SEM verse Social Media Advertising

When you stack SEM up against social advertising, it wins every time. However, as someone that has run and believes in SEM campaigns, my biggest issues with any type of direct marketing effort is that there is very little longevity. Yes, I know it's possible to optimize Search Engine campaigns but, you still need to invest more time and/or money in them in a month or so to keep your ranking.

Marketing with the different social networks is much the same. It cannot become effective with a onetime effort or push either. You can get a bump in your sales or web hits but unless you are prepared to continually engage yourself in your chosen SM community, it just won’t happen.

There are a number of stats I could cite such as, some 59% of Americans who use social media (approximately 60% say they do) report that they interact with brands via social media, according to the Cone 2008 Business in Social Media Study fielded by Opinion Research Corporation in September 2008. Moreover, 41% say they prefer that companies solicit product/service feedback via social media, 56% say they feel better served when they can directly interact with brands via social media, and 37% say companies should develop new ways for consumers to interact with their brands via social media. The key word here is INTERACT. No interaction no connection with the brand, they become just another piece of road kill along the Social Media highway.

I do see the BIGGEST win is when social marketing programs AND search engine optimization come together to create truly scalable, repeatable program. That's not to diminish the power of paid search, e-mail or any other form of marketing but rather to say that as the law of diminishing returns continues to erode the effectiveness of all marketing programs.

Larson note: Everything in advertising and marketing has a lifeline. A starting point and an ending point. If I were to start a marketing program for a business today I would start with a web site and a SM site: Ning, MerchantCircle, MySpace, Facebook and integrate a marketing program entwining them together. In using this two channel approach we start to engage people with you, your brand and name. Then add in sustainable marketing tools that you can utilize to the max and you will be building a huge program of continuous presence and visibility. Oh don’t forget non-web marketing. People are not on line 24/7, are they?

Howard Larson
Larson & Associates
Target Marketing for new account acquisition
Making good businesses great and great businesses even better
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Source: Direct Marketing Association