Search Engine Marketing (SEM) matters now more than ever! For your business to reach your target users, effective SEM is one sure-shot method. It is a known fact that a majority of digital buyers choose to buy from a business that is on the first page of any search engine’s result. This fact also explains why the biggest and the best brands in the world invest heavily in improving their SEM strategies.
Before we dive into studying three of the most effective SEM methods that deliver maximum results, let us begin by understanding how SEM works.
SEM is the process of attracting the target audience of your business with the help of paid ads, which push your business to the top position of any search engine’s search results. Essentially, when you enter something in a search engine’s search bar, the top-most result marked as an ‘Ad’ is an SEM-promoted listing.
Now, with the example of optimising China SEM in London, let us learn three highly effective SEM strategies that will help you get the maximum leads for your business.
#1 China SEM strategy in London—focus on local search and personalise the ads
Statistics have shown that nearly 46% of searches on a popular search engine1 are made for local businesses. If you deal in selling goods or providing services to the locals, then location-driven SEM is for you. Add the location to your ad and headline, for example, pizza London, and select geo-oriented keywords.
The AdWords feature of a popular search engine (more on that ahead!) offers flexible settings which in turn allow you to personalise your ads. Targeting ‘cart abandoners’ is one example of how specifically the feature allows you to segment your users.
#2 China SEM strategy in London—build a list of ‘winning’ keywords
A refined understanding of how your target audience thinks will help you build that list of ‘winning’ keywords. Put yourself in the consumer’s shoes when brainstorming about the relevant keywords. Pro tip: Begin with general terms, then add more specific terms.
For instance: Laptops -> New Laptops -> Used Laptops
Your competitors play a role in deciding your keywords, too. If your chosen keyword is in demand, that is many competing advertisers are bidding for it, you will need to pay more to get a better position in the results. In this case, you must bid for keywords that have a high volume but low competition.
Be mindful of setting negative keywords before you begin your campaign. This is a helpful tip in order to save money, too. With repeated ads, you will notice words in your search query report that appear as a bad fit for your business.
#3 China SEM strategy in London—use the AdWords feature
The Discovery ads feature helps your business reach users across a popular search engine’s properties, precisely when they want to discover something new on their feed. The feature allows you to reach millions of people across all of the search engine’s properties, with a single ad campaign. Furthermore, the swipeable image carousel, which is provided natively across some properties, encourages the buyer to click on your brand’s ad.
If you are in the business of selling goods, specific shopping platforms of search engines can help you highlight multiple products within your sponsored ad. Some platforms provide rich lifestyle imagery, which further motivates buyers to make the purchase.
Bonus strategies
• Optimise your post-click pages for mobile users
• Closely monitor ad conversions in comparison to your marketing spends. Ditch the ads that drive traffic but do not bring sales leads.
• Do not forget to retarget by placing a cookie on the browser of your traffic, so that your page remains etched in the minds of those who left the page previously.