Why SEM - What Search Engine Marketing is and why you need it

w h y s e m

1.	Your potential customers are seeking products on search engines.
2.	Search engine advertising is one of the cheapest ad vehicles available.
3.	Advertising results can be measured.
4.	Ads can be revised in the middle of a campaign.
5.	Why not SEM?

WHY SEM?

If you have a web site, you need SEM (search engine marketing). Essentially, any marketing that uses the search engines can be viewed as SEM. It is worth pursuing for a variety of reasons. Your potential customers are using search engines to find products:

How US Customers Find Web Sites to Research a Purchase

Search engine: 41%
Guessed URL: 28%
Online ad: 13%
Word of mouth: 13%
Print ad: 10%
TV ad: 9%
Email ad: 7%
Specific email: 6%
Forwarded email: 5%
Outdoor advertising: 3%

Source: DoubleClick, March 2003

Search engine marketing includes SEO (search engine optimization) and PPC (pay per click) search engine advertising. Both are an integral part of a successful internet marketing strategy. According to a recent study, search engine advertising is one of the most cost effective marketing vehicles available. Cost per lead:

Search: $0.29
Email: $0.50
Yellow Pages: $1.18
Banner Ads: $2.00
Direct Mail: $9.94

Source: US Bancorp Piper Jaffray, The Golden Search, March 2003

Why SEM? First, you want to meet your customers when they are actively looking for your products on a search engine. Second, advertising via the search engines is cost effective. Third, statistics can be gathered from web logs to determine the efficacy of an ad campaign. How do you know if a TV ad is working? Fourth, a poorly performing ad campaign can be corrected without having to build a new campaign from scratch. Try that with a print ad. Perhaps the better question is this: Why start anywhere but SEM?

We can help you with both your SEO and PPC SEM campaigns.

If you would like more information about search engine marketing, read our articles or blog.