A Word About Search Marketing
What is Search Marketing, and what makes it different to other types of marketing, both online and offline?
In simplest terms, search marketing involves showing your website in the results when someone looking for your product or service uses a search engine.
I love search marketing. It is my passion. It might seem strange that someone could feel "passion" for something like search marketing, but consider this: It is what marketers have been looking for since the first merchant sold the first product.
Imagine that you did not have to do any advertising. Imagine that you paid less than $10 per month in rent. And imagine that highly motivated customers pour into your store all day. As each customer enters, they tell you exactly what they want to buy, who referred them to your store, and hand you a consumer research questionnaire that they filled in on the way over.
Unlike television, radio, print, and other forms of Internet advertising, search marketing doesn't feed mass messages to people who never asked to hear the message in the first place. Even the most targeted email lists are still showing a message to someone who may not be receptive the day the email arrives. Even the most researched and tested banner advertisements, or radio slots are shooting in the dark when compared to search engine marketing (SEM). This is because SEM is a marketing medium that reacts in real-time to a consumer request. As search marketing icon Danny Sullivan said in a keynote speech last month: "Search is a reverse broadcasting medium." Traditional advertising mediums broadcast out to consumers in hopes of building a desire. SEM works the other way around. Consumers actually broadcast their desires to the search engine, which then reacts by showing the most relevant advertisements / results.
The searcher says: "I want to see advertisements for car dealerships in Cincinnati, Ohio" by typing "Cincinnati car dealers" into Google. In less than a few seconds they are presented with exactly what they have requested. Make no mistake about it; a search engine listing is an advertisement for your business. In a bold title and a short description, you have the opportunity to bring in the kind of customer most marketers dream of - the kind that went out of their way to seek out your product or service. In search, unlike other forms of marketing, the customer comes to you. They come pre-qualified, and ready to buy. But it gets even better...
Just by visiting your site, the searcher has provided you with the type of marketing metrics that you couldn't buy from any database. You know the question they asked (keywords typed) in order to find you; which keywords convert best to sales; which bring in the highest average order size; what time of the day is best for selling your products or services; how long a customer stays in your store; which parts of your store cause customers to leave... This isn't generalized market data from a generic "type" of consumer. This information comes directly from your customer, and your customer is unlike anyone else's! SEM takes the guesswork out of marketing, and allows you to rely on solid data to target a message aimed directly at the individual who wants to buy your product or service.
Search engines are doing your lead generation for free every day. They are the kiosk in the mall, and shoppers are asking them where to find your product or service. All you have to do is let them know you exist. And that is where a skilled SEO comes in.
