Utilizing Paid Search and Google Ads

There are 3 types of media that marketers care about- owned, paid, and earned media. Owned media is the media that you or the company you work for has total control of and does not pay for. Earned media is the free publicity that leads potential customers to your website from other people who appreciate your product or website. Lastly, we have paid media. This refers to external marketing efforts involving paid ad placement that promote your business. While owned and earned are free and help tremendously with obtaining more traffic, sometimes it isn't enough. Here are some of the things you should know when it comes to SEM.

What is paid search or SEM?

Search engine marketing is a form of advertising in which you pay an amount of money for higher, more valuable space on a search engine result page. When keywords are typed in related to your product or service, you will come up in a superior spot. Often times you pay for this process at a cost-for-click basis which is a set rate determined before the transaction. When people click on the ad, they contribute to the amount you spend on the campaign. On Google specifically, they place ads at the top and the bottom of the screen.

Why invest in paid search instead of organic search?

Organic search is something that takes a long time to build up. It is meticulous, has lots of data to interpret, and is harder to track and follow over a long period of time. When it comes to paid search, think of it as a kickstart. It is a tremendous boost of traffic to a website and it is then your job to convince them to return unprompted through ad search. This does, of course, come at a cost. It really is a game of deciding what fits best and works well for your company. If the funds are proven to be better allocated elsewhere, you may have to commit more time to SEO and understanding how to better optimize your website for organic search.

Some of the more specific benefits are as follows:

• Better targeted advertising
• Specific control over your costs
• Metrics that are easier to interpret and understand
• Google Ads allows you to make changes to ads on the fly
• Brand exposure even if your ads aren't being clicked on
• Remarketing opportunities

How do you get started using Google Ads?

Getting started is made very easy thanks to Google. They even have their own simple guide to getting started that can be found here. To summarize the info they have provided...

1. Ensure you have linked current business information to the Google account you would like to use with Google Ads
2. Opt for whichever goal you would like to achieve using the paid ad service whether it be sales, new leads, or brand awareness.
3. Create the ad to the best of your ability while utilizing Google AI that understand which ads will work best
4. Tell Google what target market you want to strike and then determine the budget you have to work with
5. Finalize and launch the campaign! This is also where you will set up conversion tracking (which is very crucial!)

What happens when I search "Vinyl for sale"?

I am a huge vinyl collector. I tend to buy most of my records online as they tend to be cheaper. Every website has different deals, subscriptions, and shipping options. You also have shipping straight from stores or people setups and it is all very annoying to deal with. Personally, I just want the best deal. So I decided to search "Vinyl for sale" on Google to see what websites are running paid ad campaigns right now.

Merchbar

Anyone who collects vinyl has heard about Merchbar. They are notorious for selling items that will never restock as "backstock" in hopes that you buy the nonexistent record and forget to ask for a refund. They were the first result and their selling point was that they have "200,000+ vinyl for sale" as well as a photo of a Billie Eilish LP. Not a bad ad for someone newer to vinyl.

Booksbythefoot

Next up, we have a more local store that I had not heard of- booksbythefoot. I assume it's because they sell bulk old vinyl, something I do not collect and have no interest in. Their selling point is the word "bulk" accompanied by a photo that looks like a charming, old, and rustic library. Definitely something I could see an older person being interested in.

Vinyl.com

This one was just plain boring. No gimmick or photo. Just the "best place to buy vinyl online". Lame.

Victrola

Lastly, we have Victrola. This is simply a decent all-around record shop that caters more to beginner collectors. They had no photo and a generic description simply stating that they offer many records for sale. Another boring entry.