Regular readers of Strictly Business undoubtedly know that search marketing does not happen in a vacuum. Instead, it both impacts, and is impacted by, other forms of marketing. In fact, search has the inherent ability to both capture the demand created by other marketing channels, as well as to drive prospects who seek products and services online to convert offline. So why then do BtoB marketers make it so damn hard for prospects to connect the dots between their search marketing efforts and their other marketing initiatives?

The problem at hand

An August 2008 JupiterResearch survey of search marketers sponsored by iProspect sheds some light on the reason. The survey revealed that only 55% of search marketers intentionally integrate or coordinate their search marketing efforts with their offline marketing efforts. The study also found that of the 55% who do integrate or coordinate their search and offline campaigns, only 26% of them use the same keywords and messaging in both channels.

Given that lack of integration or coordination, it’s easy to understand why prospects might get confused. For example, a prospect might very well read a print ad running in a trade publication, or view a TV ad, or see signage at an airport, and remember something about the ad, and then perform an online search based on what they remember yet not find the company who ran the ad. Why? Because the offline ad read “enterprise security solutions” while the website and search marketing campaign focused on “large company security systems.”

So what’s a marketer to do?

The solution to this dearth of integration is simpler than you might think, and it starts with a mere walk down the hall.

If you’re a search marketer, you’re essentially the goose with the golden egg as you hold the results data from your campaigns that can be used to inform your offline colleagues as to which keywords and messaging have proven most profitable in your search marketing initiatives. Given that, walk down the hall and show your offline colleagues the numbers. Compare and contrast the keywords and messaging that are driving your search results with the keywords and messaging being used in each of your offline channels. Are they in sync? If not, suggest a limited test of an offline campaign where the messaging is aligned and measure the results. Odds are that you’ll prove your point very quickly.

But the walk down the hall isn’t just for search marketers. The offline ilk would be wise to also take a stroll especially considering that another JupiterResearch survey found that 67% of searchers were driven to perform searches as a result of exposure to some form of offline marketing. Of this group, 39% eventually bought. As an offline marketer, wouldn’t you like to lay claim to those results that your efforts are producing online? And if you had the power to do so, wouldn’t you take steps to further improve those results? Integrating your messaging is a vital step in making that happen. Given that, if you’re responsible for your organization’s offline channels, walk down the hall in the opposite direction — in search of that golden egg — and then follow the steps above.

The road can be bumpy

As with any worthwhile endeavor, there will certainly be obstacles along the way to get these two pieces of the marketing mix to work together. Hopefully, winning the hearts and minds of colleagues can be overcome by simply presenting the data — and suggesting (and possibly offering to fund) a limited test to prove the power of integration. But numerous other obstacles may also surface — chief amongst them are the human and monetary resources required to make integration work.

There’s no doubt about it — it takes more time and effort (especially the first time around) to coordinate and integrate multiple initiatives than it does to pursue them in isolation, and that time and effort does not come free. And depending on the circumstances, such as redesigning an ad, or reprinting a billboard or direct mail piece, or rerecording a radio spot, there may also be direct costs associated with bringing your offline messaging and search messaging into alignment.

In anticipation of these obstacles, start at the top. Present the data to the CMO — or the head of the business unit — or whomever is responsible for the bottom line results for the product or service line that is being marketed. Show them the optimal keywords and messaging used in your search campaigns side by side with the messaging of your other channels and point out the lost opportunity of one failing to drive results for the other. Better yet, show examples of where your competitors’ search marketing efforts may be more in line with your offline messaging, and ask why your organization is investing in driving searchers to their websites.

A final word

While a lack of integration between search and offline initiatives is not unique to BtoB marketers, the fact that the typical BtoB purchase is a multi–step, multi–channel experience that can flip from online to offline and back multiple times throughout the sales funnel makes integrated messaging all the more important in this environment. Ideally, you want prospects to recognize your brand, your products/services, your messaging and your look–and–feel regardless of the channel in which they engage it — and you want to make it easy for them to move among channels without being sidetracked. By identifying the optimal keywords and messaging from your search marketing campaign, you provide yourself with the tools to align your messaging across all your channels and help maximize the results produced by them all.

Bill Muller is Chief Marketing Officer at iProspect. He is responsible for creating the strategy and overseeing the implementation of all marketing, public relations and sales support initiatives for the company. Bill has nearly 30 years of marketing management experience, including: online, database and event marketing; field sales support; and lead generation. He joined iProspect in 2002.

Opinions expressed in the article are those of the guest author and not necessarily Search Engine Land.

Related Topics: B2B Search Marketing | How To: SEM