by Chris Sisco
on August 9 2010
in Internet Marketing | Search Engine Marketing (SEM)
This blog will discuss why utilizing your current marketing plan is necessary to creating a successful search engine marketing campaign.
Marketing Objectives
Search Engine Marketing is often seen as a foriegn advertising body that requires its own set of objectives. However, SEM can and should be integrated into your current marketing and IMC plan! Here are some examples -
Integrated Marketing Communications Objectives
IMC objectives are harder to measure in terms of instant ROI numbers since some of the objectives are elusive in nature and require indepth research to see their full impact. The successful KPI would be measured on quality and quantity of visitors via SEM efforts.
4 P's (Product, Price, Place, Promotion)
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Product considerations for our SEM campaign
- Product Variation? (Ad Groups)
- What features and benefits should our landing page focus on?
- Be percieved as cheap or expensive?
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What pricing considerations would shape our SEM keyword/ad choice?
- Too expensive to purchase online? Measure by leads?
- Positioning of product will effect advert writting and keyword choice
- Price vary by client/consumer?
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What current promotions are we running that could be utilized in our SEM campaign?
- Free shipping?
- Sales promotion?
- Coupon Redemption for in store purchase?
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Geographical considerations for our SEM campaign
- Will our distribution chain service our selected geographic area?
- Do we want to drive traffic to brick and mortar stores?
- Once we generate a lead, how will it be handled/followed up?
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S.W.O.T. Analysis
- Free shipping?
- Inexpensive product?
- Best quality product/service?
- Online business for x amount of years?
- Member of BBB?
- Recommended by "Z" site?
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- Limited distribution chain?
- Shipping is expensive to overseas countries?
- Product too expensive for online purchase?
- Return policy doesn't cover online transactions?
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- Recent publicity will incur more traffic for selective keywords
- Ability to service a specific geo target with minimal costs
- International business with multiple versions of website in different languages
- Already well established name in industry
- Rank well organically for some keywords
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- Competitors are entrenched in current keyword selection with high quality scores
- Competitors have a larger budget than you
- Competitors have dedicated SEM managers that will adjust to your actions
- Saturated market with numerous competitors
- Negative publicity could effect certain keywords
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T.O.E.S. Analysis
Competitors have a large budget so we will concentrate on increasing quality score on our main keywords first to make budget a smaller factor in gaining high positioning
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Saturated market but we have multi-lingual website. Concentrate SEM efforts in different languages |
| Advertise our low price and mention current PR coverage which alleviates perceptions of poor quality |
Bid on main keywords that best describe your business and focus budget on those |
PEST Analysis
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Political
What current political issues could affect your SEM campaign?
Canada introduced a new renovation tax credit that gives tax refunds for any renovations done to your home. If you were Home Depot or Lowes, you wouldn’t want advertisements discussing home renovation tax credits appearing in the U.S. Therefore, that political difference would prompt for different campaigns to target different geo-targets.
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Environmental
What current environmental trends could affect your SEM campaign?
Boomerang Paints is a paint manufacturer that uses recycled paint to produce new product. If there is a “going green” government incentive for using recycled product for your business, Boomerang paints should utilize this soft offer in their SEM advertisements
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Social
What current social issues could affect your SEM campaign?
A YouTube video was posted that presented a girl in distress over people bullying her on the internet. There was a spike in search queries relating to her YouTube channel name after the video went viral. If you are a non-for-profit organization that helps parents manage their Childs internet use, you could bid on her YouTube channel as a keyword and advertise your services to stop internet bullying.
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Technological
What current technological trends could affect your SEM campaign?
Ford and Microsoft partnered to create “Microsoft Sync” for Ford vehicles. If you are a competing car manufacturer that has created something similar, bid on competitors keywords to increase awareness of your product. For example, bid on “Microsoft sync”, “Microsoft and Ford”, etc. Of course you would only bid on these keywords where these models are available.
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Sustainable Competitive Advantage
What core competency do you possess that gives you a competitive advantage over other companies? Show this in your ad!
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