In 2021, every brand has an internet marketing strategy, or they are formulating one right now.
The changing tide of how the audience perceives things, their tastes, and preference are ever-evolving. It seems like every other month, a new advertising guide is published with new ideas to explore.
However, when one broadly either goes for a more direct approach to reach out to the consumers or in-direct. Given the sea of changes, it is important to reevaluate one’s strategy and see whether it holds today.
Let’s learn about:
- What are SEM and PPC
- What are the differences between SEM and PPC?
- SEM vs. PPC
In the end, you will have clarity on which one is the best for your brand? And how to use both strategies.
What are SEM and PPC?
Search Engine Marketing(SEM)- To optimize your brand’s ranking in the search engine results to create indirect organic sales/growth.
Pay Per Click(PPC)- A form of direct advertising that you can equate to a digital hoarding placed all across the Internet. Every time a user clicks on the advert, you will pay a small fee for the direct inorganic/growth.
SEM & PPC are not that complicated once you understand how they work.
How does Search Engine Marketing work?
For SEO/SEM Work, brands have to build a lot of linking for internal SEO optimization and outbound traffic.
The way one can describe it as a gentle nudge into the brand’s website by placing it on top of a search. The core idea behind Search Engine Optimisation is that most viewers trust and click on links on the first page.
A big SEM and PPC difference is that the process of SEO is largely invisible to most people. SEO solves the issue of people tuning out advertisements and creates a reliable boost for companies.
How does Pay Per Click advertising work?
The process of setting up a PPC campaign is quite simple, and almost anyone can do it. Here’s a step by step process-
Step-1) Go to Google Adsense and create a new campaign for your brand.
Step-2) Specify the Target Demographics, budget, location, and other details required.
Step-3) Set the duration of the campaign and the keywords to target where you will see adverts.
Step-4) Once you start the campaign, you can see the clicks, demographics, and other targeted visitors’ details.
A key sem PPC difference is that PPC gives you greater control over advertising. Every aspect of the campaign is controlled, and you can try out different variations to attract the audience.
What are the key differences between SEM and PPC?
Sem vs PPC can be defined in the approach to consumers and the ways of implementation. Let’s see the salient features and differences between SEM PPC –
1)The way a visitor enters the website-
In SEM, guiding a user is out of your control, and there is a lot of trend surfing involved. You are setting a wide net and hoping to attract visitors to your site.
In PPC, there is far more granular control over how the viewer is attracted. Fewer viewers are bound to click on links, but their rate of sales conversion is higher.
2)Promotional Scheme- A big difference between sem and PPC is that SEM lacks a certain urgency and context to boost sales.
With a PPC, classical advertising techniques like creating curiosity and attracting the prospect of sales are useful. You can even use attractive headlines or the interactivity aspect to create a sales conversion.
3)Reliability aspect- PPC as advertising requires interactivity and banners being placed on websites. A big issue plaguing marketers is the rise of ad blocks that have made a hit on PPC adverts. Hundreds of Millions of revenue is being lost both in ads and sales.
As a brand, it will not affect you as one only pays for clicks only, but it raises doubts.
While SEM is far more unrestricted, and there are no clauses around a sale.
In the battle between sem vs PPC, this certainly tilts things in favor of SEM.
4)SEO requires time- Building a ranking in search engines takes a lot of time before you can start to see the results. Another aspect is how old a website can affect the times it takes for your website to reach. Tangible results might take weeks or months based on how quickly your website catches traffic.
If time is of the essence and you require an immediate push from everyone, PPC is far more effective. You can expect a very little delay, and you can even improve your campaigns on the go with A/B Testing.
Sem & PPC are fundamentally different approaches to similar end goals.
Which strategy should you choose for your brand?
You might have realized that both have their advantages and disadvantages that you have to consider.
Instead of seeing things as Sem vs PPC with only one to select, why not sem & PPC both. It’s best to mix and match their features, strengths to boost your company. To survive in the current economic climate, one has to use all the tools at your disposal.
However, it’s best to use them carefully and with a certain restraint; otherwise, you might alienate audiences. Audiences with PPC might become irritated seeing an ad 10th times and start to overlook it.
Final Thoughts
You have now learned about sem & PPC, how to use them, the difference between sem and PPC, etc. Both forms of advertising are equally valid, and they have something unique to offer to companies.
It’s time to set your sights on building a comprehensive advertising strategy for your company.
It’s best to hire an only advertising firm that has expertise in both arenas. Learn about the new trends and the market research being done on consumer habits.
Marketing your company is a marathon, not a sprint, and it takes years to build a sense of familiarity. The Internet has made companies even more disciplined to avoid bad PR.
With Sem & PPC, you can even hire an image consultant; there is no end to it.
