Very often, marketers use Search to hit their goals of ‘Increasing web traffic and sales’.

You may read that and think to yourself, “OK, that’s a fair and productive goal”. However, I am going to challenge this as I believe that there is so much more going on digitally than your PPC and SEO activity.

Lets look at how we first analyse what the goal of your Search activity is, through ‘Nick’s 4 Rules on Search Marketing’.

Rule 1

Know yourself.

This is the fundamental question that will define all else, and the answer is simple: Let your Search Marketing planning come from what your business’s goals. For example, if you want to be the UK leader in your market, your entire Campaigns should focus around branding. If you want to become a high profit business, your Campaigns need to focus purely on ROI, reach and growth opportunities.

Rule 2

Speak to an expert.

A conversation I have had far too many times with clients can often start with, “so we put £2,000 in to PPC to try it out and it’s not worked so we’re not doing it again.” I always like to challenge this, as you need to understand that PPC is a marketing channel and therefore needs to be treated like one. In summary, marketing itself is not transactional, and therefore investing X does not always mean you get Y in return. It’s better explained that by putting in A, you’re aiming for Z. Between these markers, you have the entire alphabet to master to reach your goal.

Rule 3

Don’t start until you're ready.

If you don’t plan a campaign correctly with a clearly defined target, it’s really not going to work. You need to review the process from advert / listing content, through to your landing pages and you website’s main ‘call to action’.

Rule 4

Monitor & track all activity.

Another common mistake is one that really frustrates me - Marketing without tracking. It could be that your website is creating friction in the user experience, or even your own team not making best use of the leads you generate. Therefore, tracking unlocks valuable data that will help increase your Conversion rates. The other aspect is choosing the right tracking tools. Many install Analytics and never check it. This is just the tip of the iceberg in the world of web analytics & reporting, tools are even advanced enough to locate exactly what company each visitor on your website is from.

OK, so we’ve hopefully pinpointed what our goals are and so now we want to start some Search Campaigns to help us hit the target. This is where we need to look wider than simply increasing traffic & sales, as Search can do so much more for you.

Here are just a few other things you can use it for:

1. Reach new target markets through keyword & placement expansions
2. Add another ‘TouchPoint’ into your sales cycle
3. Increase your Social footprint & audiences
4. Split test new landing pages / websites to review performance

In conclusion, you’ve got to look at the core business goals to highlight what your real Campaign Goals are. Once you’ve got these, the key is learning to use Search Marketing effectively in tandem with all other marketing activity.

 

By Nick Trueman, Collider. 

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