How can team managers align SEM strategy with company goals?

1 Understand your company goals

Before you start any SEM campaign, you need to understand what your company wants to achieve. What are your business objectives, target audience, value proposition, and key performance indicators (KPIs)? How do your company goals relate to your marketing goals? For example, if your company goal is to increase sales, your marketing goal might be to generate more leads or conversions. Having a clear vision of your company goals will help you define your SEM strategy and budget.

2 Choose the right keywords

Keywords are the words and phrases that your potential customers use to search for your products or services on search engines. Choosing the right keywords is crucial for your SEM strategy, as they determine when and where your ads will appear. To choose the right keywords, you need to do some keyword research. Keyword research is the process of finding and analyzing the most relevant and profitable keywords for your SEM campaigns. You can use tools like Google Keyword Planner or Moz Keyword Explorer to find and evaluate keywords based on factors like search volume, competition, cost-per-click, and intent. You should also consider your company goals when choosing keywords. For example, if your company goal is to increase brand awareness, you might want to use more generic and broad keywords. If your company goal is to increase conversions, you might want to use more specific and long-tail keywords.

3 Create compelling ads

Once you have your keywords, you need to create compelling ads that will attract and persuade your target audience to click on them. Your ads should match the intent and expectations of your potential customers. They should also highlight your unique selling proposition (USP) and include a clear and strong call-to-action (CTA). You can use different types of ads for your SEM campaigns, such as text ads, display ads, video ads, or shopping ads. Each type of ad has its own advantages and disadvantages, depending on your company goals and budget. You should also test and optimize your ads regularly to improve their performance and relevance.

4 Track and measure your results

The last step to align your SEM strategy with your company goals is to track and measure your results. You need to monitor and analyze how your SEM campaigns are performing in terms of traffic, clicks, impressions, conversions, cost, revenue, return on investment (ROI), and other KPIs. You can use tools like Google Analytics or Bing Ads to track and measure your results. You should also compare your results with your company goals and benchmarks to see if you are meeting or exceeding them. You should also identify and fix any issues or gaps in your SEM strategy and make adjustments as needed.

5 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?