Made it over to Manchester today for a look round the Business North West Exhibition, but timed my visit primarily so I could hear a talk from Lyndsay Menzies, the MD of bigmouthmedia, apparently Europe’s largest independent digital marketing agency. Google “search engine optimisation” (not optimization!) and they come up second, just behind the Wikipedia definition of SEO. With a truly worldwide presence (thanks to a merger with Global Media two years ago), burgeoning staff numbers and a truck-load of big-name clients, they’re clearly making strides in the online marketing world.

Introduced as possessing a “no-bull, can-do attitude”, Menzies made a clear case for why search marketing, and online marketing in general, is in a good position to benefit from the current economic downturn.

Some numbers to start with:

• Online advertising spend has risen from 1.4% in 2002 to 14.7% in 2007 as a percentage of overall advertising spend, and last year overtook direct mail for the first time;
• £3.5billion is predicted to have been spent on UK online advertising this year, up from £196.7million six years ago;
• Online advertising has gone beyond tipping point; over the last five years online ad spend has grown five times quicker than the real economy.

A few trends appearing through the recession:

• People are displaying greater price sensitivity when searching;
• There is more bargain hunting - terms such as ’sales’ and ‘offer’ are converting well;
• A positive correlation between brand and trust is more critical than ever;
• There is more research going on as people strive for the very best deals, naturally meaning that people are taking slightly longer to convert to a sale;
• Consumers are demanding more and more and becoming very vocal online;
• Word of mouth is likely to become even more important as quality and value become paramount.

Cheap words are good

• In the areas of retail and finance, there has been a sharp upturn in searches relating to more economical products. For instance, “free delivery”, “printable coupons” and “discount vouchers” have shot up, while “safe savings” and “cheap loans” have, perhaps unsurprisingly, seen a resurgence in recent weeks and months. In only a 12-week period, “safe savings” saw a 367% increase in searches;
• In the area of travel (one of bigmouthmedia’s three specialist areas), what people deem as essential and non-essential has been turned on its head somewhat. The number of searches in this market has declined 10 to 15% (with the luxury market down by 20%), but interestingly, two of bigmouthmedia’s clients have just experienced their best ever months. It seems that a higher percentage of searchers are ready to convert; there are in other words fewer window shoppers.

Six reasons why online marketing will weather the storm ahead

• It’s accountable;
• It’s a direct sales channel;
• It’s very flexible;
• It’s more targeted;
• It presents more opportunities at all levels of spend;
• And investment can be adjusted, based on performance.

What will happen next?

• There will be cuts predominantly in branding, traditional advertising and media;
• Media with less transparency is the more likely to suffer;
• Online will probably be one of the last areas to suffer.

Some other thoughts

• SEO and PPC are much more powerful as a combined entity, to plug gaps;
• Online PR is increasingly important and ties up all your online marketing tactics;
• A lot of searches end up with the brand, but it’s the generic keywords that have influenced that process over the course of several days or even weeks;
• In relation to content, users come first and search engines should come second, but a happy medium can be struck;
• When optimizing pages, Google likes synonyms - e.g. flight/airport. When bigmouthmedia started working with BA, their initial website review worked out that there was just one use of the word “flight” on their website;
• If a client has a very high natural ranking for a keyword, you can rein back the paid search for that keyword;
• Question to ask your search marketing agency: are they completely accountable? Are you maximising their efficiency?