Why do I need SEO and SEM ?

This is a question that’s big out there, bigger in Maine than a guy like me would like it to be. I do this for a living, I want there to be some stronger demand for my services.
Fortunately, it’s an easy question to answer. The way I start my answer is with another question- do you advertise in the Yellow Pages? Of course, most would answer. Well, 4.6 billions searches were conducted on the internet last month. How many folks do you suppose flipped through their coastal Maine yellow pages?
It is estimated that the average customer acquisition cost for the Yellow Pages is about $20 per landed customer. Internet advertising is roughly $8.50. And shrinking.
So for generations, businesses have thrown money into yellow page ads and radio spots and magazine ads, and to be blunt, they have ABSOLUTELY no idea whether the ads worked or not. At best, they have a little anecdotal evidence that people reacted to their ads, but nothing more.
So I can take one of these businesses and tell them to put $2000 this year into a balance of website redesign, optimization, organic site marketing and pay-per-click advertising, and at the end of the year, I can tell you EXACTLY what worked and what didn’t. By setting up a proper statistics system, I can tell you how many customers were gained through each type of marketing, and we can plan the next year to be even more efficient. Your business will grow, and your marketing budget as a percentage of your sales will shrink.
The next time the rep from the radio station calls, ask him if he can do that. Or if the yellow pages rep stops by, ask her what kind of reporting she will provide, and what type of recommendations she’ll make when she sees a slowdown in the number of customers your ad is generating.
The world each year steps closer and closer to a completely digital media. Print companies, and companies specializing in print advertising, are wilting fast. Internet advertising is the most efficient and cost-effective form of marketing on earth, and if you’re not doing it now, you will be doing it next year when you see your competitors controlling the market.

No comments: