Commentary

Search Marketers Take On More Responsibilities

Search marketers are asked to do many more tasks these days in addition to running paid-search campaigns or optimizing content and Web sites. In fact, content creation, social campaigns and native advertising have been added to their roles.

Agency search marketers report in the 2015 survey of more than 3,600 agency marketers released Tuesday from Moz that they now work with larger teams and have more diverse responsibilities. Findings from the 2015 Online Marketing Industry Survey suggest that 36% of agency marketers report working with more than 20 clients compared with the previous year.

About 81% of those who responded to the survey report supporting SEO and paid-search services for clients. The top five are search engine optimization (94%), search engine marketing (83%), social media marketing (79%), content creation and curation (75%), and Web development (70%).

Demand for conversion rate optimization continues to grow, but Analytics still leads at No. 1 most demanded service. Content Creation came steps in at No. 2; whereas Content Curation, No. 6. CRO took the No. 3 spot, with Brand Strategy at No. 4, and Social Media Marketing at No. 5.

For in-house marketers, Site Audits dropped to the No. 6 position and Brand Strategy jumped up to the No. 3 spot. For agencies and consultants, Site Audits came in at No. 2, and Managing People took the #5 position. "Larger agency teams require more traditional people wrangling," per the study.

The report suggests that some categories reported both gains and losses. For example, 30% of respondents reported an increase in demand for Link Building, while 20% reported a decrease in demand. Similarly, 20% reported an increase in demand for Link Removal, while 17% reported a decrease in demand. The analysis represents either an overall demand shift or more specialization by agencies and consultants.

About 69% of the respondents participating in the survey were male, and the remainder were female, from nearly 80 countries, but answers from respondents skew more heavily from those living the United States. It's important to note that the survey was launched and promoted on Moz's site. 

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