My quest for the ultimate metric

As a search engine marketer, measuring the return on investment has always been a necessity. It started out as a need to justify my job to executives who did not understand search marketing. Now, at least with me, I have proofed the importance of investing in search marketing. Through tracking ID’s and good analytics packages, we are able to track click to revenue. Thus, explaining that search marketing is the best ROI available.

However, the second stage of my quest for the perfect analytics continues. Search marketing often gets the revenue glory from other campaigns. Display advertising, print marketing, and e-mail marketing often drive consumers to search. Thankfully, those dollars often show up in my search engine revenue reporting.

Part of me likes the fact that my search engine marketing reports get the glory from others’ hard work, but I know it’s not a true measurement. I would gladly give up that revenue for accurate results.

With the convergence of display networks and search engines, maybe that ultimate metric is on the horizon. Measuring “The Assist” will not only justify other forms of advertising, but it will help tie the relationship between search marketing and those campaigns. This metric will help us discover what drives people to search and what are they searching for. Connecting campaigns together is the ultimate metric.

Of course, there will never be perfect analytics. I realize once I discover this metric, there will be another unsolved mystery right behind it. However, connecting display advertising to search is a major step in the right direction.