Advertising Campaign Planning Guide: first steps in Search Engine Marketing (SEM)

If you have a website or social networks in your company, it is important to generate traffic, sales and increasing visits. This can be done organically, however, it is a task that could be time consuming. This is why most opt to do it through advertising campaigns with tools like Google Ads, Facebook Ads Manager or the boost button. In other words, through SEM campaigns. But before creating a SEM campaign, in order to achieve the best results (conversions, leads, etc.) and avoid spending hundreds of dollars in vain, it is necessary that our campaigns have a complete and well-designed strategy.

What do you need to plan a SEM advertising campaign?

Nowadays, there are many brands and companies that do not know how to correctly focus advertising in search engines and social networks. This is because they are not clear about what they want to achieve in the digital world or they follow the same criteria as any other business. There is no perfect or generic SEM campaign structure, since each company has its own objectives, problems, and needs that make its planning unique. Therefore, in order to elaborate your digital advertising planning, you must follow these 5 simple steps that will allow you to succeed.

1. Establish objectives

The best way to obtain good results in an advertising campaign is through clear and achievable objectives that allow you to measure the results of your actions. For example, some objectives could include:

• Generate traffic to a web page.
• Promote a profile.
• Increase downloads of an application.
• Multiply engagement.

Every goal you set should be achievable and measurable in numbers. These objectives can be easily established through the SMART methodology.

2. Segmentation 

One of the advantages of carrying out advertising campaigns in digital channels is that most of them allow micro-segmentation, which can vary the results. To do this you must first define, who is your target audience? Where is it located? The larger and more precise your segmentation is, the faster you will reach your ideal customer, so you will increase the return on your investment.

3. Establish in which platform you are going to set up your advertisements

Google. There are many search engines worldwide, but among them, Google is the most used and developed so far. It has one of the best tools when you are setting up advertising campaigns. However, Google Ads has several networks where you can advertise and you have to choose what it adjust better to your business objectives, among them:

• Search network.
• Display network.
• Shopping campaigns.
• Video campaigns.
• App campaigns.

Social networks. It is possible to make SEM advertising campaigns in any social network, but it is important that you recognize on which platform your target audience is located. Among the best networks to advertise are: Facebook and Instagram. This is because after Google Ads, these two social networks have one of the most powerful tools when it comes to setting up ads. Facebook Ads Manager provides access to detailed targeting, testing, live ad monitoring, detailed reports and multiple features that allow you to design campaigns that convert.

4. Budget

The budget is a key factor when setting up your advertising campaign. You must establish a total budget, the amount spent daily and the percentage you will assign to each platform. The amounts, distribution, and percentages may vary as you optimize your campaigns and analyze the results.

5. Creativity

Finally, the most “fun” part of the creative process is the creation of the copy (text) and images that you are going to use. How much your ads can attract the attention of users relies a lot on these two elements. If you are starting, the best thing to do is to set up multiple ads and progressively study those that have the greatest impact and conversion rate.

Tips for setting up campaigns that convert

1. Be guided by your customers’ buying process

In any business, whether you sell products or services, you need to know your buyer’s journey. This is known as “AIDA”: Attention: the moment you get the customer’s attention. At this point, the customer must be made aware that he/she has a need and that it must be met. Interest: consists of the investigation phase. Once the customer is aware of his problem or need, he enters the stage where he starts looking for possible solutions. Desire: after the research phase, he begins to evaluate his options, which triggers the desire or moment in which he will make his choice. Action: better known as the purchase of the product or service, it should solve your problem or meet their needs. But you may wonder, how can I apply this journey to my campaigns? It’s simple. In the Attention phase, you can use display campaigns or the promote button since it’s all about presenting your products or services. For users who are already in the research phase, you can use Google Search with informative words. Then in the Desire phase, you can present benefits or features using Youtube video campaigns. And finally, in the Action phase, use “transactional” words, such as: buy, rent, budget, etc. If you have a limited budget, attack the Action phase first and then work your way up through the buying process.

2. Geographic targeting

One of the advantages of Google Ads and Facebook Ads Manager is its targeting options, including geographic targeting. Start directly targeting a specific area where you can make sure your niche is there, then if you need to work in different areas, you could divide ad campaigns by countries, regions or cities.

3. Analyze the results

Both Google Ads and the Facebook Ads Manager contribute with different metrics. You can always complement them with Google Analytics or social media tools such as Buffer. Not all metrics are essential for your reports and to analyze your results correctly, so it is important that you choose the best ones. Among the most important ones are:

• Google Ads: clicks, number of impressions, CTR and conversions.
• Facebook Ads Manager: reach, impressions, likes and engagement.

Keep in mind that the metrics you should be guided by are those that allow you to measure the scope of your campaign objectives for their correct optimization. In case you need help to set up and plan your advertising campaigns, Factor Engagement provides SEM services through which you can boost your sales and improve your brand exposure online. Set up a meeting now with one of our digital experts by clicking here or contact us on social networks, we can be found on Instagram, LinkedIn and Facebook.