Posted

Search Engine Marketing

So, I’ve been having a lot of conversations lately about Search Engine Marketing (SEM). SEM primarily means using ad programs such as Google Adwords to serve ads to people searching for particular keyword strings on search engines like Google.

A lot of business owners and managers want to harness the power of the web to drive their businesses, but are struggling with a major roadblock. Owners and managers MUST deliver results, and two major concerns continue to hold them back. The first is, “I never look at those ads,” and the second is, “I’ve tried that in the past with other agencies, outlets or internally, but I didn’t get good results. “ In fact, many of them have already spent a lot of money with little or nothing to show for it.

Let’s address each of these in turn shall we?

Number 1 – No one looks at those paid Google ads, do they?

Of course they don’t! That’s how Google makes so much darn money – by selling ads that no one ever looks at or clicks on.

Of course this doesn’t make sense. We all may be more dulled to advertising than ever before, but when the right one hits us at the right time – we respond. And yes, I do mean each and every one of us; some just more or less than others.

Number 2 – I’ve tried Google Adwords before, but it didn’t work for me.

Ok, so here’s the shocker - it doesn’t work well for everyone. But, if it didn’t work for you, do you know why not? If you don’t know why pay-per-click doesn’t work for you, whoever managed it probably didn’t know what they were doing - or they just didn’t care enough to do it right.

Maybe it doesn’t work for you because there’s just too much competition. Maybe there’s an inflated market for your terms and the price of business is just too high (think of it exactly like a bubble in the stock market). Maybe you’re just paying for the wrong terms. Maybe the campaign is fine but your website stinks – or maybe your campaign just wasn’t managed properly.

The Most Common Problem We See In SEM

I’m talking to people all the time. I hear all the dirt and complaints about the so-called experts. The problem many people have with SEM is that they’ve worked with “the professionals” before and they got diddly squat - so why should this time be any different?

Well let’s ask some simple questions to figure out how hard the “professionals” worked for you:

  • How much time did they take to really understand your business? How you sell, what makes you different, who your customer is, and why they buy from you all makes a difference. Garbage in is garbage out the old saying goes. Or just stop drinking water and you'll dehydrate yourself every time you go to the bathroom. It's kind of like that. Peeing your money away without getting the nutrients you need.
  • Did they send you a ton of junk traffic? How much time was really spent managing your campaign? Even Google can mess things up with your campaign if not managed properly. When you just “set it and forget it” like Ron Popeil, even a complicated algorithm or space-age rotisserie can screw things up royally from time to time.
  • Did you get timely reports and if so, were they more than a chart with numbers? While progress reports are an important part of SEM campaign management and numbers don’t lie, they sure can hide a lot. You aren’t paying for statistical reporting. You’re paying for meaningful insight mixed with bottom-line results. Is that what you got?

Here’s a few other things to consider when choosing an SEM partner:

  1. Does the size of the company match the size of your needs? Are you a tiny fish in an ocean of clients or a whale stuck in a small pond? Somewhere in between is probably makes the most sense.
  2. Are you locked into a contract? It’s reasonable to be asked to give a certain amount of time for the campaign to work, but it’s your money and you should be able to get out whenever you say. One to two weeks should be a reasonable notice.
  3. Is the company you’re considering willing to tell you if the campaign is not working? There are no magic pills. Nothing works 100% of the time. Are you working with someone that’s not going to tell you, “you just need to increase the budget” when things really aren’t working out? Try asking them to share a time a campaign didn’t work out. How did they handle it?

So let me ask you – have you given up on SEM for your business? What problems have you faced? Are they insurmountable? Are you basking in the glory of online victories? Where will you go from here?