CEO and Founder of Sosemo, an award-winning digital marketing agency that specializes in search marketing and paid social media marketing.
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Paid search marketing, also known as pay-per-click (PPC) or search engine marketing (SEM), has been a staple digital marketing channel for many years due to its potential efficiency, scalability and numerous targeting options. SEM can reach specific audiences with keyword targeting, collect mountains of data with various platforms and increase online visibility within search engines using channel-specific tools. However, no matter how capable a process might be, there are always ways to improve upon it with unique and novel strategies.
Paid search benefits from a holistic strategy to which there are many approaches. This article will touch on five different approaches to building out a more comprehensive marketing strategy to take your SEM plan and the rest of your marketing to the next level.
1. Collect data from more than one tool.
The most obvious PPC tools, such as Google Ads and Microsoft Ads, can gather a wealth of valuable information. However, these platforms are far more valuable when their data is cross-examined with other tools. This can allow you to detect holes in your story and bulk up your metrics.
Further, when compiling lists of search keywords and understanding interest in certain markets, a common tool like Google Ads keyword planner can provide thorough and detailed keyword lists, but why not bulk up those lists with every potential existing lead?
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Websites like Also Asked and Answer the Public compile a lattice of search queries surrounding any given topic. You can also use tools that can access web crawlers as a data source or that provide a snapshot of your competitors’ metrics, such as their organic search data, bounce rate, pages/session and more.
2. Utilize SEO to complement your SEM.
Speaking of organic search, it is never a bad move to incorporate an organic search strategy (SEO) into your paid search plan. This will grant you more insight into the search landscape, including search interest and trends.
By covering all your bases, you will be closer to conquering as much of your target market as possible.
3. Align budget with seasonal trends for your product or service.
Though incorporating the above strategies will paint a substantial picture already, there is always more to do to make sure your brand is getting the maximum available visibility.
It is important to ask yourself: Are there seasonal trends to my data or general patterns throughout the year or week that we could benefit from? Some products or services are more valuable during the spring or fall (i.e., school, agriculture, etc.), while others may gain momentum during the holidays. There is value to pulling year-over-year data to gain a deeper understanding of the most valuable times for your business. With this knowledge, you can align your budget to increase during those valuable times and pull back during quieter periods.
By understanding your brand’s intent, you can amplify paid search. Framing the budget around your seasonal trends can be done in a variety of ways, but it typically entails looking at the marketing funds throughout the course of a year and then adding or subtracting a percent of the 12-month span to mimic the patterns located in the data.
4. Separate your key performance indicators (KPIs) by audience.
Some marketing goals are focused on one audience or demographic that is highly specific or characterized. Others can be a culmination of a varied group or multiple groups, which would need to be targeted differently.
When designing your marketing plan, it is crucial to differentiate your audiences tactically. For example, healthcare companies might market to the medical professional bracket as well as the patient or caregiver audience, both of which might require the same material or service, but it would be discussed in different ways. You would not want to miss out on the opportunity to target searchers with this kind of specificity.
5. Understand the user journey from beginning to end.
Ultimately, the best marketing strategy would make use of all accessible resources and come up with a holistic plan that incorporates them and sets them up to follow the step-by-step route that users take from their first interaction with a brand to the last. It can be visualized as a funnel with three parts.
First is the awareness phase, which is the process of spreading the word about a brand. If most of the audience is anticipated to fall into this group, a company should use more generalized terms surrounding the industry instead of relying on the brand name to capture attention.
On the contrary, brands that are well established, like Nike, would focus on differentiating themselves from their competition. This is called the consideration phase, where you target searchers who are comparing brands across an industry or just gathering information that they deem useful prior to purchase or investment.
The final phase of the funnel is referred to as the conversion or acquisition phase. This KPI is usually different across companies. For some, it might be a sign-up form, like joining a newsletter, and for others, it might involve making a purchase. It is crucial to understand where your prime audience falls in this funnel before employing a half-baked strategy.
While there are many ways to expand and improve your paid search marketing strategy, these five can hopefully set you down the path toward improving yours. If you only take away one idea from this article, it should be this: Be creative with your resources, and cover as many bases as you can.
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Author: Larry Gurreri, Forbes Councils Member
