Where is the best place to invest your time and money to generate leads for your business?
An Infographic by Indusnet, self-proclaimed to be “India’s #1 IT site now in UK” states that “SEO beats PPC & SMM for Lead Generation”.
The numbers shared are global and this is important as, according to a March 2012 article by eMarketer, social media penetration in early 2012 looked something like this:
- the United States ranked first globally at 49.9% of the population
- Canada ranked second globally at 49.3% of the population (in 2011 Canada ranked first)
The eMarketer article put Worldwide social media penetration at an estimated 20.4%.
In the overall scheme of things, I think the Infographic highlights the importance of ‘not putting all your eggs in one basket’. It’s not a matter of only focusing on Search Engine Optimization (SEO), or on Pay Per Click (PPC) ads, or Social Media (SM). Most businesses probably need to have an integrated marketing strategy that addresses all three areas.
Each business is unique and needs to evaluate where their clients/potential clients are spending time and what their budget (time and money) is for reaching them.
SEO is, I think, overrated and underrated at the same time (more on that another day). The same is likely true for PPC advertising and Social Media.
If I had to choose one to start with, it would be SEO. I’d then add Social Media into the mix and then Pay Per Click ads.
