At enCOMPASS, we often advise our clients to diversify their media mix, integrating a number of different channels and strategies in order to reach their desired audience. However, if we had to select just a single channel that we believe offers the best return on investment, we’d be hard-pressed to argue against search engine marketing, better known as SEM.

We think SEM belongs in virtually every advertiser’s media mix because when leveraged right, it can provide an incredible payoff. In this post, we’ll share just a few of the factors that contribute to SEM’s robust ROI.

What is SEM?

At its heart, SEM, a.k.a. Pay Per Click (PPC), is simply a way of displaying your ads to consumers who are actively looking for related products and services by searching online.

SEM is a popular option among advertisers because it represents an effective way to connect with consumers who you know are looking for a particular product or service, positioning your brand as the answer they’re seeking. Additionally, SEM can often work well in tandem with search engine optimization (SEO), allowing you to boost visibility across the search experience both through paid ad placements and organic listings.

The Advantages of SEM

So what are some of the main reasons to consider SEM? A few of the benefits include:

1) You only pay for action

Think of every other media you can buy. Whether you are thinking about TV, radio, newspaper, social media ads, display advertising, online video, email marketing, or just about any other form of advertising, you are paying for the impression. That is why most other media is still purchased and measured on a Cost Per Thousand (CPM) model.

SEM is the ONLY media where you only pay once a consumer takes action on your ad. You bid on keywords that your consumers are searching for, but you don’t pay for your ad to show up in front of those searchers. You only pay once that consumer sees your ad, reads your message and determines it’s worth their time to take action by clicking on it. Even for us marketing gurus with decades of experience, that still amazes us.

In fact, if you take into consideration the average Click Thru Rate (CTR) of all industries for their SEM campaigns you’ll find it’s somewhere around 2%. That means for every two clicks you get from your SEM campaign, you just received 100 free impressions. You just can’t beat that.

Because you only pay for actions, SEM is one of the most effective and efficient forms of marketing that has ever been available.

2) SEM puts you in control of your messaging.

While SEO strategies are good practice, the search engine publishers, like Google, ultimately have complete control over what your organic message shows. With SEM, however, you have much more control over your ad copy and can promote the exact message you wish your customer to see.

For example, when someone is searching for a “new Jeep Wrangler dealer,” your SEO listing will likely show your dealer name, location, and a description of your dealership. And that’s only if you’re paying close attention to updating your title tags and descriptions on your website. For this same search, you can make sure your SEM ad tells the consumer exactly what you need them to see to click through and take the next step. Your ad can call out your dealership name, a price-point or offer on the exact vehicle they are searching for, finance offers, and your dealership’s tagline or competitive advantage on that particular vehicle. You can make it say almost whatever you want. You can also make sure it clicks through to the landing page you prefer customers see.

This kind of control over your messaging is one of the major advantages of SEM.

3) 93% of all online sessions begin with a search

It is no secret that everyone is using search engines on a daily basis. Exactly how people search and what they search for is always changing, but today’s consumer does not usually purchase anything without first searching for it online. 

4) SEM is one of the fastest ways to drive traffic to your website

When constructing an intelligent marketing plan, all good marketers consider every phase of the purchase decision and every tier of the marketing funnel. But when you need a quick “shot in the arm” of quality traffic to your website, SEM is a sure-fire way to deliver qualified consumers directly to your website. Have a new business to launch? Have a sale to promote? Have a service to offer? Certainly, other medias and tactics are great for brand awareness. But most of them actually lead your consumers to do a search. And SEO is a good long-term strategy for increased web traffic, but it can take months for it to start building the traffic you desire. SEM is much more immediate, much more targeted, and almost always delivers faster results.

5) SEM campaigns deliver a high ROI

Due mainly to what we discussed in point #1, search engine marketing campaigns when setup, implemented, and optimized properly, deliver one of the highest rates of return of all types of marketing. In fact, SEM and email marketing always deliver the highest ROI of all marketing tactics. Which one is #1 or #2 depends on which research you are using.

6) SEM effectiveness is extremely easy to track

Along the same lines, one of the great things about a SEM campaign is that it’s incredibly easy to take stock of your data and analytics, then redirect your efforts as needed. There’s no need to throw good money after bad; with SEM, on-the-fly adjustments are not only common, but necessary. And if you’re one of our clients here at enCOMPASS, we will not only track the basics like impressions, clicks, click-thru-rate, and calls, but we take your data to the next level! We’re the only agency that includes our exclusive IMI Call Analytics!

We have analysts that listen to, categorize, and comment on every phone call that is generated through an SEM campaign. This information is a useful tool to determine which keywords are generating the most significant leads as well as gives us the opportunity to truly partner with our clients and help them develop their sales process. Our team of call analysts will also flag calls that may be a missed opportunity and give recommendations to improve close ratios based on what they hear in each call.

Add SEM to Your Media Mix

SEM can offer a tremendous ROI, but only when done strategically. That’s what makes it so important to work with proven partners like enCOMPASS.

Our team has a rich history leading clients to SEM success; and, we boast the next-gen technologies that enable you to target your search ads most effectively. Our Search Platform targets 98 percent of the search engines available today, which includes mobile search. We constantly track campaign results to determine which publishers are generating the best conversions. And, we allow for multi-publisher strategies, the most effective way to run any SEM campaign.

Our platform can find users as they are searching for you on Google, Bing, or Yahoo!, to say nothing of directory sites such as Superpages and Citysearch. No need to manage separate campaigns on each of these platforms; we’ll handle it for you, ensuring your brand is present wherever your customers are.

Questions about SEM’s robust ROI, or about the benefits of working with enCOMPASS? We’d love to chat. Reach out to us anytime.