A MarketingSherpa study notes agencies really can outperform your in-house marketer by achieving a 20-25% higher click through rate and conversion rate than an in-house marketer whose time and experience is stretched across multiple areas.
In my experience, this small of a gain only applies if you have already attempted an optimization. For many B2B companies, search tends to be handled as an extra project by the Director of Marketing, who certainly doesn't have the time to pursue it among his or her other duties.
Additionally, bringing on a consultant will likely prove much less expensive than hiring a full-time employee. This is, of course, in addition to the savings you'll experience from a fully optimized pay per click campaign.
Did you know that only 59% of B2B companies are currently using search engine marketing?
B2B marketers have lagged behind in adopting search engine marketing, even though it's a very effective technique for generating leads.
B2B search engine marketing is very different from the traditional B2C pay per click campaign. B2B is focused on generating high quality leads for a sales cycle that may last months or even a year. B2C companies, on the other hand, look for a sale to be made the same day. Where B2B companies must deal with ever growing purchasing committees, and please a large range of job functions, B2C companies only have to sell to a single individual. B2B marketers often have to be concerned with multiple searches along a wide range of keywords, while a B2C sale might happen off a single search alone.
And, while search engine marketing is still a relatively small field, people with experience managing B2B pay per click are even rarer. I have been focused on B2B search engine marketing for 6 years, and have the results to prove it. I know what needs to be done to increase leads, exclusively target business searchers, limit spending to your geographic regions, improve the quality of leads, and more.
If you haven't yet pursued search engine marketing, there are many reasons to consider it. Search engines are the #1 starting place for prospects as they enter their buying cycle. Additionally, these same search engines, and other content networks, also give you reach into the later parts of the buying cycle when prospects are visiting vertical sites and industry portals.
Search engine marketing is very results oriented, so it's a wise investment for your marketing budget. Testing is an essential part of optimization, meaning this isn't a 'set it and forget it' type of field. Constant improvement is possible, giving you a much higher ROI than with other methods.
I encourage you to read my whitepaper on B2B search marketing for additional information on how search helps demonstrate the business value of marketing spending.
If you're one of the few already using search engine marketing, there's a good chance you haven't had the time to optimize your accounts. Today's VP or Director of Marketing is handed the task of bringing in leads on a meager budget.
The truth is, once you've gone through the traditional methods of garnering leads, from tradeshows to email newsletters, you don't have time to get your B2B search engine marketing right yourself.
I can help take that task off your hands, and give you an ROI worth bragging about. Many of my clients have seen triple digit improvements in their ROI.