Effective Search Engine Marketing
How to start an effective search engine marketing campaign
Say you are looking for new furnishings for your backyard. You go to Google or Yahoo! and enter a search such as "garden furniture."
What happens?
You are presented with "organic" listings—the names and links to customers that comes up in the center of the browser page. And you also are presented with "search engine ads," the little blocks of type along the top and sides.
Search engine marketing (SEM), creating ad campaigns for search engines, is an expertise that has grown dramatically during the past several years. It is a cost-effective way acquire new customers.
Yet, many of these ads fail to attract attention or, worse, waste money by sending customers to a generic page. Customers who click on an ad for "garden furniture" expect to see related information. If they see a general page about the furniture company, customers may abandon their search and a sales lead has evaporated.
In contrast, customers who are sent to a page that has offers on outdoor furniture tend to investigate your inventory. They also may download a coupon or send an e-mail inquiry to your store.
That's exactly what happens when Kihon Media creates an SEM campaign.
An effective SEM campaign should contain the following items:
- Creative ad copy, not just "robo ads" that list your company name or product
- Good offers that draw attention
- Ads that change frequently based on seasons, holidays or specials
- Landing pages with related content
- Coupons that may be redeemed on line or in-store (for retailers)
