Lack of experience without close mentorship does not produce stellar results. For this reason, I guess a lot of search marketing companies won't make it. Tougher times don't bode well for agencies without a majority of senior executives. Agencies will also need to do what is necessary to continue serving new and existing customers. For some clients, budget cuts might be a concern (though hopefully they see value in pursuing search marketing for all the reasons outlined in this article).
This means having to modify current campaigns and programs to focus on what is needed now. Some may have new strategies while others may choose to do basic company employee list tactics but not be as aggressive as before. Some customers may consolidate vendors during these times. They can choose to bundle all of their digital marketing services with one agency for a discount. What we learned in the last recession is that these agencies were not experts in everything. Some of them even outsourced us to Bruce Clay Inc.
for the SEO part of their deals. Unfortunately, companies that didn't have SEO experts working in the background realized they had shot themselves in the foot with poor services after the recession ended. Many of them came to see us to repair what was done during this period. Ultimately, search marketers, especially SEOs, are no strangers to reinventing themselves at the mercy of rapid changes (like algorithms). So I'm confident that many vendors can seize the opportunity and survive. Closing Thoughts Now is the time for all of us to be leaders – search marketing companies and providers.