We published today The Future of Search Marketing; thank you to the many marketers and agencies who contributed to the research.  There are a number of evolutions happening to search marketing now and in the coming three years, including:

  • More content and ways to search
  • Richer search engine interfaces and ads
  • Overlap with social and mobile
  • Increased automation
  • Improved analytics

But what stood out to me as the real future of search marketing was that these changes will actually force search marketers to think more like business planners than like channel managers.  Tactically speaking, this means thinking about “search marketing” as not just SEM and SEO but as an umbrella term that applies to using any targeted media to help an advertiser “get found” (including, perhaps, biddable display media, social networks, and mobile applications).  Strategically, this means focusing more on user intent, your business reasons for using search (and not other media which also drives leads), and fostering collaboration and an awareness of the value of search across your organization.

I've explained these ideas more fully in an article on Search Engine Land.  Or Forrester clients can access the full report here.