Earlier today, Brafton reported that paid search spend increased during Q4 2010, and an Efficient Frontier report suggests paid search gains are indicative of broader internet marketing growth. The Digital Marketing Performance Report for Q4 suggests that 2011 has started on a strong note for online marketing.
Search engine marketing showed 23 percent year-over-year growth in 2010, and 18 percent quarter-over-quarter growth during the last quarter of the year. This suggests that search marketing is going to be a competitive necessity in 2011.
Display advertising also posted gains last year. Efficient Frontier says the demand for display ads grew consistently throughout the year, and the Google Ad Exchange represented 70 percent of advertisers' display media spend in Q4. This supports Brafton's earlier reports that Google is developing its DoubleClick Ad Exchange in light of partners' surging profits, as well as reports that the overall display market is poised for growth in 2011.
Efficient Frontier expects that search marketing will also continue its growth this year. It predicts that search spend will increase by 15-20 percent in the U.S. in 2011. Marketers should remember that both paid search and SEO strategies can maximize web presence, and investing in paid campaigns and content development can pay off.
Brands looking to boost search engine optimization and convert web visitors should consider recent reports that suggest businesses in the beauty industry (and likely other sectors) benefit from blogs; as Brafton reported yesterday, blogs are more than twice as likely to influence beauty-related purchases than magazines.
