Search Engine Marketing
What is SEM? Search Engine Marketing (SEM) is a form of internet marketing that involves the promotion of websites by increasing their visibility in search engine results pages primarily through paid advertising. Typically we help our clients compete for valuable SERP (search engine results page) positions. Unsurprisingly, if your page is listed on the first page of Google, the odds are tremendously in your favor and will substantially increase the total number of traffic entering your website. However, if your site is not where you would like it to be positioned on the search page, a strong SEM campaign can get you there swiftly. Due to the fact that SEO is an endless battle, we typically like to deploy a sound SEM strategy alongside SEO campaigns to maximize results. Learn more about our SEM campaigns below.
Choosing a Platform
Designing the Ad
Implementing the Ad
Reporting & Analytics
One of the first steps of every Oak Street SEM project is to ascertain the goals of the client to identify what platform makes the most sense to utilize as a part of their SEM strategy. Depending on the client's target audience, any historical precedent from past campaigns, and the budget they are looking to utilize, there can be a variety of options present to drive the best possible results. No two businesses are the same and we want to make sure that we are taking your unique situation into account when mapping out the most appropriate strategy. For many of our clients, search based ads are a strong asset, but knowing what they are trying to accomplish and the characteristics present within their target audience allows Oak Street to devise and ultimately implement a customized plan geared towards maximizing the client's return on investment.
Once the appropriate platforms have been identified, the next step in the process is to identify and design the elements that are going to be a part of the advertisement itself. In addition to making the advertisement visually appealing, it is important that considerations like what the call to action is going to be and where the potential customer is going to be directed to convert into business. Oak Street considers these supplemental elements to be crucial in ensuring that the entire customer experience aligns with the goals of your business and drives the potential customer to convert in the desired manner. For many projects, running several advertisements simultaneously will best position the organization for success. Leave the heavy lifting in this area to us- we will bring the consultative expertise along with the graphic design gravitas to make sure that your SEM collateral is looking top notch.
Designing strong advertisements is only one of the key steps in a successful SEM strategy- it is also very important that the deployment strategy is sound for the best results to be achieved. Once the client has approved the advertisements that are going to be deployed, Oak Street handles all of the implementation elements necessary for your advertisements to be successful. This can include the definition of the target audience, budget levels that are in place, and scheduling when the advertisement is going to be visible. These characteristics are primarily dictated by the client's target audience profile and depending on what the advertisement is trying to accomplish, may need to be unique for each ad. Our clients enjoy being able to know that their outreach is being set up correctly the first time so that their marketing investments are utilized as efficiently as possible from the outset.
Like most areas of marketing, there is a lot to be learned from the SEM effort's initial performance- this can be indicative of what is driving the best results and where there is opportunity for further optimization. Oak Street ensures that your organization is set up with the appropriate access to analytics and reporting so that you can see exactly how well your marketing dollars are converting. We make sure that not only do you have this data, but that you know how to interpret it to take further action. For many of our engagements, our clients have us continue to manage their programs to continuously capitalize on opportunities to improve and account for the ever changing competitive environment. We want to make sure that your investments are best positioned for success and can operate as an extension of your team to make this goal a reality.
SEM campaigns are not only a great way to increase your SERP position but also give you some actionable data to make marketing decisions off of. Because our world is data driven these days, the kind of reporting you will accumulate will eliminate the days of A/B testing and the trap of guessing what will work and what does not. Instead you will gain insightful data that will help drive key marketing decisions and where you want to allocate your marketing budget.
72%
72% of domains SERP rankings change by at least one position when comparing mobile to desktop. (SEMRush)
75%
75% of people say paid search ads make it easier to find the information they are searching for on a website or search engine. (Clutch)
49%
49% of businesses receive more than 1,000 average Search views of their Google My Business listing per month (BrightLocal)
Why SEM Matters