SEO Role in the buying process : Be found,Engage & Convert

Prospects use search engines through out the buying cycle :

Research a problem or technology need
Understand the value of ROI for a specific solution
Learn about a vendors reputation
Discover new solution vendors I may not be aware of
Find peer discussions or reviews of products
Discover technology problems I wasn’t aware of
Find white papers, case studies or success stories
Find the price of a specific product or service
Explore specific brands of technology products
Find information on a particular service or vendor
Find product reviews
Understand a product’s features or specifications

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B2B Marketing : BtoB magazine’s recent study ..

* Some 62% of B2B marketers said their primary goal would be customer acquisition, 19% cited brand awareness and nearly 12% pointed to customer retention.
* Online will constitute more than one-third (nearly 34%) of marketing budgets in 2009, B2B marketers said; that’s up from the nearly 27% cited for 2007.
* Online areas that marketers plan to increase next year are website development (74% of marketers said so); email (70%); search engine marketing (64%); video (40%); webcasting (39%); banners (36%); sponsorships (30%); and social media (26%).
* Rating ad agency partners’ willingness and ability to adapt programs according to marketing goals, 54% of B2B marketers said “OK” and 41% said “excellent.”
* Rating trade-media partners’ willingness and ability to tailor programs to fit marketing goals, nearly 66% said “OK” and 28% said “excellent.”
* Nearly 20% of B2B marketers say they are using social media as part of the marketing mix: Among them, 40% use them for customer feedback, 31% for market research, 29% for advertising, 27% as a sales channel.