For many businesses, search engine marketing is one of two key tools used to find prospects, the other method being telemarketing. Search Engine Marketing is designed to get a company noticed, grasp attention, build interest, educate and then hopefully convert readers to customers.
Marketing departments strive to get their companies to appear for a number of key terms, primarily in Google but also on Bing and other search engines as they are all important. There is competition with not only local organisations, but also online, with any business providing the same service – and on a global level; with so many options for the customer, it really is sometimes about being found first.
There have been a number of changes to PPC and SEO strategies recently, which begs the question, “are these changes a result of the current economic climate?” Social media and the strategies built around the tools that social media provides are always evolving, and they will continue to do so. So it doesn’t necessarily mean that the current economic climate is the cause for change in PPC and SEO strategies, but rather it is as a result of the continuous change that has been happening since the launch of social media.
The latest changes in PPC and SEO strategies are likely to be down to the recent shift in algorithms set by Google. SEO and PPC strategies need to remain in line with the latest algorithms otherwise money spent will be money wasted; although marketing departments, in particular the digital and social sides, are getting a larger slice of the overall budget than previously, there is a requirement to deliver results and failing to adjust the marketing strategy around PPC and SEO will almost certainly reduce the effectiveness of any social campaign’s ability to deliver.
A number of websites are making more use of gamification with the aim of increasing visitor usage and length of time spent on the site in order to help improve rankings. This could be a strong strategy for a business if it can be worked into existing campaigns. Survey Monkey is a good example of this – when a company uses them to send out an email campaign, a monkey hand giving a hi-five appears. You can then click the hand to get another hi-five and if repeated five times you enter a fun game.
The difficulty with marketing today, is that no strategy will work forever; it may work for a long time, but never forever – or at least not to the level of success first experienced. It is this constant change in the markets’ reaction to marketing efforts that suggests that avoiding any marketing strategy should only be implemented following a trial and error campaign. Every business is different, as is each industry sector, so different strategies will work, or not work, for different target markets. For this reason, unless a specific approach has been trialled, it would be advised not to avoid it.
A current strategy that should be considered now is a mobile strategy; with an increasing number of people using mobile technology to shop, learn, search locations and even apply for jobs, it really is important for businesses to ensure that they are optimised for mobile.
The mobile age, where portable devices are used for almost everything, is here to stay, so this is where a business’s marketing strategy should ideally be heading; whether it’s with an app, or a mobile-optimised website, businesses need to be capitalising on the rapid uptake of mobile technology.
By Jason Staniforth, Marketing Manager, Vacancy Filler Recruitment Software.
PrivSec Conferences will bring together leading speakers and experts from privacy and security to deliver compelling content via solo presentations, panel discussions, debates, roundtables and workshops.
For more information on upcoming events, visit the website.
comments powered by Disqus