Search advertising is the oldest form of digital promotion, with roots in Google’s rise during the late 1990s. Search engine optimization (SEO) and search engine marketing (SEM) were disciplines that brought legitimacy to digital marketing departments. The sustained performance of search to this day is a big part of why Google remains such a powerful digital ad platform.

Many marketers track page views, email clicks, site traffic, SEO rankings, and the number of shares, likes, downloads, and leads. These metrics may tie to marketing goals, but they rarely tie to the needs of the business, and less attention is paid to the number of opportunities or closed/won deals. For an established B2B brand, the ultimate metric is the conversion of a lead to a sale.

In a December 2021 study by Best SEO Companies, US consumers were equally likely to say that a targeted ad or an endorsement from someone they follow would lead them to make a purchase on social media (each cited by 26%).

Search engine optimization (SEO) and search engine marketing (SEM) were disciplines that brought legitimacy to digital marketing departments. The sustained performance of search to this day is a big part of why Google remains such a powerful digital ad platform. We expect a resurgence in search ad spending.

Publishers often have an omnichannel content distribution strategy that includes search engine optimization (SEO), social, and newsletters to increase traffic and conversions on commerce articles that feature affiliate links. “We see a good uptick in transactions just by making sure everything’s on all of our platforms,” Lepore said.

Technology: Familiarity with customer relationship management (CRM) and campaign management tools, and with techniques such as programmatic digital advertising, email automation, and SEO. Strategy: Knowing how to leverage analytics insights to optimize current and future marketing campaigns.