2. Executive Summary
The results are in. The 2014 State of Digital Marketing Survey
polled over 500 U.S. marketing professionals—two-thirds B2B,
one third B2C—to uncover their top objectives and toughest
challenges. Two trends emerged:
1. Increased uncertainty with the proliferation of new
digital marketing channels.
2. Increased pressure to deliver clear ROI.
Despite these hurdles, marketing professionals have managed to
increase spend in nearly every digital channel for the third year
running. While the complexity of the field has deepened and the
2014 Survey Highlights
Shifting Focus to Revenue
Ranked as the #1 objective for B2C and #2 for B2B, revenue
is getting more attention than ever before. In the meanwhile, lead
generation remains the top priority for B2B.
Social Media Matures
Today, 1 in 5 B2B and 1 in 3 B2C marketers report seeing
revenue from social media. This explains why marketers are a
lot less frustrated with social media measurement compared to
two years ago.
ability to measure and drive revenue has increased, the lack of
KPIs Get Smarter
clear ROI remains an issue.
In 2011, 74% of marketers measured digital marketing success in
terms of website traffic; in 2013, this has dropped to a mere 23%
as the pressure to prove ROI and generate revenue increases.
Hire Your Weaknesses
Marketers rely on agency expertise to supplement in-house teams
on non-core business functions, with a whopping 50% YoY
increase in outsourced SEO and SEM programs.
Mobile Takes Flight
1 in 5 marketers see more than a third of their website traffic
coming from mobile. No wonder over 75% of marketers will
increase mobile investment.
Content Gets Buzz and Budget
Content takes center stage as 63% of marketers plan to
increase spending on content.
Reconciling ROI
Marketers admit their greatest struggle in increasing budget is
their inability to prove ROI. This year brings increased
accountability, yet 2 in 5 still don’t have an attribution
model in place.
Despite these challenges, marketers still plan to spend more on
content and mobile.
22%
2
© 2013

3. LEAD GENERATION IS still THE #1 OBJECTIVE
Top objectives for digital marketing programs
11%
Increase
website traffic
#1
Generate leads
e
objectiv
27%
Drive sales/
revenue
Improve ROI
Lower
cost-per-lead
41%
Compared to 2012, 30%
more B2B marketers have
identified revenue
generation as their top
objective, while 20% less still
think it is lead generation.
3%
1%
Improve brand or
product awareness
17%
Revenue trumps awareness as top objective
Top objectives for digital marketing programs
11%
Increase
website traffic
18%
Generate leads
#1
Drive sales/
revenue
Improve ROI
Lower
cost-per-lead
Improve brand or
product awareness
e
objectiv
40%
Year over year, 30% more
B2C marketers have
identified revenue as the
top priority, with brand
awareness now trailing at a
distant second.
4%
1%
27%
3
© 2013

4. B2B REPORT LEAD GENERATION AS THE TOP CHALLENGE
Top digital marketing challenges
#1 ge
Generating
enough leads
21%
challen
20%
Producing enough
quality content
19%
Converting leads
to customers
Integrating content
and messaging across
channels
12%
16%
Measuring and
proving ROI
Securing staff and
budget
Improving ROI
Lead generation is both the #1
objective and the #1 challenge.
Meanwhile, marketers are finding it very
challenging to produce enough quality
content.
8%
4%
B2C REPORT PROVING ROI AS THE TOP CHALLENGE
Top digital marketing challenges
Generating
enough leads
10%
Producing enough
quality content
10%
22%
Converting leads
to customers
Integrating content
and messaging
across channels
14%
#1
Measuring and
proving ROI
Securing staff and
budget
Improving ROI
For B2C marketers, measuring and
proving ROI is by far the leading
challenge. They have yet to graduate to a
more sophisticated set of KPIs, illustrated
by the fact that website traffic is still
the #1 metric.
ge
challen
25%
7%
12%
4
© 2013

5. HALF OF MARKETERS SPEND ONLY 25% OR LESS OF THEIR BUDGET ONLINE
% of marketing budget spent online
23%
Less than 10%
29%
10%–25%
17%
26%–40%
16%
41%–60%
10%
61%–80%
81%–100%
6%
Surprisingly, despite the buzz on digital marketing, the vast majority of budgets still go to offline programs.
5
© 2013

6. Marketers BULLISH ON INVESTMENT IN DIGITAL MARKETING CHANNELS
Over 63% of all marketers intend to spend more on content marketing next year, again highlighting its importance.
Content Creation
Display
(videos, webinars, white papers, etc.)
69%
53%
44%
1%
Increase
5%
2%
Decrease
Increase
SEO
49%
47%
2%
Decrease
5%
Increase
8%
Decrease
Graphic Design
31%
29%
7%
Increase
Decrease
44%
1%
SEM
36%
6%
Email Marketing
42%
Increase
48%
29%
4%
Decrease
2%
Increase
4%
Decrease
Social Media
56%
65%
2%
Increase
2%
=
=
Decrease
6
© 2013

7. More Marketers are outsourcing SEO and SEM
A whopping 50% increase in
outsourced search marketing since 2012
Marketers who outsource
32%
SEO
=
=
41%
34%
SEM
47%
29%
Display
35%
12%
Social Media
22%
11%
Email marketing
19%
33%
Content Creation
28%
39%
Graphic Design
26%
50% more B2B marketers now outsource SEO and 70% more outsource SEM compared to a year ago.
52% more B2C marketers now outsource SEO and 55% more outsource SEM compared to a year ago.
7
© 2013

8. Inability to prove ROI #1 Obstacle to budget increase
No matter how you slice it, B2B vs. B2C, industry vertical, or company size, businesses are
in agreement about one thing: The top 3 obstacles to budget increase are:
1. Proving ROI
2. Lack of overall company revenue growth
3. Lack of buy-in from management
If we scratch the surface, it’s clear how inability to prove ROI instigates other issues, such as
management’s reluctance to invest in digital marketing, and lack of overall company revenue growth.
Poor ROI from past
digital problems
8%
Lack of overall company
revenue growth
18%
Lack of expertise
and/or experience
9%
Lack of clear strategy
15%
Lack of buy-in
from management
15%
Inability to prove ROI
24%
8
© 2013

9. Channels that drive the best leads & Revenue
SEO
Email
SEM
1 in 3 don’t know which
channel generates the
most revenue.
SEM
Email
SEO
1 in 4 don’t know
which channel generates
the most revenue.
9
© 2013

10. How Marketers Measure Success
26%
Conversion rate
(lead to customer)
24%
Website traffic
15%
Total lead volume
Don’t measure /
Don’t know
Total revenue
Cost per lead
13%
8%
7%
Website traffic
22%
Conversion rate
(lead to customer)
22%
17%
Total revenue
Cost per acquisition
10%
Don’t measure /
Don’t know
10%
9%
Total lead volume
Return on
ad spend
4%
Return on
ad spend
5%
Cost per acquisition
3%
Cost per lead
5%
In 2011, 75% of B2B marketers
measured success in terms of website
traffic, vs. just 23% this year. We’ve come
a LONG way!
Even though B2C marketers say driving
revenue is their biggest goal, they use
website traffic as their top success metric.
No wonder they can’t prove ROI!
10
© 2013

11. ROI – WHERE THE RUBBER MEETS THE ROAD
Only 17% of marketers can track ROI from SEO, yet they agree it is the 2nd strongest revenue
channel. How can that be?
Clear ROI
Unclear ROI
Attribution has become increasingly important. While 41% of marketers still don’t do attribution at all,
about one fifth actually have the more sophisticated multi-channel model in place.
We don’t have an
attribution model in place
41%
Multi-channel
(all influencing touch points)
22%
First touch (lead source)
20%
First and last touch
(lead source & conversion)
16%
Last touch (conversion)
Other custom model
13%
7%
11
© 2013

12. Social Media has matured into a source of revenue, not just
awareness and leads. Not surprisingly, B2C leads the pack.
Have you generated leads from social media?
Unsure
20%
Unsure
19%
Yes
54%
No
26%
If so, have you generated revenue from social media?
Unsure
32%
Have you generated leads from social media?
Yes
39%
No
29%
1 in 5 B2B marketers have generated
revenue from Social Media.
Yes
60%
No
20%
If so, have you generated revenue from social media?
Unsure
38%
Yes
54%
No
14%
1 in 3 B2C marketers have generated
revenue from Social Media.
12
© 2013

13. Surprisingly, 64% of marketers have yet to try retargeting
Are you running retargeted ads?
Yes – 36%
If so, do you find them effective?
No – 64%
Yes – 43%
No –
9%
Too soon to tell /
Don’t know – 48%
Only 57% of B2B websites are mobile friendly vs. 71% for B2C
Do you plan to increase investment in mobile
Is your web presence mobile friendly?
in the next 12 months?
No
31%
Yes
69%
No
Yes
43%
57%
No
14%
No
29%
Yes
Yes
86%
71%
3 in 4 marketers plan to spend more on mobile in 2014.
13
© 2013

14. Marketers’ Most Hated Buzzwords
20%
B2B and B2C
marketers agree…
the winner
is ”synergy”!
Considerably more
hated even
than “viral”.
15%
10%
5%
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About this report
The third annual Webmarketing123 State of Digital Marketing Survey was conducted in the fall of 2013.
Over 500 U.S. marketing professionals completed the survey — all participants responded to an email invitation.
Participants answered questions using an online survey tool.
For more information about the survey, please contact marketingteam@webmarketing123.com.
ABOUT Webmarketing123
In 2012 and 2013, Webmarketing123 was named by Inc. Magazine as one of the fastest
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Founded in 2004, Webmarketing123 is a digital marketing agency providing SEO, SEM,
Display Advertising, and Social Media Marketing to help clients generate and fast-track
online revenue. Our unique approach pairs metrics-rich methodology with an
understanding of our clients’ business goals and challenges. We combine a deep
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Webmarketing123 develops and drives impactful digital marketing strategies for enterprise
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please visit www.webmarketing123.com.
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