For a small business that wants to get visibility quickly, attract qualified leads & drive sales, SEM is one of the fastest ways. Unlike SEO, which takes time, SEM in digital marketing allows you to show up at the top of search engines almost immediately after starting an SEM campaign. Because of this, small businesses cannot afford to spend their limited budgets on just any SEM campaign and must strategically use SEM campaigns to maximise their return on investment. Strategic planning and effective execution are essential for a small business to make the most out of its SEM campaign.
Focus on High-Intent Keywords
Small businesses need to target highly relevant keywords that have a high likelihood of yielding a sale, also known as intent-based long-tail keywords, instead of the broad and expensive keywords they would find through a keyword research tool. Even if the volume of searches for these intent-based long-tail keywords is lower than that of a broad and expensive keyword, they will yield higher conversion rates since the user is closer to making a purchase decision. For example, instead of bidding on the keyword "digital marketing", a small business could target the keyword "local digital marketing services". This would provide lower competition, lower cost per click and a higher conversion rate than bidding on the broader keyword.
Leverage Local Targeting
Local Search engine marketing in marketing is very effective for small businesses that target a specific geographical area. By using geo-targeting through the use of location-based keywords in conjunction with geo-targeting, small businesses can be assured their ads are only being served to potential customers in the areas they are targeting. Additionally, businesses can optimise their budget by serving their ads on specific days/hours/days of the week when their potential customers are most likely to be online and avoid wasting money on serving ads to users who are not likely to become paying customers.
Allocate Your Budget Smartly
A daily budget will give you some control over your spending, but how you allocate that daily budget is even more important. Small businesses should spend more of their advertising budget on those campaigns and keywords that drive consistent results. By pausing the underperforming ads and reallocating that advertising budget to your best-converting ads, you can dramatically increase your advertising efficiency without increasing your advertising budget.
Make Sure Your Ad Copy is Highly Relevant
The relevance of your ads directly relates to both your Quality Score and to where your ads will show up and how much they will cost. An effective ad is one that closely matches the keywords that it targets and offers a clear illustration of the value that is being provided to the user. Including details about price, promotion, or unique benefits will help you filter out lower-intent clicks and attract users who are more likely to convert.
Optimise Your Landing Page to Increase Conversions
While driving traffic to your website is an important part of attracting customers, a poorly designed landing page can waste your advertising budget. To help drive more traffic to your landing page, ensure that it loads quickly, is effectively matched to your ad's message, and has a clearly defined call-to-action. Incorporating simple forms, trust signals, and concise copy will also help you improve your conversion rates and reduce your cost per acquisition.
Negative Keywords- Eliminate Unsuitable Clicks
Negative keywords are what keep your ads from showing up for keyword searches where they aren’t relevant. Reducing the number of clicks that your ad receives from poor-quality search terms through reviewing search term reports regularly and excluding poor-quality queries is an efficient way to reduce unnecessary clicks. This is one of the easiest ways to make SEM more cost-effective.
Continually Test/Optimise
Continuous optimisation is key for SEM to be successful. A/B testing things like copy, headlines and CTAs lets you see how your audience responds to different types of ads. By tracking performance metrics (CTR, CR, and CPCs), businesses can make data-driven decisions based on their metrics
Search engine marketing in digital marketing doesn't have to be expensive to achieve results. If small businesses concentrate on high-intent and precise, local keywords and continue optimising, they will have cost-effective SEM campaigns that produce measurable results. A small budget can produce results if your strategy allows for growth and visibility. Small businesses can get in touch with an experienced Search Engine Marketing services provider like Light Buzz Media that can design smart campaigns for effective results.