditional search. Forty percent of respondents say they’re willing to pay as much for video as traditional search; 33% reported willingness to pay the same for mobile as traditionall search. A quarter wanted to pay less for mobile search.

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