Rand Fishkin's "Audience Influence Spending" Slide
Rand Fishkin, founder of SparkToro and also famous SEO guy had this slide at a conference that shows: Where is your audience influenced -vs- Where companies allocate their budget.
For example it's showing not a ton of people are influenced by Google Search as much, but MOST of the budget is going towards it.
And A LOT of people are being influenced by emails and newsletter, but only 1% of the budget is going towards it.
The slide compares where audiences are influenced (inner circle) versus where marketing budgets are allocated (outer circle). Here's a breakdown of the data:
Google Search Keywords (Unbranded)
Influence: 33% (145K)
Budget Allocation: High
Industry Websites & Blogs
Influence: 15% (140K)
Budget Allocation: Low
Social Feeds (Social Media Platforms)
Influence: 15% (140K)
Budget Allocation: High
YouTube Channels
Influence: 6% (110K)
Budget Allocation: Low
Email Newsletters
Influence: 1% (100K)
Budget Allocation: Low
Social Ads
Influence: 3% (90K)
Budget Allocation: High
Conferences & Events
Influence: 7%
Budget Allocation: Medium
Slack, Facebook & WhatsApp Groups
Influence: 4%
Budget Allocation: Low
ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google Discover & Apple News
Influence: Growing
Budget Allocation: Low
Traditional News Media
Influence: 8% (75K)
Budget Allocation: Medium
Podcasts
Influence: 2% (45K)
Budget Allocation: Low
SubReddits
Influence: 2% (40K)
Budget Allocation: Low
Comparison Sites
Influence: 2% (35K)
Budget Allocation: Low
Key Takeaways from the data:
Google Search (Unbranded) is the most influential but also receives high budget allocation.
Industry Websites & Blogs have strong influence but receive relatively lower budget allocation.
Social Media Feeds (15%) receive a lot of budget despite being less influential than Google Search.
YouTube is a significant influencer (110K) but receives low budget allocation.
ChatGPT, Perplexity, and AI news aggregators are emerging, but investment is currently low.
Podcasts, Reddit, and Comparison Sites have small but noteworthy influence, yet budgets remain minimal.
Image Description
The image features a slide from Rand Fishkin's presentation. It shows a colorful pie chart comparing "Where is your audience influenced" (inner circle) with "Where do you allocate budget?" (outer circle). Rand Fishkin is standing in front of the slide, gesturing towards it.
Positive Aspects
This slide visually contrasts audience influence with budget allocation, making it easy to grasp the disparities. The clear labeling and color coding help in identifying which channels are over or underfunded relative to their influence. Rand's engaging presentation style adds authority and energy to the data.
Key Takeaways
- Google Search (Unbranded) is both highly influential and heavily funded.
- Industry Websites & Blogs are influential but underfunded in comparison.
- Social Media Feeds get a large chunk of the budget despite lower influence than Google Search.
- YouTube and Email Newsletters have significant influence but receive low budget allocations.
- Emerging platforms like ChatGPT and AI news aggregators are gaining influence but remain underfunded.
Additional Insights
This chart is a wake-up call for marketers to reassess their budget strategies. It’s like putting all your chips on a less effective horse while ignoring the underdog that’s quietly winning the race. Maybe it's time to give those email newsletters some love—or face the "inbox" rebellion!
