The other day I had an enquiry from a SaaS service provider regarding search engine promption of their product(s) and assuming they required Search engine optimization (SEO), as in majority of the cases it becomes clear later on after discussion with them, I sent them a details proposal.
Reading my proposal the company was interested and asked me to meet their Head of Marketing. I got excited and immediately hopped in my car to meet the marketing person. I on my way honned my SEO/SEM skills and reached well before time as a courtsey to show how professional I was. I had read somewhere first impression is the last impression.
When few minutes into the meeting, I realised they were NOT interested in SEO, rather were looking for an individual or an agency to create and maintain a community around their SaaS product(s) to not only generate business but also create a buzz around their services. Surprised, as I was, I immediately took control of the situation and asked for few days to return with a comprehensive internet marketing proposal taking into accounts SEM/SEO and social media marketing..
I’m surpirsed as well as happy to see that their is a visible shift from just getting top rankings in search engines for their business to wanting to build a community around their business/product(s) which is more effective way to sustain and generate business…
I still clearly remember the wordings of the gentelman I met saying, “SEO is no rocket science…”
Loking at the trend, time is not far, might have already arrived, when search engine positioning would be a small part of the overall online marketing strategies..
I will keep you posted on how things turn out after I meet them for the second time with my proposal…keep a close watch and subscribe to my RSS to know the outcome….
December 6th, 2008 at 5:36 pm
Yes, I had a similar experience few days back and agree that companies are looking for much more then just traffic. They want sales, leads along with traffic and not just rankings…