Email is yet again considered to be the most effective digital marketing tactic, and it also benefits from a relative ease in execution, per respondents to an survey from Ascend2 and its research partners. Somewhat surprisingly, given the B2B skew (66% of respondents), fewer tabbed paid search as being effective as did social media (34% and 41%, respectively).

That’s despite other indications that paid search is quite effective for B2B marketers, MarketingCharts reports.

Let advertisers know just how effective digital marketing can be! AudienceSCAN will fill you in on what Digital Marketing Services Purchasers think about the marketing services they're buying. For instance, 53% said they want to buy things that make them feel "comfortable" this year. This is an indicator that they want to be more comfortable in their business decisions.

That SEO is perceived to be more effective than paid search does speak more to the B2B skew, as other research suggests that SEO is indeed a bigger revenue driver for B2B companies than paid search. For B2C companies, though, the same research indicates that paid search is a bigger revenue driver than both SEO and email.

Consider that AudienceSCAN found 18% of Digital Marketing Services Purchasers go past the first page of search results. Using this stat to sell digital marketing could help prospects relate to how their own customers search.

The survey options did not include video, which has separately been cited as a leading tactic.

Separately, the Ascend2 survey respondents indicate that social media is the most difficult tactic to execute, ahead of SEO and mobile.

Here's an opportunity! Make social media easier! AudienceSCAN reports that 24% of Digital Marketing Services Purchasers themselves took action based on an ad on a social network they saw in the past month. And 78% of this audience is active on Facebook.

Overall, the vast majority of respondents feel that digital marketing effectiveness is increasing, though most say only marginally. Increased lead generation (58%) tops increased conversion rates (48%) as the most important goal of a digital marketing strategy, while inadequate budgets are considered the biggest barrier to success.

AudienceSCAN data is available as part of a subscription to AdMall for Agencies, or with the SalesFuel API. Media companies can access AudienceSCAN data through the AudienceSCAN Reports in AdMall.