Jul

Why SEM (Search Engine Marketing) is a Laughing Matter

By Sid

A recent study by eMarketer suggests that, while companies are expected to spend more on SEM (search engine marketing) in the coming year, they are also increasingly wary of using SEM to generate leads and sales.

Why?

There are two very good reasons they’re wary, and rightfully so. However, both of these reasons can be eliminated, or at least minimized with just a little bit of strategy and some elbow grease. The payoff can be huge, but my guess is that the bigger the business, the less likely they’ll be strategic.

How to Solve the SEM Blues…

Like anything in business, ideally you’ll start with a vision. From that vision emerges a strategy, and from the strategy a plan.

But SEM (search engine marketing) tactics like PPC (Pay-Per-Click) are just too darned easy.

There’s no huge production costs like with a TV commercial. You can change your ads on the fly. You can create many ads to see which ones work.

SEM is really the marketer’s dream. It’s also become the lazy way to sell products for many businesses because they lack the time, inclination, or knowledge to do things more strategically.

The Problems With SEM Today

There are two major reasons that companies are rightly wary of SEM today, and both can be minimized or eliminated with a good strategy and a little bit of elbow grease:

1. There’s a back end?

When you focus on the advertising and forget about the destination of the ad, you’re decreasing your chances of landing a lead or making a sale by a factor of 100 or more. Send them to a page with other products, offers or diversions, and you’ll lose them in an instant.

Your prospect clicks on the ad because he or she is looking for a specific answer to a specific problem or question. Your destination landing page MUST provide the answer to that specific problem or question, or you’re flat out of luck. Bye-bye Mr. or Ms. visitor…

2. Put down the sign, already…

Think about when you do an internet search. Either you’ve got something specific in mind, you’re looking for a bit of entertainment, a little fun, or to “escape” from your cubicle and connect with others.

When you land on the SERP (search engine results page), you’ll have what you know are advertisements on one side (and the top), and the “real” search results on the other side. Most people will look at the search results first and the ads second, perhaps even scrolling through two or three pages of results before paying attention to the ads.

In other words, clicking on the ad is usually what happens when they don’t find what they’re looking for in the first few search results.

Now, and this is important… even though they KNOW they clicked on an ad, they still unconsciously want to be entertained, educated, or otherwise wined and dined before they’re sold to.

Companies forget that just because someone landed on their page, it doesn’t mean that they’re in a buying mood.

Here’s How to Solve These SEM Challenges:

1. There’s a “Bulls-Eye” for a reason…

If you want more points, aim for the bulls eye. Target your landing page. Make it specific to whatever it is that your prospect wants. People who make their income from selling other people’s products (or their own) through PPC will often create a separate landing page for EVERY keyword phrase.

They’ll use dynamic PHP programming to alter the keyword phrase within the content of the page so that the phrase the user sees is the SAME phrase they used in their search.

While you don’t have to go to this extreme, it’s a good idea to at least create separate pages for each PPC ad group. This way, the pages are targeted directly to the specific needs or desires of the reader.

2. It still comes down to experience…

I mean, the USER’s experience. Your landing page should add value to their experience. Be entertaining. Be learned and wise. Create a connection. Give them something of value for free in exchange for an agreement to hear more from you.

And, yes, you can even entertain while selling. Add a little light-hearted humor to your sales copy and you’ll find that your sales conversion rates go up. There’s no reason at all to be dry and boring. People WANT to be entertained online. They CRAVE this kind of diversion.

Always think about the landing page from the visitor’s perspective. What EXPERIENCE will encourage him or her to want more from you? Get creative. Be bold. Add a little spice and adventure to your writing. Use pictures that ENHANCE the experience, while interrupting the boredom of reading.

That is… have some fun. Don’t take yourselves so dag-nabbed serious!

P.S. As a side note, eMarketing also reported that Chief Marketing Officers (CMO’s) cited “lack of imagination” as one of the key reasons their SEM efforts are failing to meet expectations. Go figure.

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