iskandarX Society SEO - 1+1=4: Search Engine Marketing And Email Team Up To Boost Revenue

Many search engine and email marketers misinform their clients by telling them search engine marketing (SEM) and email marketing is efficient for creating demand.  At the same time, the same emarketing professionals tend to throw traditional marketing (public relations, advertising, direct response, etc.) under the bus for being inefficient and lacking measurement.  This short-sighted philosophy creates as much danger, as it does opportunity, for emarketing vendors and clients alike.





The reality is that SEM and email actually fulfill demand created by traditional marketing methods (not to say search isn’t an effective awareness and branding vehicle).  Both work hand-in-hand to maximize the effectiveness and measurement of marketing efforts.  Now that we’ve cleared up that misconception, let’s make the assumption that traditional marketing has its place and that we can now focus on how SEM and email marketing team up to carry prospects through the customer lifecycle: awareness, interaction, conversion, retention and evangelism.

Awareness & Interaction

For this article, I’m defining SEM as a holistic mix including search engine optimization, pay-per-click, link development, online reputation management, etc.  Where traditional marketing typically drives awareness and preference, SEM is there to capture active searchers and bring them to relevant content on the target site.  The downside of SEM is the lack of ability to follow-through on promises.  Once the listing in search results generates a new site visitor, the site owner/developer is responsible for converting that visitor into a customer.

Any SEM professional worth their own salt will ensure that pages optimized for search contain calls to action that hopefully involve email capture.  This is based on the assumption that the target company/site has something of value to offer in exchange for that information.  Following best-practices is especially critical for PPC landing pages, which are judged by Google’s QualityScore.  If Google loses the keyword “scent” it’s very likely your prospects are as well.

Conversion

A good landing page contains messaging relevant to the search term and a call to action (anything requiring an email address).  Testing various elements of the landing page (headline, imagery, copy, etc.) greatly increases email signups.  Regardless of whether or not the visitor purchases or requests more information on the first visit, the email connection now enables the site owner to start a dialog with the visitor, enabling them to build a relationship leading to purchase.

SEM provides additional value at this stage, as many surfers are hesitant to provide any information (let alone an email address) unless they feel the benefit is clear.  As such, some of the site visitors will open another window to continue searching (or bookmark the landing page) to check out alternatives or conduct additional research on the company or product, before moving forward.  Strong visibility for relevant phrases in search results increases the likelihood prospects will continue on the path and provide personal information once their questions are addressed.

Most companies employing basic SEM & email programs to generate, qualify and convert leads typically fall short at this point.  Capturing emails isn’t the end of the campaign, it’s just the start.  What kind of information are you providing the prospect upon submission?  What about the following messages?  How are you leveraging email’s strengths to educate the prospect and enable them to make an informed buying decision?

Email has the distinct advantage of knowing subscribers as individuals (with or without personal information) and building profiles based on preferences and click behavior.  Through user profiling and list segmentation, companies are able to send personalized messages with relevant information and calls to action that aids in conversion.  White papers, product reviews, case studies and interactive tools on the site (or in emails), are examples of valuable content for this stage in the process.

Retention

Customer service and support should rely on email to communicate regularly with customers.  Streamlining and automating the process doesn’t mean it’s impersonal, so long as the information being provided is timely and relevant.  At this stage in the relationship, providing links to recent press releases, coverage, awards, product reviews and educational Webinars enhances the relationship.

Evangelism

If open communications is important in the retention stage, it’s absolutely mission critical in the evangelism stage.  The relatively small percentage of your customers that fall into the evangelist category require special attention.  In return, they are your most effective marketers.  Give them the tools to spread the word, and they will do it for you (just ask Seth Godin).

Now more than ever, it’s time for advanced SEM and email marketers to consider the next logical step in the prospect to evangelist journey.  From an analytics perspective, it’s critical to understand what keywords and engines are generating the most qualified leads and customers with the highest lifetime value.  This is an important step that is usually skipped because SEM and email marketing professionals do not typically talk, especially in larger companies lacking integrated CRM platforms.

In addition, SEM professionals can collaborate with the email marketing team to create messages and calls to action that in turn help boost organic search visibility.  Examples include encouraging your best customers to complete third party surveys (i.e. BizRate) and product ratings & reviews (i.e. ePinions).  Additionally, remind or reward your customers to spread the word via blogs and forums (which both do well in search results).

SEM and email may not create demand, but they are exceedingly effective at attracting, converting and retaining customers.  Of course an integrated SEM and email marketing strategy makes the most sense if your company and products have a good reputation.  Otherwise, you’ll have a great deal of trouble harvesting and harnessing the power of evangelists.  It’s never too late to get started.