Search engine marketing (SEM) is a crucial piece of almost every successful marketing campaign that’s launched.
The SEM fire has been blazing for years and clearly has no plan of being put out any time soon. In truth, it gets more effective, dynamic, and hotter everyday. Which is why it’s so important to stay on top of the search evolution.
Every digital marketer on the planet wishes they could hop in a time machine and test drive what’s around the corner.
To get an idea, let’s look at some Q1 2017 Google Adwords data:
- Mobile cost-per-click increased 40% year over year! CRAZY
- CPCs climbed to the highest numbers ever documented across ALL DEVICES
- Mobile click share now represents 59% of all paid search traffic
- Google Shopping ad spend increased 44% YoY
It’s time for business owners to make mobile a priority if they haven’t already. Not only is it a ranking factor but Google recently dropped a completely separate index for mobile. It’s already starting to happen but soon desktop search will officially be in the backseat to mobile.
It’s no longer a “fun” add-on to be mobile friendly. In order to be successful it’s critical. Especially if you’re a local service provider that depends on converting traffic and phone calls through search. Many of the new betas and features released for Adwords are even mobile focused. Meaning they’re built exclusively for mobile. They won’t even be available in the desktop index.
If you had to guess, what do you think the top 3 trends in 2017 are for the majority of digital marketing experts?
I’ll give them to you:
- Mobile optimization
- Quality content
- Voice search
Voice search? What?! Yep. Over 500 million users are using a voice search powered device. I’ve even heard that half of all searches within a few years will be conducted by voice. Every single time my 7 year old daughter picks up the remote control for the tv she uses voice search. She doesn’t even think twice.
3 Reasons You Should Add Paid Search To Your Company’s Marketing Campaign
- Fast Results – SEO is a must but since it takes time to see meaningful results it’s nice to have a tool in place that can make your phone ring the same day you start the campaign.
- Makes Organic SEO Even Better – We like to base some of our strongest SEO strategies off of data we get from PPC.
- Custom Messaging – Unlike organic, you can customize your ad for each keyword search. This is a fantastic way to test out different messaging for things like branded search campaigns.
Wrap Up
It’s a beautiful time in marketing. There are copious amounts of ways you can attract new customers and jobs for your business but search engine marketing is pretty much the only strategy that’s driven by intention and allows you maximum control over who you send to your business.
Are you looking for SEM or SEO help? Feel free to schedule a free consultation here.
