SME's & SEM

By Gary Finn
Account Executive

Traditionally, SME's (Small & Medium Entreprises) have relied on offline forms of advertising such as direct mail and newspaper classifieds for marketing purposes. However, many SME's are beginning to realise the importance of online advertising and in particular, search engine marketing.

While the proportion of SME's using search engine marketing is still relatively small, many have cited the sudden attraction appears to be the perception that Pay-Per-Click (PPC) campaigns drive traffic to web sites at a low-cost method of acquiring customers.

A report by the Kelsey Group (2004) found that UK SME's are primarily interested in using PPC to drive traffic to Web sites, with two-thirds of respondents claiming traffic as the major reason to implement the program. More than half (56 percent) cited the low cost of PPC, while 52 percent believe PPC is a less expensive method for acquiring customers.

Furthermore, the big players in this area such as Google and Yahoo! have been working on ways to bring SMEs, and especially local businesses, into the ranks of their advertisers. Google is beta testing features that will enable advertisers outside the US target ads by region, and Yahoo! Search Marketing, formerly known as Overture, offers local search that involves targeting by radius.

In addition, the key for any SME is to use specific keywords when implementing a Google or Yahoo! Search Marketing PPC campaign. In reality, with many SME's having smaller marketing budgets, biding on generic keywords may lead to unqualified sales leads and a spiralling budget. For an SME to succeed using PPC campaigns, specific keywords that relate to your business and generally cost less, are more likely to result in targeted traffic to your website and potential sales leads.

While search engine marketing may have many benefits, unless researched, managed and monitored effectively on a continual basis, a PPC campaign cannot guarantee targeted visitors or qualified sales leads for your company. However it remains a very cost effective marketing program that should be ignored by SME's at their peril.