Monday, June 23, 2014

Search Engine Marketing vs. Display Marketing


What are they?
Also known as pay-per-click, search engine marketing (SEM) allows advertisers to purchase sponsored listings on Google and other search engines. Google runs an SEM program for their advertisers called Adwords. Just about everyone has seen the sponsored Adwords listings at the top and sides of their Google searches. Display advertising is essentially like putting up a billboard on specific webpages. Banner ads that serve at the top and sides of webpages have existed almost as long as the Internet itself.

What are the differences?
Search engine marketing is considered a pull marketing strategy. This means the people that see an ad in a SEM campaign have personally initiated the interaction by searching a specific term that triggered the sponsored listing. Once someone clicks on the ad, the advertiser is charged a small fee. With this type of pay-per-click campaign, an advertiser is only charged when someone searches for a keyword related to their services and is interested in viewing their website. The campaign is specifically designed to bring leads (clicks) to a website and to drive customers to call the business to begin the buying process.
Display campaigns are more of a push marketing strategy. Advertisers can push their message out to anyone visiting a certain website. This is more of a branding strategy. While some people will certainly click on the ad to go to the website, display campaigns are designed to increase awareness and branding. Regarding price, many media companies will charge an advertiser for a certain number of impressions (ads) that will be displayed. These ads will run online for a predetermined time frame and then they will stop.

What is the best strategy?
It really depends on what an advertiser is trying to accomplish. If they would like to run a campaign that drives actual business, SEM can be a more immediate way for that to happen. If an advertiser has a specific event coming up in the short term, a brief display campaign may be the best option. However, studies have shown that a mix of both campaign types is usually the best bet. Both campaigns will help with consumer recall and will ultimately help people remember the advertiser’s product when they are looking for it. Running these campaigns simultaneously will also increase the likelihood of a higher result on an organic search listing. 

by John Parrish

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