Posted by: Shannon Denny, Project Manager

It seems more than ever marketers are striving to make the most of their marketing bucks. If you’ve previously run search engine marketing (SEM) programs, one of the best ways to stretch your dollar is to evaluate your campaigns’ past performance. Here are a few questions to ask when optimizing your current SEM campaign:

·     What type of traffic did your previous campaign drive? If you were satisfied with the number and quality of the leads you were receiving, then it’s safe to assume you can continue down the same path; however, if the leads didn’t necessarily give you the results you were looking for, consider the strategy of your past campaign. For a pay-per-click (PPC) advertising campaign, you may need to revisit the keyword strategy to determine what terms converted well. For an organic optimization (or SEO) program, see what position your website was showing up in, and try being more aggressive with any terms that aren’t performing to your expectations.

·     Did your cost-per-lead remain steady and/or decrease over time? If the answer to this question is yes, and the leads you have pulled in are qualified, then you’re probably on the right track. However, if your cost-per-lead increased over time, you might be aggressively bidding on PPC campaign terms that are not necessarily worth the increased cost-per-click. You might also need to evaluate your current media tactics and creative as prospects can sometimes get tired of seeing the same thing in the same places. Another place to look is your registration page. Think about whether it is necessary to collect all of the information required in your registration form, and decide if you can collect some of it later down the road. If you don’t absolutely need the information from your prospects, don’t ask for it.

·     Where was the majority of your budget spent? Ideally, you want to spend your money in places you will get the most qualified leads. Hopefully you’re tracking conversions, because if too much of your PPC budget was spent on keywords that weren’t driving conversions, then in your next campaign, you should focus on bidding on specific keywords that are more likely to convert.

Once you’ve answered these questions, you will be able to identify your campaigns’ areas of strength and areas for improvement to optimize your next SEM campaign. Stick to what works and learn from your past campaigns, but don’t forget to incorporate new ideas into the mix as the industry is constantly changing.