You’ve probably never clicked past the second search result page of Google. Chances are, you immediately found what you’re looking for on the top rank of Google. Upon closer inspection, you noticed that the words “ads” or “sponsored” were labelled above the search results.
In short, that is search engine marketing (SEM), where businesses and companies pay for their brand to be on the first page.
But what exactly is SEM and why is it important for businesses? Let’s explore how using SEM effectively can help grow your business and stand out among your peers.
What Is SEM?
In a nutshell, SEM is a digital marketing strategy that uses paid advertising to ensure that your website shows up on the top page, increasing its visibility to your target audience through Search Engine Result Pages (SERP).
What’s The Difference Between SEO vs. SEM
SEO and SEM are two popular strategies for building online visibility, each with its strengths. SEO focuses on improving your site’s position in organic search results through keyword optimisation, content quality, and technical improvements.
SEO is a long-term approach designed to generate steady, organic traffic as your site builds relevance and prominence for search engines over time. Although SEO takes time to deliver results, once you rank on top of the search engine, you can continue receiving traffic without paying a single dime.
On the other hand, SEM’s main method of generating results on SERPs is through paid ads, which provide instant visibility by bidding on keywords to place ads at the top of search results.
The importance of SEM lies in its ability to bring results immediately. Unlike SEO, SEM campaigns drive traffic as soon as they’re launched, making them ideal for quick brand exposure, especially when businesses are starting out or launching new products. SEM allows you to control your budget and adjust your campaign strategies according to your needs.
Here are the 4 main differences between SEO and SEM:
- Cost: SEO involves an initial investment in optimisation, but there are no recurring costs, whereas SEM requires continuous spending with every click on your ad.
- Speed: SEO is a slow and ongoing effort while SEM provides immediate visibility and results.
- Sustainability: SEO is long-lasting, continuing to drive organic traffic over time, while SEM only drives traffic up until the budget runs out for your campaign.
- Purpose: SEO builds credibility and trust through organic rankings, whereas SEM is more suited for quick exposure and is ideal for promotions or launches.
For many businesses, SEM generates immediate traffic and brand awareness. During seasonal holidays like Christmas, shoppers actively search for the best deals or promotions to buy gifts for their loved ones. This is where demand peaks and using SEM to capture the seasonal interest of the market helps drive sales and traffic to your business.
How SEM Works?
Before anything, you must decide which keywords to use for your SEM campaign. This means identifying relevant keywords prospective customers are likely to use when searching for products and services of relevance.
There are plenty of free keyword tools like Google Keyword Planner to help you understand search volumes or analyse the performance of a potential keyword. Once you identify the keywords of your choosing, you will now need to bid on them. SEM relies on an ad auction system where businesses compete with other advertisers to secure rankings.
However, unlike traditional auction houses, being the highest bidder here does not guarantee top placement. There are other factors of influence such as:
Ad Relevance: How relevant your ad is to the user’s search intent.
Expected Click-Through Rate (CTR): How often will users likely click on your ad.
Landing Page Experience: The relevance, usability, and overall quality of the page users land on after clicking the ad.
In addition to finding the right keywords you should be bidding on, you should also identify negative keywords. In a nutshell, negative keywords exclude irrelevant keywords from your business, and you can avoid wasting your ad budget on clicks from people who aren’t looking for what you offer. This filters out unlikely conversions and helps you reach your desired targeted audience, thus improving the effectiveness of your campaigns.
If you are a luxury brand’s best seller, you might exclude the keywords “cheap” or “affordable” to prevent ads from appearing to users searching for cheap designer bags or affordable jewellery. This will allow your business to reach your targeted audience who are interested in premium or high-quality products.
How To Start An Effective SEM Campaign.
1. Define Your Goals
Have a clear road map of what you want to achieve with the SEM campaign. If you are entering a new market and the goal is to establish trust and credibility, then brand awareness and search visibility would be your primary focus. Clear goals help you define your campaign’s strategy, timeline, budget and evaluation metrics.
These are 4 common goals for SEM campaigns:
Brand Awareness: Increase your brand’s or product’s visibility, especially if you’re entering a new market or launching a new product.
Sales and Conversions: This is ideal for e-commerce or fast-moving consumer products, as it drives immediate sales and generates traffic.
Lead Generation: Attract prospective customers who may eventually purchase your products or services after showing initial interest.
Customer Retention and Engagement: Engage existing customers who have previously used your business. Highlight updates, benefits, and promotions to encourage purchases.
2. Identify Your Target Audience
Knowing your market is important for a successful SEM campaign. Identifying who you are selling your products and services to, how they stand to benefit from your solutions, and how you can solve their pain points makes you attractive to prospective clients.
When you research your ideal audience, you may want to consider the following:
Demographics: Age, gender, income level, and education can help tailor your ads to your audience’s preferences and needs.
Search Intent: Knowing why your audience is searching for certain keywords, be it information, purchase, or comparisons, helps you craft ads that address their current concerns and needs.
Location: Geographic considerations are a significant factor in deciding your audience, especially when considering shipping costs, logistics or local conversions.
Online Behaviour: Observe how your audience behave online, their shopping habits, where they generally like to hangout and the content they consume. This will help you design ads that are tailored to their interests.
Pain Points: Identify your audience’s problems and offer solutions with your products or services.
Understanding your audience first, will make selecting the right keywords and ad copy much easier.
3. Conduct Keyword Research
As mentioned, keywords are the lifeblood of SEM. You must identify the relevant phrases or words potential customers are searching for.
Metrics like search volume and cost-per-click (CPC) help you understand the value of each keyword and the cost that comes with it. Remember, you are bidding that keyword with other businesses who are vying for it as well.
For example, if “digital marketing services” has a high CPC and requires a larger budget to compete, consider targeting more specific terms like “local SEM services for small businesses” for a lower CPC and a budget-friendly cost.
4. Set A Budget
By design, SEM is a pay-per-click (PPC) model, which means you pay every time someone clicks on your ad. This allows you complete control of your campaign but also requires careful oversight to prevent overspending. Ultimately, you want to maximise your ROI and reduce unnecessary spending expenditures.
Set bids based on the campaign goals you want to achieve. For example, if the goal is lead generation, you may be willing to spend more per click than on a campaign focused on brand awareness because the focus would be on sales and revenue.
5. Create Targeted Ad Groups And Campaigns
Audience segmentation allows you to focus on target groups based on specific products, themes, or campaign goals. Rather than organising your SEM campaign with a one-size-fits-all approach, you can break it down into smaller chunks to target what works best for different ad groups or campaigns.
By having different campaign groups, you create ads for specific audiences based on their search intent, purchasing power and needs. If you run an online clothing business, you can have separate campaigns for “Men’s Clothing” and “Women’s Clothing”, directly targeting two demographics with their respective keywords and strategies.
Naturally, running multiple campaigns and ads can be costly, so do due diligence before committing to the campaign.
6. Write Compelling Ad Copy
Your ad must be compelling, it must be relevant and above all else, it needs to click with your audience. Every word counts, so make it clear, simple and concise for users to click on your ad.
- Highlight your Unique Selling Point (USP): Competition is tough, and you want to stand out from your peers. Highlight what you offer to your customers and what they would gain from your product or services. Be it 24-hour customer service support or free delivery with a minimum purchase, highlight your strengths and value.
- Include Numbers and Data: Numbers serve as a credible way to show what you have to offer and show for your audience. A “30% off on first orders” sounds more click-worthy than “Discount available for first-time customers.” You need to sell the value your audience would get by clicking on your ad, so make that message front and centre of your copy.
- Keep Keywords Flowing Naturally: Avoid forcing keywords just for engagement. Instead, integrate keywords naturally into the copy. For instance, “Performance-based marketing with Search Engine Marketing (SEM) to drive revenue and growth for your business” as opposed to “Our SEM marketing can help your SEM marketing campaign to get better SEM marketing results.”
7. Optimise Landing Pages
Landing pages are what users will see first when they click on your ad. If they don’t capture their attention or interest, they will simply click away.
A well-optimised landing page delivers on the user’s expectations when they click on the ad. That means little to no load time, user-friendly navigation, and easy-to-understand copy.
There will be high bounce rates if your landing page doesn’t meet user expectations.
Conclusion ON What Is SEM And Why Is It Important?
SEM is an important strategy to increase revenue, drive traffic and achieve campaign goals through paid ads. SEM helps connect businesses to potential leads when searching for related products or services. A targeted approach that makes your brand stand out among the masses.
But managing an SEM campaign can be challenging, especially when you are just starting out. Having an experienced team of digital marketers supporting your business can make a huge difference, and this is where the Best Marketing Agency steps in.
Our SEM services are carefully designed to get your business to Google’s first page within 3 months. Now, what happens if we miss this target? You don’t need to pay us a single dime.
Frequently Asked Questions About What is SEM And Why Is It Important?
How Do I Know If A Keyword Is Worth Bidding On?
By search volume, CPC, and competition level. If the keyword has high user searches and it’s within the range of your budget, it’s likely worth bidding on.
Should I Use Only One Ad Copy Per Ad Group?
Generally, it’s better to create multiple ad copies per ad group and see what works best. Compare the different copies, CTAs, and designs to see which copy performed better in your metrics.
What’s The Difference Between Long-Tail And Broad Keywords?
Broad keywords are used to reach a large audience. They are short keywords but more generic and may not yield the best results. Long-tail keywords are lengthier and more specific and are used to attract users who often know exactly what they are looking for.
What Are The Common Platforms for SEM?
The most used SEM platform is Google Ads, but Semrush and Bing Ads are also used as well.
How Long Does It Take To See Results From An SEM Campaign?
SEM delivers instant traffic after launching, but it usually takes a few days to weeks to generate quantifiable results.
Is SEM Suitable For Every Business?
Yes. It’s highly effective for services or products with high user intent. Local businesses particularly benefit the most with keywords such as “near me”.
