SEO or SEM—which is the best strategy for lead generation? The simple answer is both. As you plan your digital marketing strategy, include SEM for your B2B lead generation. According to Digital Media Solutions, paid search is projected to show the fastest growth with an expected 26% increase in advertising spend.
Reminder: SEO is the strategic effort to improve visibility on the search engine results page (SERP) through keyword research. SEM is the paid effort to rank higher on the SERP, primarily through pay-per-click search ads.
SEM FOR B2B LEAD GENERATION
SEM is critical for business-to-business (B2B) marketing and lead generation. While SEO helps promote your page as the most relevant per keyword, it doesn’t work to drive leads. SEM strategically places your website at the top of specific keyword searches, allowing your business to target potential leads appropriately. Plus, SEM opens the door to data and accurate lead tracking.
GENERATE LEADS WITH PAID SEARCH
Understanding how your paid ads perform is integral to using SEM for B2B lead generation. The ultimate goal of generating leads is to help grow the business and see a better return. With SEM analytics, you can easily quantify how many leads are coming from your efforts. Many clicks don’t see conversions for the first 30 days; therefore, being patient and letting analytics be the driving force behind your strategy will help you see better ROI.
Not only do you want to see what types of searches your clicks are coming from, but also where. Looking at web and mobile analytics can help you prioritize copy and design for your ads. Ultimately, if you aren’t utilizing data to drive your SEM strategy, you aren’t using it to its fullest potential. Understanding and using data to drive strategy and boost performance is key to SEM success.
USE SEM BEST PRACTICES THAT FIT TARGET AUDIENCE
Through lookalike audiences and omnichannel customization, audience segmentation helps curate paid search ads that will drive conversion. To help you determine how to create effective and targeted ads, you can develop personas representing your ideal audience.
Finding a balance between pushing creative elements and following best practices is critical. You want to utilize those previously created personas to build your language that speaks to their core needs and pain points. Determine your keyword options, be selective with your choices, and develop landing pages that drive viewers to take that next step.
OPTIMIZE LANDING PAGES WITH COMPELLING CONTENT
Landing pages play a significant role in lead generation and conversion. Once you’ve built out thoughtful ads, wherever you direct your leads must contain valuable information to your target audience. Use language that sells your service/product and speaks to your lead. Including gated content like checklists, tips, tools, special offers, etc., can be helpful on your landing page. You can even analyze user heat maps to see what your viewers are engaging with on your landing page to optimize the user experience.
Are you ready to start generating leads by optimizing your SEM lead generation strategy? Contact the GROWL Team today.