Organic Search And Social: Obstacles And Opportunities

Content marketers are pursuing a robust agenda. But their tools may not be equal to the challenges, judging by Strategies, Tactics and Trends For Organic Search & Social Media, a study released on Friday by Ascend2.

The top content objective for those polled is increasing traffic to websites and/or blogs — 59% cite it. Yet that task is rated as challenging by 47%. 

Second among the goals, specified by 54%, is improving brand awareness/preference. But 42% list that as a challenge. 

More daunting is the task of increasing leads generated/converted. Equal percentages — 46% — say is it is an objective and a hurdle.

Some chores are apparently more trouble than they are worth. For instance, 37% say improving the search and social metrics tracked is a challenge. But only 29% call it an objective. 

The study shows that 90% of firms are increasing their organic search and social media budget, but only 23% are making significant boosts.

In general, the best results for 47% are gained from using organic search and social media equally. But 35% feel that way about mostly using organic search, with some social media.

The most effective tactics are:

  • Search engine optimization — 50% 
  • Quality content creation — 50%
  • Social media posting/marketing — 47% 
  • Keyword research management — 42%
  • Content marketing — 41% 
  • Mobile/local search optimization — 22%
  • Blog posting/guest blogging — 20%

The most effective metrics are: 

  • Visits/unique visitors — 54%
  • Traffic sources/conversions — 54% 
  • Content downloaded/shared — 44%
  • Keyword rankings — 42%
  • Bounce rate/engagement — 30%
  • Domain or page authority — 17% 
  • Backlink quality and quantity — 16%

Ascend2 surveyed 278 marketing influencers. 

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