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Transcript of HRmarketer Supplier 2007-2008 Marketing Report Final
8/3/2019 HRmarketer Supplier 2007-2008 Marketing Report Final
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Trends in HR Marketing: Where HR SuppliersSpent Their Dollars in 2007 and What’s Ahead in 2008
P.O. Box 10 • Capitola, CA 95010 • 831.685.9700
1
Trends in HR Marketing
Where HR Suppliers Spent their Marketing andPR Dollars in 2007 and What’s Ahead in 2008
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Trends in HR Marketing: Where HR SuppliersSpent Their Dollars in 2007 and What’s Ahead in 2008
P.O. Box 10 • Capitola, CA 95010 • 831.685.9700
2
Abstract
This research report was produced by HRmarketer, a marketing services firm
focusing exclusively on the human resource (HR) marketplace. Since 2001, hundreds
of HR suppliers have used HRmarketer.com and the HRmarketer Services Group to
generate publicity, website traffic, sales leads and improved SEO.
This report covers the latest trends and best practices for marketing to the human
resource (HR) and employee benefits marketplace going into 2008. The data
presented in this report is based on responses from a diverse group of HR and
employee benefits suppliers collected during July, August and September of 2007.
Topics covered in this report include:
• Patterns of adoption and use of various marketing and PR tactics by HR and
employee benefits suppliers – including social networking, social media,
blogging, podcasting and RSS – also known as “Web 2.0” activities.
• Marketing and PR activities most important to HR suppliers in 2007 and their
budgeting plans for 2008.
• The marketing and PR activities that generate the most sales leads for HR
suppliers, and those presenting the greatest challenges.
•
How HR suppliers measure the success of their marketing and PR.• Who and what suppliers rely on to stay knowledgeable about the human
resources marketplace – and how optimistic suppliers are about the overall
health of the human capital marketplace heading into 2008.
The key trends outlined in this report include:
• Growth of direct e-mail marketing and devaluation of print advertising.
• Growing importance of search engine optimization (SEO). A majority of
suppliers will increase their SEO budgets in 2008.
• Growth of “Web 2.0” tactics like blogging, podcasting and social networking
as a means of lead generation. Larger vendors, however, remain laggards.
Finally, our team of experts provides analysis on what these findings mean for HR
suppliers and recommendations for 2008.
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Trends in HR Marketing: Where HR SuppliersSpent Their Dollars in 2007 and What’s Ahead in 2008
P.O. Box 10 • Capitola, CA 95010 • 831.685.9700
3
Table of Contents
Abstract..........................................................................................................2 Table of Contents.............................................................................................3 Introduction ....................................................................................................4 The respondents ..............................................................................................5 Who’s Doing What? HR Suppliers’ Marketing and PR Activities in 2007 –
And Plans for 2008. ..........................................................................................6 The Importance of Various Marketing and PR Activities .........................................8 Marketing and PR Budgets for 2008....................................................................9 Where The Sales Leads Came From..................................................................11 Suppliers’ Marketing and PR Challenges ............................................................13 How Do You Know You’re Winning? Metrics, Metrics, Metrics...............................14 Press Releases, Public Relations and RSS ..........................................................16 Social Networking Participation ........................................................................18 Staying Knowledgeable ...................................................................................18 Supplier Optimism Heading into 2008 ...............................................................19 Conclusion: Where the Suppliers Are Headed in 2008 ........................................20 About HRmarketer..........................................................................................21 About Fisher Vista, LLC...................................................................................21
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Trends in HR Marketing: Where HR SuppliersSpent Their Dollars in 2007 and What’s Ahead in 2008
P.O. Box 10 • Capitola, CA 95010 • 831.685.9700
4
Introduction
We began the “Trends in HR Marketing” research series in late 2005, with the firstTrends report published in early 2006. Our goal in launching this series was to
offer valuable insights and “windows” into the practice of marketing in the HR
marketplace. While many organizations provide research about Human Resources
solutions, and others report on marketing topics of all sorts, no firm was covering the
practices of marketing in our particular market space. To our knowledge, other than
this series, that continues to be the case. We eventually settled on two types of
surveys and reports, which we now alternate: the buyers of HR products and
services (the HR buyer), and the sellers of HR products and services (the HR vendors
and suppliers).
Your participation and feedback has been and will continue to be vital to the
continued success of this series. Indeed, vendor participation in the surveys
continues to rise. The first six reports are the most popular white papers and
research downloads from our HRmarketer Web site. Many of you have offered your
comments directly to us through conversations and blog posts. You’ve told us these
reports are valuable to you and you’ve offered comments on how to make them even
better. We appreciate all of your feedback. It’s been phenomenal.
This is the seventh installment: the 2007 Vendor/Supplier Report. In our view, the
findings are some of the most interesting to date.
One interesting survey result shows that most suppliers do not rely on any single
marketing or PR tactic for more than 25% of their sales leads. This statistic indicates
most suppliers have an integrated, multi-channel, and robust approach to marketing
and PR that incorporates online and offline, traditional and Web 2.0 activities. Asyou’ll notice in the findings covered below, while budgets shift, the new media and
marketing activities don’t eliminate the old, and HR suppliers are generally
expanding their range of activities across the board.
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Trends in HR Marketing: Where HR SuppliersSpent Their Dollars in 2007 and What’s Ahead in 2008
P.O. Box 10 • Capitola, CA 95010 • 831.685.9700
5
The respondents
Representing HR and benefits suppliers across a broad spectrum of companies, the
research sample from this survey includes a diverse population of suppliers with a
common goal: marketing to HR professionals and C-level decision-makers and
buyers of HR and benefits products and services.
Most industry verticals were equally represented in our sample, including Recruiting
and Staffing (12%), Screening/Assessments (10%), Employee Benefits (11%),
Talent Management/Employee Relations (10%), Training and Development (13%),
HR Consulting (12%), Payroll Processing/Compensation/Incentive Programs (7%)
and Outsourcing – HRO and RPO (8%). Other highly specialized verticals included
HRIS and/or ERP Solutions, Compliance, Change Management, Career Planning,
Relocation Services, and Tax Credit Processing.
Annual revenues of respondents ranged from $1M to more than $50M
17.50%
3.75%
10.00%
16.25%
52.50%
0% 20% 40% 60%
Over $50M
$30-$50M
$15-$30M
$5-$15M
$1-$5M
The majority of respondents were made up of CEO/President/Owners (17%), Vice
Presidents (9%), Directors (7%) and Managers (10%). Other types of respondents
included Specialists, Analysts, Consultants/Contractors and those identifying
themselves as “Staff.”
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Trends in HR Marketing: Where HR SuppliersSpent Their Dollars in 2007 and What’s Ahead in 2008
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6
Who’s Doing What? HR Suppliers’ Marketing andPR Activities in 2007 – And Plans for 2008.
We asked respondents to report which marketing and PR activities they used in 2007
and which ones they plan to use in 2008. The most popular marketing tactic for
suppliers was direct e–mail marketing with over 80% of suppliers saying they used
e-mail marketing in 2007 and plan to use it again in 2008. Other tactics of choice in
2007 (with plans to use in 2008) included trade show exhibiting (65%), print direct
marketing (60%), speaking at events (66%), press releases (63%) and self-
publishing original content such as white papers (61%).
The most often cited marketing and PR tactic that
suppliers used the last 12 months but do NOT plan
on using the next 12 months was print advertising.
Twelve percent of respondents reported doing print
advertising last year but will not do so in the next
12 months.
The least often used tactics in 2007 included sponsoring analyst reports (79% of
respondents reported not using this tactic in 2007), followed by podcasting (80%),
blogging (76%) and online advertising (56%).
However, the low usage of Web 2.0 tactics may be coming to an end. Marketing and
PR tactics that suppliers did not use during the last twelve months but plan on doing
in the next twelve months include a variety of Web 2.0 tactics such as online pay-
per-click advertising (22% of respondents), blogging (28%), podcasting (24%),
search engine optimization (31%) and press release distribution (22%).
The next chart summarizes the marketing and PR activities suppliers used during thelast 12 months and whether they intend to use them in the next 12 months.
Twelve percent of supplierswho invested in print
advertising in 2007 do not
plan on doing so in 2008.
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P.O. Box 10 • Capitola, CA 95010 • 831.685.9700
7
It is notable that, with few exceptions, HR suppliers are expanding their marketing
and PR activities across the board. This is consistent with previous HRmarketer.com
findings that to be effective in today’s competitive landscape, HR suppliers cannot
rely on just a few proven marketing tactics. Instead, suppliers must use a variety of
traditional and Web 2.0 tactics to engage their buyers. This puts increased pressure
on marketing and PR departments to not only understand these newer tactics butalso properly integrate them into their marketing and PR plans. And this continues to
be a challenge based on the fact that after lead generation, Web site SEO and Web
2.0 technologies were reported to be the biggest marketing and PR challenges by
respondents.
16%
17%
20%
22%
23%
37%
39%
39%
44%
45%
50%
50%
53%
55%
60%
61%
63%
65%
66%
81%
4%
4%
4%
3%
1%
7%
6%
6%
5%
3%
12%
5%
4%
4%
5%
3%
2%
5%
2%
3%
24%
17%
24%
22%
26%
13%
22%
22%
16%
14%
8%
26%
31%
15%
10%
23%
22%
8%
17%
11%
56%
62%
52%
53%
50%
43%
33%
33%
35%
38%
31%
19%
12%
26%
25%
13%
13%
21%
15%
5%
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Podcasting (participating)
Sponsoring analyst research (e.g. Gartner, Aberdeen)
Podcasting (publishing)
Blogging (commenting)
Blogging (publishing)
Advertising online - display (e.g. banner)
Advertising online - PPC (e.g. Google AdWords)
Media outlet published content (e.g. byline articles)
Media relations
Applying for awards
Advertising - print
Webcasts/webinars
Search engine optimization (SEO)
Distributing press releases over a "wire" service
Direct marketing - print
Self-publishing original content (e.g. white papers, e-books)Distributing press releases to media contact list
Trade show exhibiting
Speaking at conference(s)
Direct marketing - email
Used last 12 months and plan to use next 12 months
Used last 12 months but will NOT use next 12 monthsHave NOT used last 12 months but plan to use next 12 monthsHave NOT used last 12 months and will NOT use next 12 months
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8
The Importance of Various Marketing and PR Activities
The top five “must have” marketing and PR tactics for HR suppliers were (1) direct e-
mail marketing, (2) speaking at conferences, (3) search engine optimization, (4)
self-publishing original content (e.g., white papers) and (5) Webcasts/ Webinars.
The top five “replaceable” marketing and PR activities – those that suppliers said
were important yet would be cut if budgets were reduced – included (1) online
banner or display advertising, (2) print advertising, (3) sponsoring analyst research,
(4) print direct marketing and (5) trade show exhibiting. The following section of this
report, Budgeting in 2008, further supports these findings by showing many
suppliers’ intentions of cutting budgets for these activities in 2008.
Not surprisingly, respondents from large business (greater than $50 million in annual
revenue) are much more likely to favor more traditional marketing and PR activities
like print direct marketing and print advertising. Large businesses also place
considerably less importance on Web 2.0 activities like blogging and podcasting.
Larger suppliers also have more established brands and larger budgets with which to
build brand awareness. Many experts place advertising and certain aspects of public
relations as brand “maintenance.” Once companies obtain a well-known brandstatus, they will forever spend money just to keep that position. Smaller firms need
to drive leads and revenue while they slowly build brand, so they’re naturally led into
the lower-cost, highly measurable and democratized realm of Internet marketing.
But while larger firms tend to be the slow adopters and stick with what has worked in
the past, they are most definitely warming up to Web 2.0 tactics – they just aren’t
sold on them (e.g., Must Have) as much as smaller suppliers are.
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Trends in HR Marketing: Where HR SuppliersSpent Their Dollars in 2007 and What’s Ahead in 2008
P.O. Box 10 • Capitola, CA 95010 • 831.685.9700
9
The Importance of Various Marketing and PR Tactics
4%
6%
6%
7%
7%
9%
11%12%
16%
19%
23%
23%
30%
32%
34%
36%
41%
42%
47%
60%
21%
19%
26%
26%
27%
25%
29%34%
36%
29%
28%
26%
27%
29%
42%
31%
39%
33%
30%
29%
29%
21%
20%
19%
29%
32%
16%21%
26%
22%
28%
26%
22%
18%
14%
15%
9%
12%
14%
5%
46%
54%
49%
48%
37%
34%
44%33%
22%
31%
21%
25%
21%
21%
10%
18%
11%
13%
10%
6%
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Sponsoring analyst research (e.g. Gartner, Aberdeen)
Podcasting (participating)
Podcasting (publishing)
Blogging (commenting)
Advertising - print
Advertising online - display (e.g. banner)
Blogging (publishing) Applying for awards
Media outlet published content (e.g. byline articles)
Advertising online - PPC (e.g. Google AdWords)
Direct marketing - print
Trade show exhibiting
Media relations
Distributing press releases over a "wire" service
Distributing press releases to media contact list
Webcasts/Webinars
Self-publishing original content (e.g. white papers, eBooks)
Search engine optimization (SEO)
Speaking at conferences
Direct marketing - email
Must haveImportantImportant, but would cut if budget reducedNot important
Marketing and PR Budgets for 2008
For most of the marketing and PR activities we surveyed (see chart), a majority of
suppliers intend to either keep their budgets the same or increase them in 2008.
The marketing and PR activities showing the largest budget increases in 2008 include
direct e-mail marketing, search engine optimization and the self-publishing of
original content (e.g., white papers) with 55%, 54% and 53% percent of suppliers
intending to increase budgets in these areas, respectively.
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P.O. Box 10 • Capitola, CA 95010 • 831.685.9700
10
The growing importance of self-published original content is a byproduct of direct e-
mail’s popularity. As we highlighted earlier, direct e-mail is the most popular
marketing tactic for suppliers, and the most effective direct e-mail campaigns are
those with a content offer associated with them – like a white paper. We expect this
emphasis on original content will transfer to other mediums in the Web 2.0 realm.
Blogging, while not a major line item in the budget, plays an increasingly important
role in marketing communications for many suppliers.
The marketing and PR activity suffering the most budget cuts in 2008 will be print
advertising, with 16% of suppliers intending to spend less on this activity – and as
we reported earlier some suppliers are cutting their entire print advertising budgets.
Other activities where suppliers intend to cut budgets include trade show exhibiting,
print direct marketing and online “banner” advertising.
For smaller suppliers (under $50 million in annual revenue), there is a shift in
spending taking place from more traditional marketing and PR activities to Web 2.0
activities. However, larger suppliers appear to be maintaining their investments in
traditional marketing and PR activities while at the same time increasing their
spending on Web 2.0. This is likely due to the fact that larger companies have the
available capital to “experiment” with Web 2.0 and are not ready to abandon
traditional tactics, whereas smaller supplier with limited budgets must make an “either-or” decision – and they obviously feel Web 2.0-type activities give them more
bang for the buck. And while print advertising continues to decline and online
advertising closes the divide, print still leads by billions in revenue.
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P.O. Box 10 • Capitola, CA 95010 • 831.685.9700
11
Increasing or Decreasing Budgets in 2008?
12%
17%
17%
17%
19%
22%
23%
23%
24%
25%
27%
28%
28%
34%
38%
43%
53%
53%
54%
55%
30%
26%
27%
33%
29%
42%
46%
31%
41%
27%
36%
42%
36%
48%
26%
42%
26%
31%
29%
32%
3%
4%
3%
16%
2%
4%
7%
8%
22%
3%
5%
5%
12%
2%
2%
2%
4%
4%
3%
3%
55%
53%
53%
35%
50%
32%
25%
38%
32%
45%
32%
25%
24%
16%
34%
13%
17%
12%
14%
10%
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Sponsoring analyst research (e.g. Gartner, Aberdeen)
Podcasting (participating)
Blogging (commenting)
Advertising - print
Podcasting (publishing)
Applying for awards
Direct marketing - print
Advertising online - display (e.g. banner)
Media relations
Blogging (publishing)
Media outlet published content (e.g. byline articles)
Distributing press releases over a "wire" service
Trade show exhibiting
Distributing press releases to media contact list
Advertising online - PPC (e.g. Google AdWords)
Speaking at conferences
Webcasts/Webinars
Self-publishing original content (e.g. white papers, eBooks)
Search engine optimization (SEO)
Direct marketing - email
Increase Same Decrease N/A
Where The Sales Leads Came From
The most popular lead-generating activity continues to be direct e-mail marketing,
with 43% of suppliers attributing between 11% and 50% of their leads to direct e-
mail, and 14% relying on direct e-mail for between 26% and 50% of leads. Pay-per-
click advertising was also an effective lead generating activity, with 18% of suppliers
saying it resulted in between 26% and 50% of their leads.
Interestingly, 28% of suppliers attributed their search engine optimization efforts
and their self-published original content to about 11% to 25% of sales leads.
However, this makes more sense when you realize that the two go hand-in-hand:
the more relevant content you have on a Web site (e.g., white papers), the better
your SEO.
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Trends in HR Marketing: Where HR SuppliersSpent Their Dollars in 2007 and What’s Ahead in 2008
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12
Trade show participation (exhibiting or speaking) continues to be a popular lead-
generating activity, as it remains the best way to meet prospects face to face. This is
particularly the case for larger suppliers ($50 million+ annual revenue) who report
attending more events and attributing more leads to exhibiting than smaller
suppliers.
However, with the exception of a few outlier respondents, most suppliers did not rely
on any single marketing or PR tactic for more than 25% of their sales leads. This is
an important finding as it shows the importance of spreading your marketing and PR
budgets across a variety of tactics – both traditional and Web 2.0.
Based on our findings, the must-do marketing and PR tactics for measurable lead
generation include (in no ranked order):
• Direct marketing (majority with e-mail but some print).
• Search engine optimization.
• Publishing of original content (e.g., white papers) tied to direct e-mail
marketing and SEO efforts.
• Trade show exhibiting and speaking (at least two key events).
• Webinars/Webcasts.
•
Pay-per-click advertising.• Search-optimized press releases.
In fact, with the exception of trade show participation, all the above tactics integrate
well together. For example, a supplier may produce a white paper or Webcast,
announce its availability via direct e-mail marketing, search-optimized press releases
and a PPC campaign, and then publish the content to their Web site. Each step plays
a critical role in lead generation and SEO.
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Trends in HR Marketing: Where HR SuppliersSpent Their Dollars in 2007 and What’s Ahead in 2008
P.O. Box 10 • Capitola, CA 95010 • 831.685.9700
13
Where the Sales Lead Come From
88%
95%
94%
95%
86%
83%
90%
91%
73%
71%
73%
66%
81%
79%
86%
64%
65%
62%
65%
50%
6%
2%
3%
2%
7%
13%
8%
5%
16%
19%
15%
29%
10%
12%
7%
20%
28%
28%
24%
29%
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Sponsoring analyst research (e.g. Gartner, Aberdeen)
Podcasting (participating)
Podcasting (publishing)
Blogging (commenting)
Advertising - print
Advertising online - display (e.g. banner)
Blogging (publishing)
Applying for awards
Media outlet published content (e.g. byline articles)
Advertising online - PPC (e.g. Google AdWords)
Direct marketing - print
Trade show exhibiting
Media relations
Distributing press releases over a "wire" service
Distributing press releases to media contact list
Webcasts/Webinars
Self-publishing original content (e.g. white papers, eBooks)
Search engine optimization (SEO)
Speaking at conferences
Direct marketing - email
0-10% 11-25% 26-50% 51-75% 76-100%
Suppliers’ Marketing and PR Challenges
Some of the challenges are familiar and perennial:
generating more qualified leads, properly allocating
the marketing budget, and developing the company’s
brand and message. However, outside of generating
more qualified leads, the biggest marketing and PR
challenges for HR suppliers in 2007 were search
engine optimization (SEO) and understanding Web
2.0 technologies.
The biggest marketing
and PR challenges for HR
suppliers in 2007 were search
engine optimization (SEO)
and understanding Web2.0 technologies.
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As we pointed out in our last two Trends Reports, HR buying behavior is now
reflecting overall consumer buying behavior—buyers turn first to the Internet.
Marketing successfully to the HR buyer has always been challenging, but in a rapidly
changing technological environment, and because of shifting patterns of buyers’
behavior, it is more important than ever for suppliers to master new channels and
new technologies.
Percentage of Suppliers Identifying as Somewhat Challenging or as aMajor Challenge
16%
10%
13%
29%
23%
25%27%
28%
32%
61%
15%
39%
49%
38%
44%
44%51%
51%
49%
30%
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Securing print media placements
Winning awards
Securing speaking engagements
Understanding “Web 2.0” technologies
Developing good content for use in marketing
Allocating the marketing budgetBranding/messaging
Understanding buyer behavior
Website SEO
Generating qualified leads
Major Challenge Somewhat Challenging
91%
81%
79%
78%
69%
67%
67%
62%
49%
31%
How Do You Know You’re Winning?Metrics, Metrics, Metrics.
In the following table, we show the importance that suppliers place on various
marketing and PR metrics. Gaining an understanding of the relative importance of all
these marketing metrics is key to grasping how suppliers as a whole will be
measuring their own performance in 2008.
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Trends in HR Marketing: Where HR SuppliersSpent Their Dollars in 2007 and What’s Ahead in 2008
P.O. Box 10 • Capitola, CA 95010 • 831.685.9700
15
The Level of Importance Suppliers Give Each Tactic When Evaluating theEffectiveness of Their Marketing Investments.
4%
6%
26%
28%
31%
43%
58%
58%
74%
88%
21%
19%
51%
49%
54%
46%
38%
38%
25%
11%
29%
21%
24%
23%
15%
11%
4%
4%
1%
1%
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Sponsoring analyst research (e.g. Gartner, Aberdeen)
Podcasting (participating)
Media visibility (print)
Securing speaking engagements
Media visibility (print)
Website search engine rankings
Brand recognition
Website traffic
Lead generation (qualified leads)
Sales
Very important Important Not important
While sales was ranked as the most important metric to almost every business
selling services to HR and benefits buyers, it is misleading to use this metric when
evaluating the effectiveness of your marketing and PR activities. True, if you stopped
all marketing and PR activities, your sales leads would likely dry up and new sales
would soon grind to a halt. Yet, while a supplier’s marketing and PR activities may
generate hundreds of qualified leads, it may not automatically result in new sales if
the supplier was unable to convert those leads. In other words, sales are not a good
measurement of marketing and PR because for most suppliers, marketing and PR
alone do not close deals. Marketing and PR bring the leads in, but sales must close
those leads. For these reasons, we excluded “sales” from this discussion on metrics.
Sales excluded, the three most important metrics suppliers use to measure the
effectiveness of their marketing and PR are sales leads, Web site traffic and brand
recognition. Two other very important metrics included search engine rankings and
online media visibility.
All these metrics overlap and are a byproduct of effective marketing and PR. For
example, if you have high online visibility, you will likely have more brand
recognition, higher site traffic, increased sales leads and improved search engine
rankings. But it all starts with online visibility. This is a critical point. In a recent
HRmarketer.com survey of HR buyers, 41.2% of HR professionals said they go to the
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Internet when beginning their search for HR products and services – second only to
asking a peer. Therefore, the importance of an online presence is growing every day.
And with the exception of brand recognition, all these metrics are easily measured
and extremely quantifiable. For these reasons, HRmarketer has always endorsed
using online visibility, Web site traffic and sales leads as three key metrics to use
when evaluating the effectiveness of marketing and PR investments – in fact, it’s the
tagline and marketing mantra of HRmarketer.com.
It’s the combination of both marketing and PR activities that drive these metrics,
although PR is less “accountable” for leads and sales than marketing. But the
significant differences end there. HR and benefits suppliers already see marketing
and PR in highly overlapping ways, indicating that “Marketing PR” as a unified
concept is well on its way to complete acceptance among this population and that
2008 will see a greater integration and synchronization of these formerly separate
disciplines than ever before.
Press Releases, Public Relations and RSS
Nearly half (41%) of HR and employee benefit suppliers contract with an outside
public relations firm or marketing agency, and more than half (54%) of those are
either very satisfied or satisfied with the firm’s effectiveness. Only 15 percent of
suppliers who contract with an outside public relations firm or marketing agency
were not satisfied with the firm’s performance. Sixty-one percent of those using an
outside firm pay a monthly retainer and 28 percent pay $5,000 or more.
Over 60% of large suppliers (those with annual revenue of $50 million or more)
contract with an outside public relations firm or marketing agency and the majority
pay in excess of $7,000 a month in retainers. Yet, nearly 33% of large suppliers
were not satisfied with their outside public relations firm or marketing agency.
One of the more surprising findings of our survey was the number of monthly press
releases suppliers distribute, and how few of the suppliers search-optimize these
releases. As the charts on this page reflect, over half (51%) of suppliers do not send
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any press releases via a wire service and 64% don’t search-optimize their releases or
don’t know what a search-optimized release is.
Number of Monthly Press Releases
Distributed Over a “Wire” Service
Do You Search-Optimize
Your Press Releases?
At first glance, this is a surprising finding because a search-optimized press release
sent via a wire service directly impacts a supplier’s Web site traffic, search engine
rankings, online visibility (brand recognition) and sales leads – all of which were
reported to be the most important metrics suppliers use to measure the
effectiveness of their marketing and PR. In fact, there is little doubt that regular
distribution of search-optimized press releases is one of the most important
marketing tactics – and most cost-effective – a supplier can invest in. (Editorial
disclaimer: the HRmarketer membership service provides online search-optimized
press release distribution, which affords us unique insight into this particular tactic;
whether or not a supplier uses the HRmarketer wire service or some other, the
practice should be strongly considered by every supplier, large or small.)
It is also a surprising finding because our research showed that 82% of respondents
said the marketing department manages their company’s PR. Marketing should know
better. Right?
3 or more
3%
2
14%
1
32%
0
51%
Not Sure
16%
No
48%
Yes
36%
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However, as discussed earlier in our report, two of the biggest marketing and PR
challenges for HR suppliers were search engine optimization (SEO) and
understanding Web 2.0 technologies. In other words, while suppliers admittedly want
to know more about SEO and Web 2.0 (both of which relate to search-optimized
releases sent via wire service), many are hesitant to take specific action in or make
concrete strategic commitments to these new disciplines of marketing.
Finally, when asked if suppliers allowed visitors to their Web site to subscribe to an
RSS feed of their company news, 25% said no and 75% said yes.
Social Networking Participation
The popularity of social networking is surging and most HR suppliers are
participating. In fact, our research found only 12% of suppliers not participating in
social networking. For those that do participate in social networking, LinkedIn is the
favorite community, with 36% of suppliers using this service. The next most popular
community was Facebook (11%), followed by MySpace (7%). But after that, no
social networking site received more than 5% interest from HR suppliers and most
were non-business oriented sites like Yelp or Classmates.com.
Staying Knowledgeable
As expected, suppliers rely on a variety of sources to keep up with what’s going on in
the HR marketplace. However, eNewsletters were the favorite amongst suppliers for
staying abreast of what’s going on in the human resource marketplace with 34% of
suppliers reading an eNewsletter daily. Other popular media outlets include HR Web
sites and the general business press. The least relied-on vehicles for staying current
about HR news were podcasts and blogs, with 72% and 45% of suppliers “rarely”
using these, respectively.
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How Suppliers Stay Knowledgeable About the HR Marketplace
3%
4%
8%
12%
15%
22%26%
29%
34%
7%
19%
8%
21%
16%
48%
40%47%
54%
44%
51%
47%
16%
32%
27%
31%
30%20%
15%
16%
41%
31%
72%
39%
45%
6%
9%7%
6%
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Attending events, seminars, trade shows
Webcasts/webinars
Podcasts
Analysts
Blogs
Print trade publications or newsletters
Industry insight from thought leaders and/or experts
General business press (e.g. WSJ, BusinessWeek)
Websites
eNewsletters or ePubs
Read/visit/attend daily Read/visit/attend weeklyRead/visit/attend monthly Read/visit/attend rarely
Supplier Optimism Heading into 2008
The majority of suppliers (58%) were “Somewhat Optimistic” about the overall
health of the human resource marketplace heading into 2008, expecting their
revenues to grow “moderately.” However, 30% of suppliers were “very optimistic”
and expect their revenues to grow significantly. Only 2% were pessimistic and
expecting their revenues to decline in 2008.
How Optimistic Are You About the Health of the Human Capital Marketplacein the Next Twelve Months?
30%
58%
9%
2%
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Very Optimistic: I expect our revenues to grow
significantly
Somewhat Optimistic: I expect our revenues to grow
moderately
Neutral: I expect our revenues to be about the same
as this year
Pessimistic: I expect our revenues to decrease
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Conclusion:Where the Suppliers Are Headed in 2008
We do not expect to see major differences in marketing and PR activities in 2008
compared to 2007 based on what our respondents report. Budgets will rise overall.
Spending will shift incrementally; what worked this past year will be repeated next
year. Testing and experimenting with Web 2.0 technologies offers the promise of
bringing suppliers both large and small closer to their potential buyers and existing
customers.
What continues to be worth our attention is the breakdown of the barriers betweentraditional marketing and PR disciplines and the convergence of Web 2.0 practices as
evidenced by a new breed of marketing and PR professionals. While not directly
addressed by our research data, a deeper reading combined with what we know of
marketing and PR professionals shows another subset of convergences happening.
PR and media pros are learning how their work impacts Web visibility and SEO.
Internet marketers who are often thought of as tacticians and technical mavens of
SEO are coming to the fore of marketing communications and impacting company
brands as much as or more than the ad execs or the PR team. Multi-disciplinary
generalists are working alongside tactical specialists in a more unified approach to
marketing and PR.
As the people behind the marketing/PR curtain continue to reorient and reinvent
themselves in an increasingly noisy and competitive marketing communications
environment, we expect to see the mix of traditional marketing and PR, online and
Web 2.0 marketing, and public relations evolve accordingly.
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About HRmarketer
HRmarketer.com, a service of Fisher Vista LLC, is the no. 1 Internet marketing and
media visibility service in the human resources industry. Over five hundred human
resource suppliers have used HRmarketer.com to generate publicity, website traffic,
sales leads and improved search engine rankings. The HRmarketer Services Group
helps HR suppliers who do not have the internal resources available and/or internal
expertise to fully leverage the power of an HRmarketer.com membership. For these
companies, the HRmarketer Services Group offers a full range of marketing and
public relations services as well as Web 2.0 digital media services.
About Fisher Vista, LLC
Fisher Vista, LLC is a marketing services firm focusing on the human resource and
senior care marketplaces. Our products and services combine innovative Web-based
technologies with traditional marketing and PR. Since 2000, we’ve helped hundreds
of suppliers in the HR and senior care marketplace improve their marketing and PR
and generate more publicity, website traffic, sales leads.
Fisher Vista, LLC Products and Services
HRmarketer.com
If you sell to human resource professionals, you
will benefit from a membership to
HRmarketer.com, the no. 1 Internet marketing
and media visibility service in the human
resources industry. Over five hundred human
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generate publicity, website traffic, sales leads
and improved search engine rankings.
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HRmarketer Services Group
Many organizations do not have the internal
resources available to fully leverage the power of
their HRmarketer.com membership. For these
companies, our Services Group offers a full
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as well as Web 2.0 digital media services.
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The ShirleyBoard is an online community for
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