Marketing your business or brand online is known as Search Engine Marketing (SEM). It can encompass your website, social media presence, paid advertising, blogs and video content. In almost every industry, but particularly business to consumer (B2C) businesses, SEM is essential for success.
SEM should be an integrated part of your marketing plan and business strategy, but in many companies it remains an add on which is reluctantly paid a bit of attention, as long as it doesn't get in the way of €real business'. Failing to invest time and energy into SEM is likely to be a costly mistake, particularly if you ideal customer is under 40 years old.
A recent SDL survey of 1,800 18 - 36 year olds revealed that the majority remain connected throughout their waking hours. This means they can access the internet when and where they chose. They are also selecting the device they use, with 30% using 4 different devices per day to access the internet. Despite this variety of tools, there is an expectation that they will receive a consistent message across the board, which matches their perception of the brand or company. It should also be in-line with the image portrayed in a physical shop.
The traditional marketing manuals that guided you through the basics of good marketing have become redundant in the last decade. Product, packaging, price, position simply fail to meet the changing needs and desires of the current generation. You simply can't pick up a book, learn the theory and apply it; you need to spend time discovering your ideal customer, their searching and shopping behaviours, their preferences and expectations.
The good news is that there is a wealth of data that can be collected through any online SEM activity. This data can provide a wealth of valuable information on details such as where, with what and when your audience are interacting with your brand. You don't need to go out and collect the data; it is presented in clear graphs which provide an easy to read visuals. Where time does need to be invested is in analysing this data, selecting the information that is a priority for your business and taking action based on what they data is telling you.
Data can allow you to deliver a positive customer experience and will help you to build stronger relationships through successfully engaging with your audience. With customer engagement, they will help you to raise your brand awareness and evidence has shown that recommendations from friends and online contacts carry more weight than B2C marketing, so the more you invest in researching what your customer wants and then implementing this to deliver it, the more benefits you will see.
Any business undertaking SEM has access to this data, but relatively few are effectively using it to drive marketing decisions. Investing in SEM is a long term commitment, it doesn't deliver instant results and one blast won't provide you with all the answers. Consumer habits are changing, so the key is to remain focused on the data and be adaptable to change.
SEM should be an integrated part of your marketing plan and business strategy, but in many companies it remains an add on which is reluctantly paid a bit of attention, as long as it doesn't get in the way of €real business'. Failing to invest time and energy into SEM is likely to be a costly mistake, particularly if you ideal customer is under 40 years old.
A recent SDL survey of 1,800 18 - 36 year olds revealed that the majority remain connected throughout their waking hours. This means they can access the internet when and where they chose. They are also selecting the device they use, with 30% using 4 different devices per day to access the internet. Despite this variety of tools, there is an expectation that they will receive a consistent message across the board, which matches their perception of the brand or company. It should also be in-line with the image portrayed in a physical shop.
The traditional marketing manuals that guided you through the basics of good marketing have become redundant in the last decade. Product, packaging, price, position simply fail to meet the changing needs and desires of the current generation. You simply can't pick up a book, learn the theory and apply it; you need to spend time discovering your ideal customer, their searching and shopping behaviours, their preferences and expectations.
The good news is that there is a wealth of data that can be collected through any online SEM activity. This data can provide a wealth of valuable information on details such as where, with what and when your audience are interacting with your brand. You don't need to go out and collect the data; it is presented in clear graphs which provide an easy to read visuals. Where time does need to be invested is in analysing this data, selecting the information that is a priority for your business and taking action based on what they data is telling you.
Data can allow you to deliver a positive customer experience and will help you to build stronger relationships through successfully engaging with your audience. With customer engagement, they will help you to raise your brand awareness and evidence has shown that recommendations from friends and online contacts carry more weight than B2C marketing, so the more you invest in researching what your customer wants and then implementing this to deliver it, the more benefits you will see.
Any business undertaking SEM has access to this data, but relatively few are effectively using it to drive marketing decisions. Investing in SEM is a long term commitment, it doesn't deliver instant results and one blast won't provide you with all the answers. Consumer habits are changing, so the key is to remain focused on the data and be adaptable to change.
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