"Smart companies that outsource organic or PPC advertising will no longer say “what have you done for me lately”--they will say “prove what you’ve done for me lately.” Search engine marketing services that are on top of the curve will be more than happy to do so." = This is so true, as everything that Scott said in his article is true, except for the degree of "Continued Reluctance from Agencies to Pursue Search Marketing".
However, I see a window of opportunity for search mktg. firms that are on top of the curve to not only deal with the old "Black Hat-WhiteHat" issues, but to come up with a way to avoid the all to common problem of "recycled SEO clients". While proper client education is still a major challenge for both buyer and seller, coming up with a truly fair to both sides compensation plan that more equally shares the unavoidable risks of SEO is the ONLY way to go, IMO. Most honest SEO's I've spoken to say that they admit that while both buyer and seller don't control the search engines, right now, the packaged SEO pricing or the hourly rate SEO pricing results in the SEO client taking on most of the financial risk. The SEO P4P compensation plans that I know of currently, are not fair to the client, IMO, as they practically want to wind up owning part of the client's business without sharing in ALL the risks the client has to begin with.
Traditional Ad Agencies are now focusing on achieving more accountability by using new metrics that even provide accountability for "branding" TV commercials. Why? Because all the members of the ANA are focused on it. If you don't believe me read this =
http://www.brokerblogger.com/brokerb...ktg_is_ou.html . I also reccommend you read the relatively new Association of National Advertisers (ANA) blog as Search Marketing has a friend there by the name of Will Waugh =
http://ana.blogs.com/maestros/2006/0...wer_of_se.html
Also, I recently posted a comment on Forrester's Marketing Blog when their main analyst, Peter Kim, said this in his post: "My next big piece will be related - Reinventing the Agency. Please don't hesitate to get in touch if you have thoughts on the subject and would like to be included in the research." I brought up about "..accountability through some kind of Pay For Performance compensation option." He responded: "I think we will see the compensation models changing as the agency-client relationship evolves. For some glimpses into the future, check out Crispin Porter + Bogusky's arrangement with Haggar or General Mills with Campbell Mithun and Saatchi & Saatchi.
Search will certainly gain greater importance as agencies integrate traditional and digital approaches. But new agencies will have to learn some old tricks, too - building a compelling brand is different than trying to reverse engineer a search algorithm. We'll end up meeting somewhere in the middle." I'm sure Peter Kim has his finger on the pulse of the traditional ad agency business. I'm not so sure if that can be said about his knowledge of the SEO business. Also, P&G (an ANA member) has negotiated some form of P4P compenstion for years with their ad agencies, Peter imformed me of others (See =
http://blogs.forrester.com/marketing...mment-20008795 )
I'm for the long term successful growth of the search marketing industry, but I'm also concerned that too many high integrity SEO's will miss this current window of opportunity, and their role will be one of acquisition target (maybe some have that as their goal?) or a contracted out partner to the traditional ad agency's relationship with the client, or hired as an employee of the ad agency. I prefer to see as many independent SEO businesses as possible as it is better for the client and the USA, IMO.
I'm sure you won't believe me when I say I have no self-serving agenda (financial or ego) when I point you towards the key post (of 23 from 12/11/05 to 2/22/06) that I did on SEO P4P (Actions vs. Sales). It is part of a generic "formula" to come up with a fair to buyer and seller "Pay For Actions" SEO compensation plan. It is based on what the SEO would normally charge in their first year of service, as well as letting the SEO control the implementation of all on page changes, as long as they did not change the overall corporate branding direction for the client (anything in question should be worked out up front). When succesful, this general concept definitely would create less "Recycled Clients".
http://www.brokerblogger.com/brokerb...ce_2.html#more
New Article - Search Engine Marketing Services: Trends and Predictions
