Pay Per Click More Popular With Marketers

Marketers are turning to pay-per-click (PPC) marketing in increasing numbers to improve performance and optimize results, according to a recent survey conducted by the e-tailing group and NetElixir. The online survey was completed by 137 e-commerce executives in October. Here are some of its noteworthy findings:

* 65 percent said they’ve been investing in PPC for three or more years; 37 percent for more than five years;

* 31 percent reported that 1 percent to 10 percent of their orders on their site come as a result of PPC initiatives; 56 percent are seeing 11 percent to 40 percent of their orders as a result of these efforts;

* PPC advertising and management budgets have increased for 50 percent of respondents, up from last year’s 44 percent, who are allocating more than 20 percent of their total advertising budget to PPC campaigns;

* 87 percent plan to increase their overall PPC budget in 2008, with 30 percent of that group planning for increases of 26 percent or more;

* 47 percent of respondents manage more than 5,000 keywords; 22 percent manage more than 20,000;

* The top strategic priorities in 2008 for respondents were ROI (75 percent) and cost containment (56 percent);

* In calculating PPC campaign success, 79 percent of respondents maintained ROI as the primary measurement, and 68 percent focused on the number of conversions, up sharply from last year’s 53 percent; other responses included visitor value (15 percent) cross-channel (10 percent) and branding (6 percent);

* 60 percent of respondents handle their PPC campaigns in-house, with 96 percent doing so with three people or fewer; and

* Outsourcing dissatisfaction levels dropped to 25 percent from 33 percent in 2006, with 25 percent reporting being very satisfied, up from 19 last year.

The rationale for not outsourcing included cost, control issues and management directives.

For more information, go to www.e-tailing.com .