Use The Forrester Wave To Select The Right Search Marketing Agency WEBINAR Use The Forrester Wave To Select The Right Search Marketing Agency Collin Colburn, Researcher May 2, 2016. Call in at 10:55 a.m. Eastern time

Agenda Search marketing landscape Finding the right agency Recommendations

Digital spend will top $100 billion by 2019

And digital will take over TV

Search spend will make up about half of the digital mix

Users find information in many ways

Your best customers find in all channels

Search marketers must enable discovery

Search marketers need search agencies

Marketers are strapped for resources. . . Base: 66 search marketers; Source: Forrester’s Q1 2016 Search Marketing Agencies Forrester Wave™ Online Survey

. . . And in paid search too

But spend a good bit in search Base: 80 client references

And plan to increase budget Base: 80 client references

SEO is still relatively cheap Base: 61 client references

Technical services dominate SEO Base: 61 client references

Paid search spend is hefty Base: 64 client references

Paid search services are about efficiency

Search marketers look to other media too Base: 71 client references

Service quality Base: 77 client references

Service quality Base: 77 client references

The Forrester Wave™: Search Marketing Agencies, Q1 2016

The Forrester Wave™: Search Marketing Agencies, Q1 2016

Vendor performance Leader 360i Part of Dentsu Aegis Network Strengths: organic visibility, account management, corporate vision, and corporate road map. Strong and stable leadership. Weaknesses: reporting and analytics, almost no international footprint.

Vendor performance Strong performers Catalyst Part of GroupM Strengths: paid search, reporting and analytics. Tool to identify and prioritize media/platforms/websites where client’s content appears. Weaknesses: Corporate vision is not forward- looking, hindered by GroupM.

Vendor performance Strong performers Rise Interactive Founded by former financial services/banking professionals. Independent agency Strengths: market research, reporting and analytics, corporate vision. ‘Interactive Investment Management’ approach. Weaknesses: collaboration, account management, geographic footprint, road map.

Vendor performance Strong performers Merkle Formed through Impaqt/RKG acquisitions. Strengths: reporting and analytics, corporate vision, and employee retention. Weaknesses: market research, collaboration, and paid search.

Vendor performance Strong performers iCrossing Part of Hearst Media. Significant leadership changes. Strengths: organic visibility, support for biddable media, Hearst data. Weaknesses: vision to be a “marketing agency for the modern world,” outdated corporate road map.

Vendor performance Strong performers Acronym Independent agency. Strengths: account management, reporting and analytics, organic visibility, and consulting approach. Weaknesses: market research, inconsistent vision and strategy.

Vendor performance Strong performers iProspect Acquired Covario in Sept 2014. Part of Dentsu Aegis Network. Strengths: paid search, market research, collaboration, and big international footprint. Weaknesses: Road map does not support vision of search becoming a “personalized assistant,” employee retention.

Vendor performance Contender Performics Part of Publicis. Strengths: employee retention, account management, and using neuroscience in search strategy. Weaknesses: market research, organic visibility, reporting and analytics, corporate vision, and competition within Publicis.

Vendor performance Challenger Zog Digital Independent agency Strengths: hands-on approach with clients, scrappy in scooping up clients from competitors. Weaknesses: scale, paid search, no frameworks to manage collaboration or support market research.

Vendor performance Challengers Ethology Independent agency Strengths: content strategy and leadership dedication. Weaknesses: No clear and specific road map of investments and inconsistent corporate vision.

Recommendations Identify your needs and problems. Create a shortlist of agencies based on your required support. Ask the tough questions about vision and strategy. Use the Forrester WaveTM model to customize the scores to fit your needs.

Collin Colburn +1 212-857-0735 ccolburn@forrester.com