With content marketing becoming increasingly important to digital marketing strategy and Google’s implementation of the Hummingbird algorithm, it has been a busy year in the world of search.

That being said, the changing nature of search engine marketing is reflected in the survey, as Latitude Managing Director Richard Gregory points out:

The incredible thing about this report is not only how it captures the changing role of Search Engine Marketing within the wider marketing context, but also how it encapsulates the changes in the digital industry as a whole.

The digital industry landscape is continuously evolving and the line of questioning in the survey will reflect the shifts in the mindsets and approaches of marketing professionals since the report began in 2007.

The topics covered in the survey include spending, technology used for SEM, integration, trends and ROI and specific questions on the impact of Google on SEM via Google+ and Enhanced Campaigns.

The survey also contains questions about closely related channels such as display advertising and social media marketing, reflecting the increased importance of integrated digital marketing activities.

Last year’s results revealed there was a divided view among marketers on the impact of Enhanced Campaign. With marketers still adjusting to the relatively new changes, 56% of companies were unsure whether Enhanced Campaigns would have a positive or negative impact.

With a year’s worth of experience dealing with Enhanced Campaigns, it will be interesting to see whether sentiment has changed.

Do you think ‘Enhanced Campaigns’ will have a positive impact on your/your clients’ paid search marketing?

Do Enhanced Campaigns have a positive or negative impact on paid search marketing?

The research also showed more companies were integrating their search engine marketing with their display advertising.

Nearly three in five (58%) of companies said they had at least some integration between the two disciplines, while the proportion of companies not integrating these activities dropped 11 percentage points from 2012.

Please take the survey and help spread the word. The deadline for taking part is Friday 4 April 2014.