Loading ...One of the hottest topics at industry events of late has been the great divide between the C-suite and digital marketers. At the recent SES San Jose conference, OgilvyOne CEO Brian Fetherstonhaugh reportedly gave the startling statistic that the average CEO spends 1.8 percent of their time on search.
As a result of that finding, Rebecca Lieb of Econsultancy says search marketers have to explain and, essentially, up-sell what search marketing is and prove that it has ROI. She calls the situation “ironic” since SEM is very measurable and actionable.
So, how can this barrier be broken down? Lieb believes there has to be a complete generational shift in management. Marketers need to continue to show the value digital marketing can bring with search specifically, and how it can enhance other media channels instead of replacing it.
There are some companies that are embracing digital marketing, but the majority of traditional marketers are still not accepting it. As technology advances, we can only hope that the C-suite comes on board and sees the value in digital marketing before they fall too far behind.
We generally find that C-Suite execs understand our performance SEM value proposition right away because performance search is all about bottom line results. The C level executive doesn’t have to understand quality score and the other complexities of paid search, only that they will receive prospects at a fixed cost per action or transaction — results that will contribute directly to the bottom line.
Neil Kaplan
Vantage Media
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So, C-Suite players don’t understand the value of search but yet when they can’t see their website in the top 3 positions in Google organic search for their top “50″ (!!) single or two-word industry search phrases, they throw a gasket and fire their marketing department.
I think there is a gap between what C-Suites know they want versus what is realistically possible within the “buget” that they want to spend (usually free) to attain the goal.
Changing this mindset is where our education should be focused.