You're about to launch a new product. What's the best way to get it noticed?

1 What is SEM?

SEM is the practice of using paid ads to reach potential customers who are searching for products or services like yours on search engines like Google or Bing. SEM ads are also known as pay-per-click (PPC) ads, because you only pay when someone clicks on your ad. SEM can help you increase your visibility, traffic, and conversions, as well as test and optimize your product messaging and landing pages.

2 How to plan your SEM strategy?

Before you start creating and launching your SEM campaigns, you need to have a clear goal, target audience, budget, and timeline for your product launch. You also need to do some keyword research to find out what terms and phrases your ideal customers are using to search for solutions to their problems or needs. You can use tools like Google Keyword Planner, SEMrush, or Moz to discover and analyze relevant keywords for your product niche, industry, and competitors.

3 How to create your SEM campaigns?

Once you have your keywords, you need to create your SEM campaigns using a platform like Google Ads or Microsoft Advertising. You can choose between different types of ads, such as search ads, display ads, video ads, or shopping ads, depending on your product and goals. You need to write compelling ad copy that matches your keywords, highlights your product benefits, and includes a clear call to action. You also need to design and optimize your landing pages, where you direct your ad clicks and convert them into leads or customers.

4 How to measure and improve your SEM performance?

After you launch your SEM campaigns, you need to track and analyze your results using metrics like impressions, clicks, click-through rate (CTR), cost per click (CPC), conversions, conversion rate (CVR), and return on ad spend (ROAS). You can use tools like Google Analytics, Google Ads, or Microsoft Advertising to monitor and report on your SEM performance. You also need to test and tweak your ads and landing pages to improve your quality score, relevance, and user experience.

5 How to scale and diversify your SEM efforts?

As you grow your product and audience, you may want to scale and diversify your SEM efforts to reach more potential customers and increase your market share. You can do this by expanding your keyword list, creating more ad groups and variations, targeting different locations and devices, using different ad formats and networks, and experimenting with different bidding strategies and optimization techniques.

6 How to integrate your SEM with other marketing channels?

SEM is not a standalone marketing tactic. It works best when it is integrated with other marketing channels, such as SEO, social media, email, content, or influencer marketing. You can use these channels to complement and amplify your SEM campaigns, as well as to build trust and loyalty with your customers. For example, you can use SEO to rank organically for your keywords, social media to engage with your audience and share your product stories, email to nurture and retain your leads and customers, content to educate and inform your prospects and customers, and influencer marketing to leverage the power and reach of influential people in your niche.

7 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?