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Tips to Grow Your Business's SEM Strategy

 

 

SEM helps businesses grow sales by reaching customers at crucial times during the buying cycle. Search engine marketing drives conversions because the paid ads link back to landing pages designed to entice customers to act. It has some of the highest digital marketing conversions, often bringing results immediately. Search network ads have an average conversion rate of 4.40%, compared to 0.57% for display ads. 

One of the metrics SEM measures is overall impression share. Impression share essentially shows how much of the market your business owns if buying SEM and how often you show up for your keywords based on your budget and location. It is one of the most valuable KPIs because it helps determine how well your business performs.    

 

Create an SEM Strategy  

Developing a powerful SEM strategy and adhering to it helps you put your marketing dollars to work efficiently. It ensures your spending is more effective because each dollar has a purpose. A clear SEM strategy helps you create quality ads to achieve more sales when customers search for products or services and need to know whom to trust. This strategy helps you better understand what consumers search for—and what they don’t search for—when it comes to what you do or sell.   

 

Outline Your Consumer Journey  

Succeeding with SEM requires creating ads that match with consumer intent at specific times. Understanding your consumer journey helps you craft your message to the pain points your customers want to resolve. You can base your messaging around the thought process that lead customers to buy the goods you sell. 

The best way to determine your consumer journey is by conducting market research to work backward from the solutions you provide. You want to determine your customers' solutions and then learn how to align them. Start by analyzing your current clients and looking for alternate reasons to find additional ones. Only then can you be sure your online ads are moving you closer to your end goal of growing sales by helping your consumers.  

 

Curate a List of Targeted Keywords  

Keywords help you match your service offerings with your customer’s intent. Pay attention to keywords that pertain to what you sell, focusing on what needs you fulfill. They are crucial to writing impactful ads that capture the attention of your target audience. Develop keywords around the pain points customers need help with from your products.  

Your keyword list should be regularly curated over time, adding or subtracting keywords depending on your needs or their relevance. A keyword tool can help you find keywords based on how people search. However, perhaps the best application would be working with a digital partner who can manage your list, supplying all keyword and keyword phrases consumers search for surrounding your products, as they have the expertise, resources, and time to compile that information. 

 

Exclude Irrelevant Searches with Negative Keywords  

While researching keywords, don't forget to define negative keywords. Negative keywords allow you to exclude specific words or terms from your campaigns. Using negative keywords in your SEM strategy can increase your spending efficiency by making it more likely your ads will only appear in relevant searches. If your business offers professional plumbing services, you'll want to exclude other terms that don't apply, such as HVAC, electrician, or different results under the umbrella of a home service company. 

 

Make Ads Concise but Informative  

SEM ads may be small, but they are mighty. However, because they are small, you must follow best practices. You must balance being informative with what makes you show up readily and highly in search results. Writing compelling ad copy depends on including the essential elements you want to convey, but keep in mind that sometimes the best ad copy is either utilizing what Google AdWords suggest or relying on your digital marketing agency.  Also using A/B testing is a great way to know what ad is being clicked on by your consumers.   

 

Grow Your Business and Increase Sales Through SEM  

SEM isn't gambling, where you throw out some ideas like dice to see where they land. Instead, it is a carefully crafted plan that gets your ads in front of potential customers that want what you have to offer. An effective SEM strategy starts with following essential best practices, such as identifying the pain points you resolve and finding the search terms they use when looking for businesses like yours. It provides a blueprint for your business on how the products or services you sell are searched for with consumers.   

 

When you carefully plan and execute your strategy, SEM is a sound financial investment in the future of your company that brings results. To get help reaching your goals, consider working with an experienced digital partner that can help you develop and run a highly successful SEM campaign.  

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Shannon Allen

Written by Shannon Allen

Shannon Allen is the Chief Revenue Officer for Federated Digital Solutions. She has over 25 years of experience in sales and marketing and over 15 years more specifically working in the digital world. Her passion for digital marketing is what drives her to find the best digital solutions for clients as well as for FDS. Shannon believes that true marketing starts after the sale with strategic campaigns and detailed reporting to help all FDS clients with an ROI, so they see the value in digital marketing.

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