In Search of Integrated Campaigns.

SEM most often paired with print media

More than one-half of US search engine marketers surveyed integrated their search engine marketing (SEM) with at least one offline channel in Q2 2008, according to an iProspect-sponsored study conducted by JupiterResearch.

Among search marketers who ran integrated campaigns, more than one-third paired SEM with direct mail. Nearly three out of 10 combined SEM with magazine or newspaper advertising. It was less common for marketers to use search in conjunction with television (12%) or radio ads.

Still, 45% of search engine marketers did not join their search marketing with offline channels at all, which iProspect viewed as a missed opportunity. “By failing to integrate their efforts with offline, search marketers are essentially ignoring the very channels that drive users to search,” said Robert Murray, the company’s president, in a statement.

Asked how they integrated search with offline media, 84% of respondents who had done so said they displayed company Web addresses. Two-thirds said they had used the company name in offline media.

A similar study conducted by the Direct Marketing Association revealed more equitable usage of offline media in integrated campaigns. Although TV and radio still trailed newspapers and magazines among business-to-business (B2B) marketers, business-to-consumer (B2C) marketers said they used both media types equally when creating campaigns that worked in tandem with multiple media.

Courtesy of http://www.emarketer.com