Setting up an online campaign can be complicated, and it’s hard to know where to begin. Lately, social marketing and blog marketing have been the buzz words, but if you’re just getting started, just like in anything, really, you should start with the basics. And the basics of an online campaign involves a tightly targeted search campaign.
Why do you start with search? That’s a no brainer. Because searchers are searching for you. It’s your job to show up when they are. As the customer is actively seeking out a product or service, it stands to reason that would be the potential customer most likely to convert.
Likewise, you first target the keywords most likely to convert, and build out from there. But don’t opt out of the best keywords just because of cost. Some words are more expensive for a reason, and that is because they convert better.
Enquiro CEO and search marketing expert Gord Hotchkiss writes:
A common mistake with many first-time search marketers is to compare click costs on different keywords against each other, rather than against other lead generation channels.
Head words, the high traffic key phrases that generally form the bulk of the potential traffic, typically cost much more than the long tail phrases. The neophyte search marketer, in an attempt to be price conscious, often deletes the head words from consideration because of the expense, relative to more niche phrases.
But this is often the wrong comparison. What the marketer should do is compare the cost per acquisition against the typical cost per acquisition of other channels.
Some other things to remember:
The top sponsored results are the only ones really worth it.
The more your brand is seen in the search results, the more you are remembered, the more your brand is identified with certain things. People don’t really prefer Coca-Cola; they prefer the label.
Don’t forget your SEO. While paid search is more of a guarantee, nothing beats a top ranking for free.
