Why (when) should you outsource your SEM management?
It's not hard to setup a search engine marketing campaign so why should I hire someone to do it for me? My campaigns are profitable so why should I hire someone to manage them for me? For the amount the SEM Company wants to charge me, I'd rather spend the money on brining in more traffic.
These are valid questions and statements. You're right; it's not hard to setup a campaign. And it's possible to have a profitable campaign even if you aren't an expert in internet marketing. The fact is, for small companies you'd probably be better off to get a little training and to do the work yourself. Where an SEM Company can really help is when you have a large number of products / services; when you'd rather outsource the work due to time or resource requirements; or when your campaign budget is large enough that an improvement in performance can have a dramatic impact on the bottom line.
To determine whether it is worth outsourcing your SEM campaigns consider:
- The amount of time it will take for keyword research and segmentation.
- The amount of time it will take for writing the ads.
- The amount of time it will take to create weekly reports.
- The amount of time it will take to optimize the campaigns (bid prices, match type, ad copy, keyword mix, etc).
- The impact a percentage improvement in conversions will have to your ROI.
- The cost of outsourcing all of this work.
To determine whether it is worth getting training on SEM or having an expert setup your campaigns, consider:
- Do you know which keywords will lead to qualified traffic and conversions?
- Do you understand how segmenting your keywords into Campaigns and Ad Groups / Orders can affect the performance of your SEM accounts?
- Can you write ad copy that will bring in qualified traffic and conform to the search engine's editorial guidelines?
- Do you know how to setup conversion tracking to monitor the performance of each keyword within your account?
Outsourcing SEM management is not needed by everyone. If your campaigns are limited in size and scope, if your budget is less than $1,000 per month and if you've answered "no" to many of the questions above, you'd be better off getting some SEM consulting.
If you have a number of products or services, a large budget where a decrease in your average cpc or an increase in your conversion rates could have a dramatic impact on your bottom line or you simply don't have the time or knowledge to effectively manage your campaigns, outsourcing your SEM campaigns is the right approach.
For smaller businesses or those who would prefer to try Search Engine Marketing themselves, consider Signing up for Yahoo Sponsored Search and receive a $50 credit towards your campaign spend or . Also, please see below for tips and advice on how to setup and optimize your campaigns.
For more information on Adaera's SEM Services, please Contact Us.
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