Online advertising in search engines is the fastest way to promote products and services successfully. When a user searches, ads for relevant search terms are shown as “sponsored links” on the right side, and sometimes above the main search results. The most important vendors are Google AdWords, Yahoo! Search Marketing and Microsoft adCenter. Online ads can be tailored to a specific audience and are therefore much more efficient than print ads. Google’s total advertising revenues were $28 billion in 2010, and that’s for good reason.
How to set up a successful online ad campaign
Usually it’s “pay per click” (PPC) – this means you pay for every visitor clicking on your ad and therefore visiting your website. The order of the placement depends on how much the competition is willing to pay and a somewhat dubious “quality score” algorithm. Of course you have to consider other aspects as well.
Choosing the keywords
First step in designing your ad is to choose your keywords wisely – they should trigger the ads. To find the most efficient keywords and to balance cost per click, search volume and click-through rate is an ongoing process. Monitoring the metrics to refine the campaign is crucial.
Learn to read the metrics
Even if your company is not selling goods online, an ad campaign can lure additional visitors to your website that are interested in your offerings. Some of my clients are thrilled about the fact that they get valuable data about their customers to optimize their offerings.
Social Media Marketing
SEM not only means online advertising, but includes other marketing activities as well. For companies in the consumer business it make sense to leverage social media to get in touch with potential customers. Setting up a Facebook Fan Page or utilizing Twitter for PR news can be a valuable addition to the marketing mix.