Search Engine Marketing - A Primer For The Busy Executive
Search Engine Marketing - A Primer For The Busy Executive
So what is SEM? Think of SEM as a two-step dance. Step #1 is all about getting found by the people who are searching online for the products or services that you sell. Step #2 is all about converting those people who have found you online into prospects or customers.
Step #1 – Getting Found
So many companies spend their marketing budgets searching for customers – or worse – trying to CREATE customers (think evangelism). It’s a bit like searching for the proverbial needle in a haystack.
SEM turns this problem on its head. At any point in time, SOMEBODY is out there looking to buy what you’re selling! It may be one out 10 or one out of 100, but they’re out there!
And guess where they’re searching? On the Web of course! (Google didn’t morph into a verb – “to google, googling” – by accident!) Over 85% of people now start their search for something – anything – on the Web regardless of whether it’s B2B or B2C, product or service, global or local.
Effective SEM ensures that those people FIND YOU – and ideally find you first – without you actually having to do a whole lot (other than a pretty modest investment SEM of course).
Step #2 – Converting Visitors Into Prospects and/or Customers
Now that you’ve got people visiting your Website because they found you first in their online search, what do you do with them? Sell to them of course!
Sounds trite, but 90% of SMB Websites actually fail to do this. They provide lots and lots of information on the company, its history, the 344 products it sells, the founders childhood development, etc., BUT they don’t make it easy to contact them (think toll-free phone number in big font on the homepage), and they don’t make the “easy sale”.
In our next post, we’ll look more closely at the “easy sale” and why it’s such an integral part of the SEM equation.
Search Engine Marketing A Primer For The Busy Executive - To learn more about this author, visit Rich Gaasenbeek's Website.
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One of the hottest topics in marketing today is Search Engine Marketing or SEM for short. What is SEM and why is it so hot? The purpose of this post is to give the busy SMB owner a quick high level guide to the key things he/she needs to understand about SEM.
So what is SEM? Think of SEM as a two-step dance. Step #1 is all about getting found by the people who are searching online for the products or services that you sell. Step #2 is all about converting those people who have found you online into prospects or customers.
Step #1 – Getting Found
So many companies spend their marketing budgets searching for customers – or worse – trying to CREATE customers (think evangelism). It’s a bit like searching for the proverbial needle in a haystack.
SEM turns this problem on its head. At any point in time, SOMEBODY is out there looking to buy what you’re selling! It may be one out 10 or one out of 100, but they’re out there!
And guess where they’re searching? On the Web of course! (Google didn’t morph into a verb – “to google, googling” – by accident!) Over 85% of people now start their search for something – anything – on the Web regardless of whether it’s B2B or B2C, product or service, global or local.
Effective SEM ensures that those people FIND YOU – and ideally find you first – without you actually having to do a whole lot (other than a pretty modest investment SEM of course).
Step #2 – Converting Visitors Into Prospects and/or Customers
Now that you’ve got people visiting your Website because they found you first in their online search, what do you do with them? Sell to them of course!
Sounds trite, but 90% of SMB Websites actually fail to do this. They provide lots and lots of information on the company, its history, the 344 products it sells, the founders childhood development, etc., BUT they don’t make it easy to contact them (think toll-free phone number in big font on the homepage), and they don’t make the “easy sale”.
In our next post, we’ll look more closely at the “easy sale” and why it’s such an integral part of the SEM equation.
Search Engine Marketing A Primer For The Busy Executive - To learn more about this author, visit Rich Gaasenbeek's Website.
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John AlexanderJohn has taught keyword research and SEO skills to small groups of business owners and Webmasters from over 80 different countries world wide since 2002. John is also the Director of Search Engine Academy ; Co-director of Training at Search Engine Workshops offering live, SEO Workshops with his partner SEO educator Robin Nobles, author of the very first comprehensive online search engine marketing courses at SEO Training Online and the SEO Workshop Resource Center. I look forward to hearing from you! - Visit John Alexander's Website |
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Stephanie RobeyStephanie Robey is President and CoFounder of Pivot Positive, LLC - an Internet marketing business focused on helping people start work at home ventures. Previously, she was employed at The Search Agency with over 20 years experience in graphic design and 10 years experience in online marketing. She was responsible for launching the Conversion Path Optimization (CPO) unit where she and her team have conducted hundreds of optimization tests for online companies across multiple verticals. She is a successful entrepreneur having started and sold 2 companies and remains on the board of directors of the third, PhotoSpin.com Stephanie began her career in the direct marketing realm creating and producing direct mail for many of the major cable television companies and directly attributes her understanding of Internet marketing to those early offline experiences. Stephanie is a graduate of San Diego State University with a BFA in Graphic Arts and also holds an Executive MBA from the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University. Read Steph's Blog Meet Steph and Dave Sign up for our Free 7-Day BootCamp: Self Employed & Rich - Visit Stephanie Robey's Website |
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Anne BarrAnne Barr has over 26 years experience in sales and marketing, six years as a franchisee. She has assisted over 367 business owners and purchasers to achieve their goals in career change, transition and exit strategy. She holds the designation of Certified Franchise Executive from the International Franchise Association, Certified Business Intermediary from the International Business Brokers Association and Board Certified Broker from the Texas Association of Business Brokers. Anne is active in professional organizations, networking groups and volunteers for non-profit entities. As owner/operator of four successful businesses, Anne has proven people skills and enjoys helping clients find the right "fit" in business ownership. Visit www.FranchiseOpportunitySpecialist.com for more information about me and my company. - Visit Anne Barr's Website |
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Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
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John PowerJohn Power, founder of Biltmore Franchise Consulting, has extensive experience developing and marketing franchises and business opportunities. He has been in and around franchising for over twenty years. From 1980 through 1990 he conceptualized, organized, and developed the American Video Association. He grew AVA to 2,000 national members, before selling the company it 1990. It was later merged into another home video marketing company. From 2000 to 2005 he worked as a contract marketing and human resources consultant to several local and national companies. In 2005 Mr. Power began working as a franchise development consultant on a full-time basis. Since that time he has helped more than three dozen companies initiate and develop their franchising program. He notes that there are many companies interested in developing a franchise program, and who need his specialized assistance. Mr. Power is a “hands-on” franchise consultant. He said, “I am the ‘nuts and bolts’ person who tends to the details for my clients.” Mr. Power holds a B.S. degree with a major in Marketing. See: www.biltmorefranchise.com You may contact Mr. Power at: jpower@biltmorefranchise.co - Visit John Power's Website |
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Leanne Hoagland-SmithAre your sales where you want them to be? Will you be one of the few who achieves sales or business success or one of the many who have failed to change? Are you tired of being told you are like everyone else? Then you may find my first book on sales of interest. Be the Red Jacket in the Sea of Gray Suits, The Keys to Unlocking Sales available at Amazon or at http://www.processspecialist.com/red-jacket.htm. This book is a reflection of my no-nonsense approach to improving sales to overall business results. If you are truly committed to making sustainable changes, then I can help you secure a positive return on your investment because I focus on executable solutions not telling you the problems you already know you have. From training to corporate (group) coaching to executive one on one coaching, my approach is to assess, create awareness, build a goal driven action plan and then execute. The bottom line question is "Not do you or your employees know it, but do you or they want to do it?" Please call for a free strategy session at 219.759.5601. - Visit Leanne Hoagland-Smith's Website |
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Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
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Jeff FosterWebBizIdeas.com is a Minneapolis website design company founded to help people start an internet business by providing them with website, business, and internet resources that help foster the growth of successful online businesses and develop innovative Internet business ideas. We specialize in internet consulting & internet marketing. - Visit Jeff Foster's Website |
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