The Search Engine Marketing (SEM) Imperative
The tremendous surge in online commerce, and indeed the very power of the Internet to provide immediate and valuable information about all manner of product and services - is almost wholly attributable to the emergence of truly effective search engines. Lead by Google, this new generation of search engines can sift through the billions of websites on the world wide web and find just the most relevant information - all with a few keystrokes. In fact, an October 2004 survey of 1,500 business professionals in B2B companies found that a staggering 93% start their purchase process with online research, and 64% go first to search engines.
SEM is Marketing's Response to Shifting Buyer Behavior
This remarkable capability has thrust search engines into the heart of the buying process. As a result of the central role played by search engines in this new online buying process, search engine marketing (SEM) now plays the same central role in online marketing. Sellers of goods and services - even those who complete the transaction offline through a direct sales channel - have little choice but to invest in SEM if they depend on new sales leads to achieve their growth objectives.
This finding from Jupiter Research underscores the shift to SEM: paid search ads (which were just introduced in 2000) and paid inclusion accounted for over half of all online ad spending in 2002, overtaking banner ads for the first time.
More than just another marketing program (to add to your already long list), search engine marketing is arguably the most powerful online marketing tool available. Yet, according to a CyberAtlas study, 58% of marketing organizations invested less than 1% of their budgets in SEM in 2004, while 16% invested more than 25%. This has led Jupiter to distinguish between those who "get it" and those who don't. And those that do invest in SEM are able to capture and convert qualified sales leads that otherwise might have gone to their competitors.
The Impact of SEM
With this in mind, lets consider the impact that search engine marketing can have - and why it is now a mandatory part of the online marketing plan (and budget!).
- SEM is unmatched at delivering highly targeted visitors to your web site. According to CyberAtlas, 50-70% of all website visitors come from search engines.
- Search engine position is now considered a primary indicator of the stength of the brand, and so SEM is now a required component of online positioning and branding efforts.
- SEM boasts the lowest cost per qualified lead of any lead generation program, online or offline. Acording to DoubleClick, SEM programs are 62% more profitable than the next best options.
- effective SEM initiatives can significantly impact revenues in a matter of weeks, and are thus the best use of the marketing budget.
- Corporate executives and even members of the Board of Directors are aware of SEM's importance and are now expecting top search engine rankings from their marketing teams.
The Unbeatable ROI of Search Engine Marketing
Lets consider a simple example to get a sense of the potential ROI for investments in search engine marketing.
Lets look at an example of the ROI from SEM. A top natural search position in Google for the search term "CRM" can yield an avalanche of traffic - about 1,000 clicks per day. Now lets suppose that a package of CRM software sells for $50,000 on average. In order for an investment in natural search engine optimization of say $50,000 per year to pay for itself, you would need to convert just one of these click-throughs into a sale every year. If you do the math, that comes out to 1 out of every 240,000 click-throughs to cover the cost of the investment, or a conversion rate of 0.0004%. On the other hand, if your conversion rate is 0.05% (5 out of every 10,000), then this would yield 120 sales over the six month period valued at $6 million. So would you invest $50K for $6million in sales? How much did your last trade show cost? Or print ad campaign? And how many sales can you attribute to them? You get the point I think.
Now lets compare this natural search result to going down the paid search path. To buy the number one paid search position for this same term, "CRM", would cost you over $1,300 per day according to Google, or $312,000 over this same 12 month period. However, due to user preferences for natural search listings over paid search ads, it would only yield 190 clicks per day. So at the same 0.05% conversion rate, you could expect to close 22 deals for a total of $1.1million. Not quite as attactive as the SEO route, but still compelling.
The point is that either way, the ROI for SEM is outstanding! If you are going to be competing in this kind of competitive keyword space, you are well advised to hire an expert, or risk throwing away those precious marketing dollars. And SEM initiatives must still co-exist with and complement other online and offline marketing programs. In fact, research has proven that an integrated set of marketing programs is more effective than any single program alone. So the smart marketing teams bring SEM into the equation right from the start. But this is not the sort of thing that many web-developer-turned-SEM-expert can help you with. Instead, you need a firm with the operating experience and strategic skills to help you craft the right balanced online marketing plan.
Most successful companies turn to top-rated SEM firms like StratiMind for help getting to the top. If you are considering hiring a search engine marketing expert, then you will want to contact StratiMind for a quote.
For Search Engine Marketing, StratiMind is Your Best Choice
StrateMind has a deep expertise in search engine marketing, and every day we help our clients quickly build and execute successful SEM strategies. By leveraging our expertise, clients don't have to learn all the intricacies of SEM tools, technologies and techniques, or spend all of their time keeping abreast of the constant advances by the search engines. Instead, our clients can focus on building and executing winning marketing and sales strategies.
When it comes to selecting a search engine marketing partner, StratiMind has what it takes to make you successful.
Next Step: Requesting a Quote
Requesting a quote from StratiMind is as easy as can be. We offer you several options to suit your preferences:
- completing our online quotation request form (easy to fill out and minimizes information we need to take over the phone) ;
- requesting that a StratiMind expert call you to discuss your needs (most convenient if you are pressed for time right now); or
- calling us directly during our extended business hours: Mon-Fri 9am to 7pm EST (GMT -6 hours) (if you would prefer to speak "live" with one of our experts)
- sending us an email (we guarantee a reply within 24 hours)
Ready to talk to the experts? Call or email us to set up an appointment to discuss your specific needs, and join the growing list of satisfied StratiMind clients.
