Review of Search Marketing Agencies, Q4 2006
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Written By Anthony Iaffaldano | November 29, 2006 | Share This
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Last Tuesday, Forrester Research released their annual WAVE report of Search Engine Marketing Agencies. Of the 56 companies invited to participate, only six made it through the final review. As Forrester writes, they focused on “Search Marketing Agencies that provide a balance of paid and natural search services (and service integration) and that serve enterprise clients.” As one of the fortunate six, Reprise Media spent several months working with Forrester to provide a comprehensive overview of our company. The report included a review of 56 criteria, conversations with our executives, conversations with customer references, technology demonstrations, evaluations of natural search results and paid search ads for our reference accounts, and an analysis of supporting documents.
Okay, so “comprehensive” may be an understatement, but the survey really forced us to reflect on what we do (and don’t) offer as a Search Marketing agency. While it was a lot of work to participate, it’s fascinating to see your entire company reduced to a graph that so plainly states “current offering” over “strategy” - kind of like watching your own autopsy and thinking, “when did I eat that?” We’d like to commend Forrester for conducting such a thorough and informative survey. It certainly helped Reprise Media clarify our own business development, and will hopefully shed some light onto the vastly difficult task of differentiating search marketing agencies.
That being said, here’s a sample of Forrester’s review of Reprise Media:
“Reprise Media is search marketing’s biggest breakout star. Its paid search bests others due to its strong testing and QA capabilities, as well as its ability to deliver distinguished paid search ads. The open architecture of its PROSuite search management platform makes Reprise Media a valid solution for marketers seeking to integrate their paid search programs with other marketing efforts… Reprise Media is innovative, profitable, and strategically focused, making it the biggest competitive threat and the best-kept secret in our study.”
(patting ourselves soundly on the back) Forrester continued a more detailed assessment in a vendor-specific analysis report. You can read the whole thing here, but in sum, it elaborated on:
Our evaluation found this relative newcomer to be a Strong Performer that fits innovative marketers - or other agencies - seeking an avantgarde paid search partner that:
- Integrates with third-party data and applications
- Flexes to meet marketer and agency clients
- Focuses its strategic vision on search
- Has an understated market presence
Forrester finished with their opinion,
“The company’s “garage band” feel may be off-putting to some conservative companies expecting a highly traditional approach, but client references tell us that larger vendors focus too much on the “polish,” while Reprise listens to their needs and delivers solutions… Reprise will be incumbents’ biggest competitive threat and the best integrated search solution as it beefs up its business development and SEO capabilities.”
Even though “garage band” may be a subtle reference to our t-shirts and tennis shoes at work, we’re really happy with the results. When you’re mired in the day-to-day, it’s hard to objectively measure strengths and weaknesses. Looking at our company laid out so plainly on Forrester’s proverbial operating table, it’s clear that we’ve got a lot going for us - and a lot to live up to.
The full Forrester report is available to Forrester subscribers on their website. The Reprise Media review and press release, in the meantime, can be downloaded from THIS PAGE of our website.
Topics: Featured Item, SEM: Firms, Search: News |
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