What’s Working in Marketing

A recent survey by tools developer X+1 (not to be confused with X1 the enterprise search tools developer) found that people are generally unhappy with the performance of their companies’ search engine marketing (SEM) campaigns. I’m going to pick on X+1 a bit here, but only because they’re top of mind. My comments are generally applicable to all who are confused/dissatisfied with their SEM programs.

First, let’s clear something up. When X+1 refers to SEM, what they really mean is pay per click (PPC) advertising; they are not including natural search optimization in this discussion, even though it is a major component of SEM. In fact, we recommend all our clients incorporate both programs into their marketing plan. 70+% of all search engine results page (SERPS) activity comes from natural search, the rest is from PPC clicks. But you have no direct control over natural search placement, so we like to see that balanced with PPC ads where you can bid your way to a decent ranking.

Now let’s take a look at what’s going on with PPC advertising. The title of this report tells us a lot:

“Search Engine Marketing in 2009: Reality Not Matching Expectations When it Comes to Performance.”

So what are the expectations for PPC? According to the report, “Most respondents (59.8%) said they are using SEM to drive leads more effectively; another 16.8% said they were using it to reduce the overall marketing budget.”

PPC is indeed an attractive promotions venue. You get to pick the keywords to buy and that should result in a very targeted INQUIRY. Note the use of the word “inquiry” here, not “lead.” PPC advertising produces inquiries, not leads. Leads only happen after having been qualified in some manner. Yes, you could say responding to a web site form is a qualifier of sorts, but it’s along the lines of the bingo card in a hard copy magazine. Did you call those leads?

The challenge is that PPC has a lot more ways advertisers can muck up their campaigns. In the paper world, we need an eye-catching design, a compelling headline, and an attractive offer that encourages people to respond. Then there are little details like placement and size of ad.

People think the PPC world is much simpler. We need a few keywords and a good position to bid our ad into and [insert search engine name here] takes care of the rest. The reality is that PPC advertising is much more complicated. If you don’t know what you’re doing, you are going to be disappointed.

For instance, do you really know the right search terms? Have you bothered to do a customer survey or do you assume the way you search is the way your customers search? Do you have an eye-catching headline and does it incorporate the keywords being searched? Have you made your PPC campaign sufficiently granular so you can match keywords and headlines? Do you have differentiated ad copy? Have you stopped to look at what other ads are running for your keywords? In many cases, you’ve got a lot of competition. Are you using landing pages for each ad or sending them to your generic home page? Do you know that you can no longer simply bid your way to the top of the ads because Google now applies natural search optimization criteria to your campaign to filter out irrelevant ads. When you run a PPC program, Google spiders your keywords, your ads, and your landing pages to make sure everything belongs together. Did you know that being in the #1 or #2 ad position can cost you a fortune and not produce the results you want because of all the window shoppers out there? Are you tracking conversions or just looking at clicks?

I could go on all day about the subtleties of PPC. The reality is that PPC is based on a complex, automated system. To get results that make you happy, you have to really understand it and you have to be willing to commit to constant adjustments to fine-tune the campaign.

This is why many companies outsource PPC advertising support. Unless you live and breathe this stuff, you’re bound to be disappointed.

The reality is that PPC is a great way to more directly control a portion of your lead generation program. But what comes out of here are inquiries. This is advertising, after all. And in any B2B sell, you need to qualify respondents, add them to your drip marketing program, and nurture them into leads.

We are frequently brought in after a PPC campaign has been started and the client is unhappy with the results. We make changes, as discussed above, and in all cases the results improve dramatically. PPC is an important component in achieving marketing goals today. You just have to know what you’re doing.