You have probably heard marketers speak highly about SEM. And you probably have a faint idea of how it works. But, you are still not sure if it is the right choice for your business.
Don’t worry, we all have been there.
Search Engine Marketing (SEM) has been the most sought-after marketing strategy consistently for over a decade now.
The total advertising revenue reported by Google Ads in 2020 was $146.92 Billion.
And the popularity of SEM isn’t likely to fade out anytime soon.
So, below are the top benefits of SEM and actionable tips on how to maximize them.
Top 10 Benefits of SEM for your Business
1. Draw Quick Traffic and Leads for your Business
Unlike SEO, SEM allows you to reap quick returns from your strategy.
SEO might take over 6-12 months to source traffic, but SEM can earn your traffic the same day.
So, if you are a startup or lack established brand visibility, SEM can still help you win leads.
All you need to do is:
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Choose a suitable platform (Google, Social Media) and ad type (Image, text, video) for your SEM strategy
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Define your target audience and keywords
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Prepare your ad copy and landing page
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Set your campaign budget and campaign goal
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And click on the ‘launch’ button
These steps help you rent advertising space for your ads on the SERPs or Social Media. And you can expect impressions, clicks, and traffic via your ads.
The better you optimize the variables in your SEM campaigns, the higher your returns are.
2. Reach Your Target Audience while They Look for You
SEM allows you to meet your target audience at the very instance they are looking for you (or someone like you).
Sounds predestined, right!
93% of online experiences start from search engines. That means your target customer is also searching for you (or someone like you) via search engines.
So, you can use Google Search Ads to appear in the SERPs when your target user does a relevant search.
You must choose the right keywords and demographics to appear for the right search terms.
3. Employ Detailed-targeting to Reach Highly Specific Audience
Unlike SEO, where you only have a little control over who sees your listings, you can employ specific targeting in SEM.
Google Ads platform offers you oodles of options to set your target audience.
These targeting options include:
Target geography; audience demographics; interests; behavior; look-alike audience; placement targeting, etc.
Moreover, you can further narrow down the targeting by limiting your keywords. You can add negative keywords and change the keyword match type.
Thus, your ads only appear to the people who you deem as your potential customers. This translates into a better return on investments.
4. Establish and Reinforce your Brand Familiarity
SEM can give you a perfect advertising space online. It also means that your brand (or ads) gains impressions from your potential customers.
Each time a user sees your ad on the SERPs, social media, or other websites, he becomes familiar with your brand.
The more touch-points you create with a user, the higher becomes your brand familiarity.
There comes the point when your brand’s name is reinforced in a user’s conscience. And he is more likely to choose you over unfamiliar brands.
And that is one reason why remarketing ads offer higher conversions than general ads.
Many companies use SEM for impression-based campaign goals. This approach helps them increase their brand awareness and brand familiarity.
5. Boost the Conversion Rate through Remarketing
SEM allows you to remarket to the audience who has shown interest in your offerings. You can not only create multiple touch-points but remarket for winning easy conversions.
For instance,
A consumer visits a product page on your site but abandons the page after a while. You can remarket him this product’s ad on Facebook, perhaps with an offer.
And the probability of him interacting with your ad is 60% to 70%. You can win him back on your page, and this time he is most likely to buy the product.
Start remarketing with your best proposition, and you can enjoy a stellar conversion rate.
6. Outperform Your Competitors Smartly
If you are a new business or struggling against breakneck online competition, SEM can help.
When fighting against already established competitors, SEO isn’t a viable option. Instead, you can use Google Ads to rank above your competitor’s organic listings in the ERPs.
Some savage brands play smart by ranking for their competitor’s branded keywords.
For instance,
You are a new burger company, but big brands overshadow your visibility. So how can you gain some online visibility and sales?
You can smartly target your competitor’s branded keywords through Google Ads. For example, you can create an ad copy like: “Burgers like Burger King just @ $0.99.”
This ad might gain much traction and sales for your business. After the initial recognition and sales, you can start advertising for your branded keywords.
Sharp-witted marketers use SEM as an unbreakable armor for their business!
7. Explore Authoritative Control over Your Ads
As aforementioned, SEM avails you of several options to set your targeting.
And these options aren’t just restricted to choosing your audience. But, you have superior control over your SEM strategy.
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You can choose between different platforms (Google Ads, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, Bing, etc.)
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You can choose to hide your ad from the mobile platform
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You can choose between various campaign goals (clicks, impressions, conversions, etc.)
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You can even use more interactive ad formats like carousel ads, dynamic HTML ads, videos, etc.
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You can even add your custom audience data to show your ads directly to them.
8. Gain Advantage over Other Marketing Strategies (TV ads, SEO, etc.)
You have probably come across the common perception that SEM is expensive. Or how SEO can be more cost-effective than SEM.
But SEM has some evident advantages over other marketing strategies.
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It offers faster results than SEO
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It allows you to set specific targeting and advertising options.
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It allows startups to win leads quicker than SEO
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You have better control over your SEM campaigns
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You can apply real-time AB testing for your campaigns
Today, SEM completely overshadows the traditional marketing strategies. And to your surprise, it is far affordable than traditional marketing.
For instance,
You opt for a TV ad by paying $5000 and show your ads during a specific show. Now a large audience for this show might not be your ideal customer.
On the other end, SEM helps you keep a narrow and specific focus.
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You can pause your campaigns if they aren’t performing
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You can fix and make adjustments to your ads
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You can pause an ad if you are running out of supply
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You can edit the details in your ad copy (like attributing a sale, reducing the cost, etc.)
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Plus, you can check the conversion to clicks ratio, the bounce rate on the landing page, etc.
Traditional ads work on a contract basis with no flexibility and no real-time optimization support. These traits make them expensive and comparatively unproductive.
9. Implement Quick A/B Testing and Reap Maximum Returns
When it comes to optimization, SEM hands over the ropes to you. SEM strategies offer quick results, and you can employ quick A/B tests for your strategy.
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You can test and compare between targeting options
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Run more than one campaign simultaneously
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You can compare the conversions and performance of different landing pages
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You can test between custom audiences
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You can test between ad types, platforms, ad copies, keyword match type, and whatnot
It is advisable to define close comparison parameters for the A/B tests to optimize better.
10. Measure and Optimize Seamlessly
Analytics is the key to lead with an optimized SEM strategy. Unlike traditional campaigns, the results of your SEM campaigns are tracked in real-time.
Some crucial data analytics parameters that you can analyze and optimize include:
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The conversion rate of your ads
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The cost per lead (CPL) from your ads
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The click to impression ratio or the click-through rate (CTR)
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The bounce rate on your landing page
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The best performing ad copies and keywords
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Your ad positions and the total reach or impressions on your ads
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The specific location or audience that offers maximum conversions
By analyzing these data metrics, you can optimize your ads to offer commendable results.
