by Kaci Bower, Senior Research Analyst

Marketing Research Chart: Most marketers agree on importance of integration, but don’t always practice it

Q. Do you agree many organic search listings today are linked to social media content so the integration of social media and SEO tactics are essential?

Q. Are you practicing the integration of social media and search engine optimization (SEO) tactics to improve inbound marketing performance?

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In a recent MarketingSherpa study, we asked marketers for insight into their organizations’ thoughts and practices in the area of social media integration. The results of this study revealed that while three quarters of organizations think integration of SEO and social is essential, more than 50% are not involved in inbound marketing or, worse, they don’t even know what it is.

How do we explain such a large gap between logic and practice? The benefits of integration are considerable, as the integration of these programs empowers organizations to

• generate relevant content


• increase the number of inbound links


• create more relevant listings to show in search engine results pages


• maintain or improve their current rankings for targeted keywords


• make it easier for prospects and customers to find the information they want


• track inbound leads from initial engagement to conversion with standard analytics tools

Additionally, the integration of these complementary tactics improves conversion rates. Our research showed a 59% improvement in conversion rates from organic search traffic for marketers who integrated social media and SEO, over those who did not.

For additional research data and insights about social media integration, download and read the free Executive Summary from MarketingSherpa’s 2012 Inbound Marketing Handbook: Synchronize search, social, and content to get found more often, more effectively, by more customers.

Useful links related to this research

2012 Inbound Marketing Handbook

Special Report: Social Media’s Impact on SEO – 5 Trends to Guide an Integrated Strategy

Marketing Research in Action: Content marketing data

Social Media Platform Selection: Keep your eye on the bigger picture

Search Marketing: The importance of an SEO process