When it comes to online marketing, search engine optimization is gaining popularity as one of the most powerful marketing tools for lead generation goals. But just how vital is SEO to gaining lead generation tools? According to some marketers, very powerful.
Marketing Charts reports that 56.4 percent of B2B marketers receive the biggest impact of their lead generation goals from SEO activities, according to a recent survey published by Webmarketing123. While SEO takes first place, 24.8 percent of B2B marketers say that they derive the biggest impact of their lead generation goals from PPC efforts. Social media marketing came in at third place with 17.9 percent.
As any SEO company will confirm, SEO activities are not only vital for B2B marketing campaigns, but also for B2C marketers. According to the same report, 41 percent of B2C marketers say that SEO is the dominant influence on lead generation. Coming in at second place, 34.2 percent of responders said that PPC was the dominant influence on lead generation, followed by social media marketing with 24.8 percent.
So how do marketers track success? The majority of marketers in the survey use web traffic as a measurement of campaign success, representing 73.9 percent of B2B marketers and 79.8 percent of B2C marketers. Lead generation comes in second place with 69.2 percent, while website click-through rate comes in third place with 64.7 percent. In order to gain results, however, most companies invest in hiring an outside SEO firm with the tools and resources to develop successful internet marketing campaigns.