Like many businesses we’re currently assessing our exposure to the effects of the financial crisis and how the trickle down impact on the “real economy” might effect us. It’s widely accepted that when times get tough the marketing budget is the first target for cost cutting, so are we, as Search Marketers, in trouble?

On the contrary, I’d say there are no better times to be in Search Engine Marketing than hard times. A lot of firms in SEO/SEM/PPC will fall by the wayside in the next 24 months, no doubt, but for those who know how to play to the strengths of our field this is a time of opportunity. In uncertain times Search Marketing has big advantages:

• Unbeatable ROI
  I spent many years involved in more traditional marketing efforts such as print advertising, direct mail, sponsorship, etc. and in my experience nothing delivers Return On Investment like Search Marketing. Every penny spent on organic search, in particular, works harder than a Japanese beaver. £50k spent on newspaper advertising might get you a single full page spread and, at best, a few hundred thousand eyeballs for a couple of seconds. £50k spent on organic search will get you tens of thousands of visitors a day for years to come.
  
  
• Quantifiable results
  A lot of traditional advertising is hit and hope, with most TV & Print campaigns having no tracking mechanism whatsoever. Direct Mail is a little better in this respect, but nothing can compare to the clear metrics you get with online marketing. Whether it’s organic search, PPC or email, online can tell you how your customers are finding you, what they’re doing when they have and, most importantly, if they’re spending their money with you.

At times like this companies have two key criteria when assigning their marketing budgets: getting as much bang for their buck as possible, and being able to see clearly how it impacts their bottom line. Search is a match made in heaven for these businesses.

As Search Marketers we need to stress these advantages and look for customers receptive to the business benefits they bring. Fortunately those companies are simple enough to find…it’s very easy to convince existing SEO clients to put more of their money in search because they’ve already seen the results it can deliver. Should you need to go looking for new business there’s plenty of low hanging fruit too: pick any industry and look at who’s spending on PPC. Check the organic rankings for same. When you find a company spending on ads that are nowhere in organic you’ve got a potential customer.

It’s tough out there but people are looking to spend wisely, not stop spending altogether. And it doesn’t get much wiser than SEM when it comes to marketing.

Next week I will be down in the big smoke at the A4U Expo London. It’s the first time I have been to this conference so it will be interesting, plus I’m speaking in 2 sessions.

I’ll be speaking at 3pm on Tuesday on Extreme SEO Strategies for Affiliates (Platinum 4), and then at 3pm on Wednesday on the Affiliate Doctors Live panel (Platinum 3).

Tuesday is going to be really hectic as I have a 9.30am client meeting over in Swindon, so I’ll be dashing back across London to the Excel in time for my session. I think it takes longer to get across London from the Excel to Paddington, as it does to get from Paddington to Swindon .. so lets hope the trains and tubes are all on time.

I’ll be travelling down tomorrow and bringing Becky with me this time as we have managed to get the kids looked after while we’re away … so we may see you there.

DaveN

GoCoffee.co.uk is a specialist supplier of coffee machines in the uk, and 2 days ago I purchased another Jura Coffee machine, due to increase in staff etc, they offer free delivery anywhere in the UK unless you want next day and because I’m at A4u next week we paid the extra for next day delivery… we even called them to make sure !

Why can’t on-line e-commerce companies just do what they say they are going to.
DaveN

Gmail Goggles is probably more for fun than a serious stab at a new feature but it’s still one of the most interesting things to come out of Google labs in a while. Goggles is enabled late at night and over the weekend and is intended to prevent you sending that late night plea for your ex to come back or wee hours email to your colleagues telling them exactly where they’re going wrong.

It’s a nice feature, even if it isn’t all that practical. If I’m too drunk to come up with the product of 11 X 2 I’m probably too drunk to type an email (not that that’s stopped me before, mind). When I get too drunk to remember my PC has a calculator program I’m probably so far gone my forlorn plea to lost love or scathing diatribe against company policy probably looks like this though: hdfzpiu;o gw piuggpouisd fuginhatuy betchgb grds nihget.

Still, no less interesting for all of that, and this does have practical applications…I’m sure I’m not the only one who’s heard friends say they wish their mobile had a breathalyser to stop them texting while drunk. Add this feature into Android and Google might find the mobiles flying off the shelves to those whose fingers get a bit too busy after a bevvy at the weekends.

So next week I’ll be in London with Becky at the A4Uexpo , speaking on the Tuesday and Wednesday. Tonight on my radio show, Strikepoint, I mentioned that I’ll be buying Joost de Valk dinner, but I’m going to open it up and welcome one of you guys along and I’ll buy you and a friend dinner too.

So what do you have to do to get a place at the table? Just give me a good reason why I should choose you.

You can do a blog post why you want to come and ping me to piss Matt Cutts off for you giving me a link … or you could just send me an email and hope i read it …. or send Mel Carson an email and beg him to influence me due to the fact that Mel will hopefully be a guest visitor and he can pick the restaurant.

Oh naked pictures always help …

DaveN