By Michael Briggin
Search engine marketing (SEM) is one of the most important methods of an organization getting out its message to prospective customers. However, taking part in SEM campaigns depends on how much you invest your time and preparing for dealing with customers after the success of your campaigns.
Here’s what you should be laser focused on when you’re planning your approach with your SEM strategy:
Watch Your SEO First
As tempting as it is to jump in and launch SEM campaigns, they aren’t going to work if your SEO isn’t there. Your brand and how users see you through Google and other search engines will affect how your SEM campaigns will become after they are launched.
Take the time to improve your organization’s website SEO from the landing page to the rest of the pages that accompany it. Your next consumers need to know more about you, not just from your promotional ads.
Know What You Want To Budget For Campaigns
Bing Ads and Google Ads (formerly Google Adwords) are two of the most commonly used SEM marketing programs that can be used to drive word of mouth about products a business introduces into the market. How effective these programs are really depends on the risk you’re taking into investing in them as well as how much your organization is budgeting to help you carry out these campaigns.
If you’re considering Pay-Per-Click (PPC) programs like Google Ads, consider using them not exclusively but selectively. How much you have in a PPC budget should go alongside the rest of your marketing activities, not replace everything.
Be Prepared For Customer Acquisition
As your SEM marketing unfolds, so will your customer acquisition. Not only do you need to watch out for customers as they interact with your website and its pages through SEM, you also need to pay attention to the actions they’re taking in reaching out to you.
Keeping track of your product sales from lead-to-sale is important on the backend through a CRM like Salesforce or Zoho. Additionally, emphasizing customer service as-needed in responding to inquiries from customers through all marketing channels from website to social media as a result of the SEM campaigns should not be ruled out.
