In the digital marketing world, there’s a lot of focus on SEO and social media. While targeting SEO and social media can attract customers to your business, these techniques usually take a while to deliver results. In fact, you may wait months before you see a well-crafted SEO strategy bring the organic traffic you’re hoping for.
Many companies (especially small ones) fear using search marketing to obtain customers. After all, this marketing approach can be expensive, and the wrong strategy can significantly cut into a company’s budget.
However, search marketing often delivers results that are difficult to obtain through other avenues. Your organization can significantly benefit from search marketing, especially if you’re waiting for SEO to take effect.
Here are a few ways to leverage search marketing for your brand:
1. Apply Intent-Driven Advertising
With search marketing, your visitors are seeking a solution to their current problem. They’re ready to buy the product or service they need and have the means to pay for it.
When you select keywords with buying intent, your ad will appear to users searching for your product. If they want further information, they’ll click on your ad and purchase what they need. For example, suppose that you’re a retailer selling Nike Air Max 270 shoes in Las Vegas. You can set your ad to appear to anyone looking for that shoe in Nevada. They can quickly click on your ad and order their shoes if they’re ready to buy.
2. Accomplish Quick Results
New companies just establishing a foothold in the market often struggle to attract customers. Few customers know they exist, so these businesses may not see much website or in-store traffic.
While marketing campaigns like direct mail, commercials, and social media advertising can increase awareness, attracting a steady stream of customers takes time. In the meantime, companies must keep up with payroll and operating expenses.
Search marketing is one of the best ways to expedite your revenue growth. Rather than waiting for your business to rank higher in organic search results, you’ll pay for it to appear at the top for specific keywords. You’ll find your traffic increases, and you’ll make more sales. The fast growth will help your company survive in its early stages.
3. Implement Easy-to-Manage Campaigns
Online marketing may appear easy, but it’s not. Depending on your market sector, you may be competing against several local competitors or hundreds of international organizations. Each of your competitors has likely developed an online marketing strategy, while you may be entirely new to the process.
With search marketing, you don’t need to spend days or weeks preparing an end-to-end digital marketing strategy. Instead, you’ll establish a few keywords you want to rank for and pay the search engines to list your services at the top. It’s a straightforward process that doesn’t require extensive marketing knowledge to complete.
4. Overtake Your Competitors in Search Engine Rankings
With search marketing, you don’t need to spend much time creating content that outranks your competitors. There’s no need for extensive keyword or competitor research. You don’t need to fight for backlinks to your webpage to build your domain authority.
Instead, you’ll simply pay for your page to appear first in the search engine rankings for your desired keywords. A higher ranking increases the likelihood of potential clients clicking on your website. You’ll see an immediate inflow of traffic to your website, making obtaining new clients and building your business easier.
5. Get Better Analytics
Search engine marketing provides opportunities to learn which keywords attract revenue and which don’t. You’ll learn more about your audience when you monitor your ad’s performance through Google Analytics 4.
The valuable knowledge you gain from analytics can help you decide where to concentrate your efforts when you create a content strategy. You can focus on ranking for keywords that bring in the most traffic, ensuring you don’t waste time and money on a process that won’t attract customers.
Search Marketing Is Advantageous for Small Businesses
Unless you have an extensive advertising budget, search engine marketing is one of the most effective strategies for attracting customers quickly. It allows you to target the consumers who are most likely to purchase your services. You’ll also learn about the topics your clients are looking for, which will help you establish a content strategy for SEO.
For a small business, search engine marketing is worthwhile. Make sure to incorporate it as you seek to scale your organization.