Covario Presents “Sigma” Awards to Six Digital Marketing Leaders at Seventh Annual INFLECTIONPoint Client Conference

IBM, Epicor Software, Guthy-Renker, and Celebrity Cruises among the Winners, plus Intel and Lenovo in First Joint Sigma

SAN DIEGO, Feb. 14, 2013 - Covario, Inc., the leading independent search marketing agency, presented its highest client honors - the Sigma Awards - to six companies last week during the firm's seventh annual INFLECTIONPoint customer conference in Palm Springs, Calif.

The Sigma Awards are bestowed annually to top global marketers and national online retailers who demonstrate thought-leadership and success not only in search engine marketing and SEO (search engine optimization), but also in their overall approach to content marketing, media-mix strategies and digital advertising.

Covario's latest Sigma recipients include Celebrity Cruises, Epicor, IBM, Guthy-Renker and, for the first time, a joint award to Intel and Lenovo.

Celebrity Cruises won its first Sigma Award for making the most progress among Covario's clients in integrating effective SEO strategies across the organization, which have been embraced internally by key customer touch-points in sales, marketing, and public relations. One major result was a well-integrated content marketing program that led to a 65 percent increase in first-page rankings for the targeted keywords within the first few months of the program.

Epicor Software Corporation, a global marketer of enterprise resource planning (ERP) software in more than 150 countries in over 30 different languages, was recognized with a Sigma Award for its innovative approach to paid search and landing page creation, which drove triple-digit increases in conversion rates and in ROAS (return on ad spend).

IBM won a Sigma for its dynamic use of market research and its ground-breaking work with Covario on a proprietary keyword database system. This eventually led to the creation of a new software automation tool available from Covario and its Rio SEO software division. IBM continues to stand out for its intelligent use of analytics to make data-driven decisions about online media-mix and marketing strategies.

Guthy-Renker was spotlighted for its effective integration of paid and organic search strategies. This was magnified by a large transition and a successful onboard process when the online marketer/retailer transitioned its search business to Covario at the beginning of 2012.

In a first since the creation of the Sigma Awards seven years ago, two Covario clients - Intel and Lenovo - received a joint Sigma for their creative co-marketing of the sleek, new Lenovo Ultrabook personal computer through an effective landing Web page pilot program that drove revenue and conversion rates up more than 50 percent in both the U.S. and the U.K.

"The principle that guides our unique approach to the Sigma Awards is that search marketing cannot be conducted in a vacuum if the goal is always to operate at maximum efficiency and generate the greatest return for our clients," said Jeff Johnson, managing director and senior vice president of Covario. "Each of these marketing leaders did something out-of-the-box, which was also highly effective relative to their campaign objectives and metrics. We're proud to partner and play a role in the success of these marketing innovators."

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About Covario

Covario is the world's leading independent search marketing agency. The firm was selected by OMMA as both the 2012 and 2011 Search Agency of the Year. Covario is also the parent company of Rio SEO, the leading software provider of SEO, social media, and content marketing automation tools. Headquartered in San Diego, Covario has about 250 team members worldwide who are also concentrated in Beijing, Chicago, London, New York, Phoenix, San Francisco, Sao Paulo, Seattle, Singapore, Tokyo, and Toronto.  The agency's growing customer base includes world leaders in technology, consumer electronics, retail, ecommerce, financial services, media, entertainment, publishing, and consumer packaged goods.  More information is available at http://www.covario.com.