Microsoft adCenter has just published a piece of research in the US that looks into how small and medium businesses (SMBs) are embracing online and search marketing. Interestingly enough, the results from our cousins across the pond are quite consistent with UK research, which was commissioned a few months back in the UK.
On the one hand there is a growing interest from small businesses on how they can leverage digital mechanisms to increase their visibility. Around 2.79 million small businesses now have an online presence, yet on the other hand, a staggering 62% do not invest in search marketing campaigns to help potential customers find them online. This is for me the equivalent to owning a shop hidden down a side street and not advertising its whereabouts. In other words, the UK research showed that these businesses are collectively wasting an estimated £3 billion of investment on websites that are virtually invisible to consumers searching online.
Just like the phone book advert back in the old days, Search Marketing consists in putting your ad in front of prospects who are proactively looking for your product, except that now you no longer have to pay upfront. Search Marketing works on a pay-per-click model, so you are only charged a small fee when a prospect clicks on your ad to visit your website. And you actually decide how much that cost is. Search Marketing works indeed like an auction: you define the maximum amount you are prepared to pay for a qualified lead - the minimum being just a few pennies. You can even define a monthly budget so you are in total control, at all times.
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