MARKETING
Research: Re-opening is Driving New Online Search Opportunities
New research by BrightEdge shows emerging post-pandemic consumer trends are creating new opportunities for online search. There are clear winners in many areas from local search to travel. Other previously booming industries are experiencing a sharp pullback.
Shifts in Consumer Spending
The pandemic caused dramatic changes to how consumers spend and what they spend it on. The re-opening of the economy is causing similarly dramatic changes to online spending habits that may accelerate as the year progresses.
Re-opening Economy
Approximately 28% of the United States population fully vaccinated which in turn may be influencing changes in these verticals:
- Local Search – Dining
- Travel and Hospitality (Hotels, Flights )
- Digital Transformation
- E-commerce
Local Search – Dining
Pandemic trends saw increasing searches for take-out related phrases with a decrease in dine-in search queries. That trend is now reversing.
Take-out related phrases are trending lower while dining-in related search queries are trending upward.
The BrightEdge report notes:
“Within the Restaurant category we’re seeing a shift away from Take Out & Delivery and an increase in search using the “Dine in” qualifier.”
Changes in Travel Searches
These changes are reflected in 2021 search trends.
Head terms are seeing dramatic upward trends. Searches like “Flights” and “Cheap Flights” are trending upwards.
While there may be more volume in International Flights keyword phrase, Domestic Flights is seeing a more dramatic upturn. This may be an indication that families are keen to get together, driving more growth in domestic flights related keyword phrases.
Top Ten Dining Related Queries by Growth
- Happy hour
- Dessert
- Brazilian
- Seafood
- Chili
- Sushi
- Italian
- Mexican
- Vegan
- Japanese
Negative Trending Dining Queries
Interestingly there were four types of dining queries that were trending negatively by losing search queries.
- Chinese
- Thai
- Pho
- French
Slower Growth Dining Queries
While the following queries types were experiencing growth they were doing so at noticeably lower rates of growth.
- Ramen
- Mediterranean
- Pizza
What Do Negative and Slow Growth Trends Mean?
It could be that Chinese and pizza search queries experienced so much growth during the pandemic that people are ready for other dining-in options at an expanding range of cuisines.
Single people and couples may be re-entering the dining out scene, as evidenced by increased queries for happy hour.
Vacations Trending Upward
Vacation related keyword phrases are also trending upward. According to BrightEdge, searches for AirBnB are recording strong growth.
Hotel related phrases are trending a remarkable 350% in April 2021 over April 2020.
According to BrightEdge:
“Interest in Hotels reached the highest point in more than a year with nearly 35 million searches for Hotels in March by searchers in the US.”
Markets in the south are leading as destinations in hotel search queries.
Top Ten Hotel Search Queries
- Hotels in South Carolina
- Hotels in Alabama
- Hotels in Florida
- Hotels in Texas
- Hotels in Missouri
- Hotels in Tennessee
- Hotels in Hawaii
- Hotels in Virginia
- Hotels in California
- Hotels in Georgia
Travel Related Ecommerce Queries
Demand for luggage is experiencing a strong upward trend, reflecting how general travel trends can spill over into ecommerce. Look for renewed interest in travel guides as well, with searches also strongly trending upwards.
There is also strong demand for vacation and business related travel apparel. The top ten apparel type queries are dominated by seasonal and vacation clothing. But BrightEdge notes that suits also is trending upward, reflecting how the post-pandemic re-opening is causing changes that ripple out into ecommerce.
Top Ten Clothing Queries by Growth
- Shorts
- Swimwear
- Sandals and Slides
- Bottoms
- T-shirts
- Cleats
- Dresses and Skirts
- Suits
- Tops
- Casual
Digital Transformation
Digital Transformation has to do with taking businesses online, which includes video conferencing. BrightEdge notes that while this area is experiencing a contraction they note that “demand remains at levels dramatically higher than historic norms.”
Trends for a Time of Transition
These trends are indicators of what may soon become explosive growth. However it is too soon to say we’ve reached a new normal or to say what that normal will be when we reach it.
BrightEdge offered their opinion of what they feel are clear trends:
- The areas that saw the biggest surges in interest from COVID are mostly pulling back.
- The areas that were hurt most by the Pandemic are also recovering as the vaccine rolls out.
- A few key areas look they are here to stay as a “new normal” begins to emerge.
Citation
Read the full BrightEdge Report
Beyond the Search Evolution: How Vaccines Will Shape the Future of SEO and Digital
MARKETING
Trends in Content Localization – Moz
Multinational fast food chains are one of the best-known examples of recognizing that product menus may sometimes have to change significantly to serve distinct audiences. The above video is just a short run-through of the same business selling smokehouse burgers, kofta, paneer, and rice bowls in an effort to appeal to people in a variety of places. I can’t personally judge the validity of these representations, but what I can see is that, in such cases, you don’t merely localize your content but the products on which your content is founded.
Sometimes, even the branding of businesses is different around the world; what we call Burger King in America is Hungry Jack’s in Australia, Lays potato chips here are Sabritas in Mexico, and DiGiorno frozen pizza is familiar in the US, but Canada knows it as Delissio.
Tales of product tailoring failures often become famous, likely because some of them may seem humorous from a distance, but cultural sensitivity should always be taken seriously. If a brand you are marketing is on its way to becoming a large global seller, the best insurance against reputation damage and revenue loss as a result of cultural insensitivity is to employ regional and cultural experts whose first-hand and lived experiences can steward the organization in acting with awareness and respect.
MARKETING
How AI Is Redefining Startup GTM Strategy
MARKETING
More promotions and more layoffs
For martech professionals salaries are good and promotions are coming faster, unfortunately, layoffs are coming faster, too. That’s according to the just-released 2024 Martech Salary and Career Survey. Another very unfortunate finding: The median salary of women below the C-suite level is 35% less than what men earn.
The last year saw many different economic trends, some at odds with each other. Although unemployment remained very low overall and the economy grew, some businesses — especially those in technology and media — cut both jobs and spending. Reasons cited for the cuts include during the early years of the pandemic, higher interest rates and corporate greed.
Dig deeper: How to overcome marketing budget cuts and hiring freezes
Be that as it may, for the employed it remains a good time to be a martech professional. Salaries remain lucrative compared to many other professions, with an overall median salary of $128,643.
Here are the median salaries by role:
- Senior management $199,653
- Director $157,776
- Manager $99,510
- Staff $89,126
Senior managers make more than twice what staff make. Directors and up had a $163,395 median salary compared to manager/staff roles, where the median was $94,818.
One-third of those surveyed said they were promoted in the last 12 months, a finding that was nearly equal among director+ (32%) and managers and staff (30%).
Extend the time frame to two years, and nearly three-quarters of director+ respondents say they received a promotion, while the same can be said for two-thirds of manager and staff respondents.
Dig deeper: Skills-based hiring for modern marketing teams
Employee turnover
In 2023, we asked survey respondents if they noticed an increase in employee churn and whether they would classify that churn as a “moderate” or “significant” increase. For 2024, given the attention on cost reductions and layoffs, we asked if the churn they witnessed was “voluntary” (e.g., people leaving for another role) or “involuntary” (e.g., a layoff or dismissal). More than half of the marketing technology professionals said churn increased in the last year. Nearly one-third classified most of the churn as “involuntary.”
Men and Women
This year, instead of using average salary figures, we used the median figures to lessen the impact of outliers in the salary data. As a result, the gap between salaries for men and women is even more glaring than it was previously.
In last year’s report, men earned an average of 24% more than women. This year the median salary of men is 35% more than the median salary of women. That is until you get to the upper echelons. Women at director and up earned 5% more than men.
Methodology
The 2024 MarTech Salary and Career Survey is a joint project of MarTech.org and chiefmartec.com. We surveyed 305 marketers between December 2023 and February 2024; 297 of those provided salary information. Nearly 63% (191) of respondents live in North America; 16% (50) live in Western Europe. The conclusions in this report are limited to responses from those individuals only. Other regions were excluded due to the limited number of respondents.
Download your copy of the 2024 MarTech Salary and Career Survey here. No registration is required.
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