What’s the Deal with SEM?

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Search engine marketing (SEM) is a term we’ve thrown around for a number of years. Maybe clients have asked for it, maybe we’ve suggested it, maybe you’ve overheard it and said “WTF is SEM?” Whatever the case, it’s a key service we can deploy for our clients — the question is when should we do so? Here’s your primer in less than 300 words on what we need to be successful on the SEM front:

  • Talk to your clients. No, seriously — talk to them. SEM is not SEO. SEM is paid, SEO is organic. SEM is short-term, SEO is long-term. SEM can be a “relatively” light lift, SEO is a heavy, resource-intensive lift. Clients aren’t always clear on this so make sure you’re 100% aligned with your POC and their business goals before starting. 

  • Talk to Pete. No, seriously — talk to him. He’s incredibly knowledgeable and can give you great insights into ways that you can show meaningful results for clients on even the smallest of budgets. But you have to provide him with client insights, quirks, do’s/don’ts, etc., for him to be successful, which requires two-way communications between you two. All this will help him better recommend ad groups/keywords, extensions, etc.

  • Talk to the Studio. No, seriously — talk to them. Creating search ads is one part art, one part science, and one part luck. You can reduce how much you’re relying on luck by having ongoing convos (not Asana comment convos) with the Studio throughout the process. This will help you avoid trigger words for your client/Google, make sure we’re writing actionable copy and, ultimately, fulfill client goals so you don’t get yelled at on status calls.

Looking for more tips and tricks from the team? Head over to The Inventing Room for more.

CSG Studio