Companies world-wide are cutting costs as well as looking for creative, high impact and accountable marketing. With concerns over the recession and its impact on marketing, I recently ran a poll of the 17,000 subscribers at Online Marketing Blog to discover their intentions for digital marketing tactics in 2009.
Poll respondents cast 1,559 votes for their top three digital marketing tactics (from a list of 45) for 200. Blogging, Twitter and Search Engine Optimization topped the list. Out of the top ten rated marketing tactics, six fell into the category of Social Media Marketing.
The actual question asked was, “What 3 digital marketing channels & tactics will you emphasize in 2009?†Here are the top ten tactics selected:
• Blogging (34%)
• Microblogging (Twitter) (29%)
• Search engine optimization (28%)
• Social network participation (Facebook, LinkedIn) (26%)
• Email marketing (17%)
• Social media monitoring & outreach (17%)
• Pay per click (14%)
• Blogger relations (12%)
• Video marketing (10%)
• Social media advertising (7%)
Email marketing rated higher than PPC which is surprising given the budgets spent on PPC vs email. Some tactics are much easier to implement than others, or less expensive, which may explain a few of the top choices, such as Twitter.
Corporate web sites didn’t rate in the top ten tactics. Does this mean the death of company web sites? Some companies are succumbing to the social media perspective to extremes, like the Skittles site which had been simplified to a page of search results from Twitter and then changed to their Facebook page. Others are adding social features to their company sites to complement existing messaging and functionality.
By now, most companies have their 2009 online marketing plans in place. Does this ranked order of tactics mean you should change up your online marketing mix? The answer is that digital marketing tactics should match the needs of the situation, company resources, the target market and end consumer preferences. The proper tactical mix for a digital marketing program could be anything from the 45 tactics listed in the TopRank Blog poll and still be successful as long as they support a valid strategy.
Some companies are prepared for digital and social media marketing programs and many are not. To get “readyâ€, companies need to develop a social media roadmap and get up to speed on both best and worst practices. Whether those methods of reaching and communicating with customers reconciles with existing marketing plans or not, companies would do well to allocate resources to some level of ongoing social media training, testing and development of expertise in the social media space.
Hi Lee,
I have been reading your blog for some time now. But I only subscribed today after reading this post- facts and nos. excite me.
Now, I am not at all surprised to see the top 3 in your poll results list. Blogging and Microblogging are there because they are the easiest of the lot. Well, at least to initiate and explore. SEO is at the top because most people have come to realise its utmost importance.
In a fair world, I would want to see SEO at the top. I hope you poll reflects that SEO is also an ongoing activity like many other in the list. People considered it to be a one-off not long ago.
Comment by Hersh Bhardwaj — April 30, 2009 @ 6:07 am
Those companies who aren’t prepared for social media marketing programs will soon find themselves left behind. This is the next step in the evolution of marketing.
Comment by Jack Zufelt — May 7, 2009 @ 9:06 pm
The internet has made it easy for any company of any size to market themselves. If they don’t have a website, and a online presence they are losing large sums of money each day.
Our companies direction is website, blogging, Microblogging, Video Marketing & search enging optimization.
Comment by Jennifer — May 19, 2009 @ 12:37 pm
im surprised the micro-blogging / twitter is so high up there… I mean, I never friend the people on twitter who have a company name as their name.
-Jack
Comment by global payments — June 9, 2009 @ 12:32 pm
I’m surprised video marketing ranked so low. How else are businesses supposed to distiguish themselves unless customers “see” a difference? I upload video all the time on my blog, facebook, youtube, adwido…etc. All are free and it makes me stick out from the rest.
Comment by LLT — July 13, 2009 @ 10:24 am
The funny thing is that almost every one of these marketing efforts will be poorly executed. Companies are so stupid about the way they market online.
Comment by Evolution Media — July 17, 2009 @ 5:12 pm
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Pingback by 50 Top Noise-free Twitter Tips & Links in Social Media, Marketing, SEO, Design & More! Part 2 | Thoughtpick Blog — August 7, 2009 @ 11:33 am
Could not agree with you more the way forward is content+links=(SEOxSEM)Search Engine Success.
Comment by dape — August 25, 2009 @ 6:44 am
I’m guessing in the four months since this was written, social media has already blown by direct email. Also, I too was surprised by the presence of PPC in the Top 7, but I think most companies would probably dump it if they actually spent some time evaluating their results. Unfortunately, even in today’s world of statistics and data, many companies treat PPC as a “set it and forget it” mode of marketing.
Comment by Eric Rudolf — August 26, 2009 @ 4:28 pm
@Evolution Media – yes, but don’t forget this is a relatively new technology for most companies to get into, and the change in mindset is difficult for people to get their heads round…
Comment by Tim Read: Ripplenet web design — September 26, 2009 @ 4:53 pm
It’s interesting how Facebook overpowered MySpace not only in the number of members but media as well. Interesting how Twitter is above Facebook though in your survey.
Comment by Mike — September 28, 2009 @ 12:31 am
The message is definitely loud and clear. Blogging and social media rule however I find the process very time consuming. Although it may be enjoyable to some extent I find myself getting distracted quite easily.
That is why I am trying to slowly outsource this type of work.
Comment by Alex Burda — November 9, 2009 @ 5:53 pm
[…] In a recent poll Online Marketing Blog set out to discover intentions for digital marketing tactic… The actual question asked was, “What 3 digital marketing channels and tactics will you emphasize in 2009?†Here are the top ten tactics selected: […]
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