What do you do if your SEM strategy is underperforming?
Search engine marketing (SEM) is a powerful way to reach your target audience, drive traffic to your website, and generate leads and sales. But what if your SEM strategy is not delivering the results you expected? How do you identify the problem and fix it? In this article, we will share some tips on how to evaluate and improve your SEM performance.
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Bruce GibbsAssistant Vice President Digital Marketing - Speaker - Author
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Syafiqah Z.Associate Director Biddable at dentsu | Media Performance Lead | Campaign Management | E-commerce | Digital Acquisition
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Sashika DilshanLinkedIn Ads Expert | Helping B2B companies get great customers | Certified LinkedIn Marketing Professional | Sales…
The first step is to look at your data and see where your SEM strategy is falling short. You can use tools like Google Analytics, Google Search Console, and Google Ads to track and measure various metrics, such as impressions, clicks, conversions, cost per click, quality score, bounce rate, and more. Compare your data with your goals and benchmarks, and look for any gaps or discrepancies. For example, are you getting enough impressions but not enough clicks? Are you getting clicks but not conversions? Are you spending too much on low-quality keywords or ads?
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Nivetha Nagaraj
Client Relationship Manager | Digital Marketing Strategist | SEO Specialist | SEM Expert | Social Media Manager | Content Marketer
1. Analyze performance metrics (CTR, conversion rates, etc.). 2. Refine keyword selection and eliminate irrelevant ones. 3. Optimize ad copy and visuals for relevance and engagement. 4. Use ad extensions and formats to enhance visibility. 5. Adjust bidding strategy to optimize budget and ROI. 6. Ensure landing pages are optimized for conversions. 7. Analyze competitors' strategies and benchmark performance. 8. Implement robust tracking mechanisms and use analytics for insights. 9. Continuously test and optimize strategies based on performance data.
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Thaís Santos do Nascimento
Analista de Suprimentos Pleno
Se sua estratégia de Search Engine Marketing (SEM) estiver com desempenho abaixo do esperado, é importante realizar uma análise detalhada para identificar as causas do problema e tomar as medidas corretivas adequadas. É importante melhorar o desempenho de uma campanha SEM e isso geralmente requer tempo, paciência e uma abordagem estratégica. Esteja preparado para fazer ajustes contínuos e iterativos à medida que monitora e otimiza sua campanha ao longo do tempo.
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Linda Mordovina
SVP, Media at LOR Media
-Assess your account structure. Are your campaigns/ad groups broken out in accordance with best practices? Closely knit ad groups with likeminded keywords can ensure strong account health and more easily allow you to optimize copy/LPs to be relevant to user searches -Assess your brand health. Your brand impression share should be as close to 100%, as brand will be your top performing keyword set -Check your SQRs. Ensure you are not pulling in irrelevant keywords. -Segment! Google Ads offers a variety of ways to look at your data. Look at performance by match type (pushing as much to Exact match as possible is recommended), device, network, time of day, day of week, geo, click type, etc. There will be pockets of opportunity to optimize
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Arpan Banerjee
Google Ads Specialist | PPC - SEM
1. Analyze data and metrics to identify specific areas of weakness. 2. Adjust keyword targeting, ad copy, and bidding strategies as needed. 3. Experiment with different ad formats and placements. 4. Improve landing page quality and relevance. 5. Monitor competition and industry trends for insights. 6. Consider seeking expert consultation or training if necessary.
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Anshul Jain
Marketing Manager @ KPMG India | 12+ Years Experience | Digital Marketing Consultant
Here are few steps you can take: First, assess your current strategy to identify the specific areas that are not delivering the desired results. This could include keyword selection, ad targeting, ad copy, landing page optimization, or bidding strategy. Once you have identified the problem areas, make adjustments accordingly. Next, consider conducting A/B testing to see which variations of your ads, keywords, or landing pages perform better. This can help you identify what changes need to be made to improve your SEM campaigns. Additionally, consider expanding your keyword list to include more relevant terms. Lastly, If your budget allows, consider increasing your bids or budget for high-performing keywords to maximize your reach.
The next step is to audit your keywords and see if they are relevant, targeted, and competitive. You can use tools like Google Keyword Planner, SEMrush, or Moz to research and analyze your keywords, and see how they rank, how much traffic and competition they have, and what are the search intent and user behavior behind them. You should also check your negative keywords and make sure you are excluding any irrelevant or low-quality terms that might waste your budget or lower your quality score. You should aim to use keywords that match your audience's needs, goals, and stage in the buyer's journey.
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Syafiqah Z.
Associate Director Biddable at dentsu | Media Performance Lead | Campaign Management | E-commerce | Digital Acquisition
1- Understand your objective 2- Be clear with the key metrics for the campaign 3- Evaluate the keywords that you buys 4- Utilised the keyword planner to discover new kws. 5- Check on the forecast 6- NEVER give bare minimum ad copies, if you have choice to win in every bid why only run with 8 headlines and 2 description? go for 15 unique headlines with 4 descriptions 7- include kws on your ad copies 8- include extension 9- use smart bidding / bidding portfolio in SA360 if possible
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Elia Muara
Digital Marketing | Online Advertising / Biddable Media
1. Check the search terms. Exclude any irrelevant keywords. CTR could be the main metric to check. 2. Use match types if necessary to narrow your targeting. 3. Check where you are getting impressions from. Consider turning off the Search Partner or Display Network if they are not performing well. 4. Reorganize your keywords to keep them in the same theme. It will save you time on monitoring and optimizing performance.
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Darius Chiosa Chiosa
I help businesses scale with Google Ads | Google Ads Strategist | PPC, SEM, SEA, Paid Search
Do a quick keywords audit. -What type of keywords are you using? -Are you using the right type of keywords based on the amount of monthly searches and budget that you have? -Are you constantly reviewing search terms and excluding those that don't benefit you and are costing you money? Those are some very basic things you have to do to start seeing some traction with your campaign. But remember, you first have to focus on the 20% of things that bring you 80% of the results, and most of the time with Google Ads, those things are the most basic ones. Don't overcomplicate things and just build up keyword lists based on your product/service, NOT on your audience (that's old Google Ads).
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Mohd Obed khan
Senior Digital Marketer
Conduct a keyword audit using tools like Google Keyword Planner, SEMrush, or Moz. Assess relevance, competitiveness, and search intent. Examine rankings, traffic, and competition for optimization. Ensure the inclusion of negative keywords to exclude irrelevant terms and improve budget efficiency. Align keywords with your audience's needs and buyer journey stage for a targeted and effective SEM strategy.
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Maya Hneine
Brand Builder | Harvard Alumni | Consultant | Speaker | Entrepreneur
An audit of your keywords is key. Make sure you use the keywords that resonates with your audience for a better search performance
The third step is to optimize your landing pages and make sure they are aligned with your keywords and ads. You can use tools like Google Optimize, Unbounce, or Instapage to create and test different landing page variations, and see which ones perform better. You should also follow the best practices for landing page design and copywriting, such as having a clear and compelling headline, a strong and relevant value proposition, a clear and visible call to action, a simple and intuitive layout, and a fast and mobile-friendly performance. You should aim to provide a consistent and satisfying user experience that matches your audience's expectations and motivations.
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MD Sallauddin
Digital Marketing Strategist | I scale E-commerce businesses with proven Google Ads Strategy | Google Ads Expert • Google Certified Marketer
Boost your SEM campaign performance with these tactics : 1. Check the search terms. Exclude any irrelevant keywords 2. Use long-trail specific keywords to narrow your ad targeting. 3. Nail all the fundamentals about the media first most important. 4. Create a fast-loading landing page that convince your customers to take action 5. Spy on your competitor's best ads Hope this will help you improve your ad performance ✨
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Paamela Ghosh
Performance Marketer | Expertise in Meta, Google & Bing | CU MBA Student
When faced with underperformance in a strategy, it's essential to approach the situation with a proactive and analytical mindset. Firstly, conduct a thorough assessment to pinpoint the root causes of the underperformance. This involves analyzing market conditions, competitor actions, internal processes, and any other relevant factors. Once the underlying issues are identified, strategize corrective measures to address them effectively. This might involve refining the strategy, reallocating resources, updating tactics, or even pivoting entirely if necessary. Embrace a culture of continuous improvement and learning, leveraging data and feedback to inform decision-making. Remember, setbacks are opportunities for growth and refinement.
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Ashwini Rajvaidya
1M+ Views | Top Search Engine Marketing Voice | Top Digital Marketing Voice | Top Social Media optimization (SMO) Voice | Top Video Production Voice | Social Media Branding Expert | Strategic Innovator Driving Results
Optimizing landing pages is critical for maximizing the effectiveness of your SEM campaigns. Leveraging tools like Google Optimize, Unbounce, or Instapage allows you to create and test various page versions to determine the most successful ones. Adhering to landing page design and copywriting best practices is essential. This includes crafting a compelling headline, highlighting a relevant value proposition, featuring a clear call to action, maintaining a user-friendly layout, and ensuring fast, mobile-friendly performance. Consistently delivering a satisfying user experience that aligns with audience expectations enhances conversion rates and campaign ROI.
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David Evans, Ph.D., MBA
Highly Skilled Executive. Expert in Business Operations, Scientific Research, Product Development, and Revenue Growth. Special Expertise in Medical Device Sector and FDA Clinical Trials and Approval Processes.
The first thing to do is check analytics of your Google organic, PPC and social media platforms to determine if the users and targeting strategies align with the company revenue and growth goals. Determine which strategies are working or are not working and then run A and B testing to optimize the strategies on each touch-point platform. Don't forget consumers use multiple touch points to make buying decisions. The touch points should work in unison to maximize ROI, ie all should have similar focus and messaging. Also, reviews are a major touch point - evaluate your reviews strategy to ensure positive branding and messaging from customers.
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Mohd Obed khan
Senior Digital Marketer
Optimize landing pages to align with keywords and ads using tools like Google Optimize, Unbounce, or Instapage. Test variations to identify high-performing designs. Follow landing page best practices: clear headline, compelling value proposition, visible call-to-action, intuitive layout, and fast, mobile-friendly performance. Aim for a cohesive user experience meeting audience expectations and motivations for SEM success.
The fourth step is to test your ads and see if they are effective, engaging, and persuasive. You can use tools like Google Ads Editor, AdEspresso, or WordStream to create and manage different ad variations, and see which ones generate more clicks, conversions, and quality score. You should also follow the best practices for ad copywriting and formatting, such as using keywords, benefits, and emotional triggers, having a clear and relevant offer, using ad extensions and modifiers, and matching your ad with your landing page. You should aim to create ads that stand out from the competition and capture your audience's attention and interest.
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Bruce Gibbs
Assistant Vice President Digital Marketing - Speaker - Author
While testing your ad's relevancy, you should also test your messaging. For example, if you have an offer that is not resonating with your audience, you may want to change or modify your offer. The beauty of SEM/Paid Search is that you can quickly pivot and change ad messaging to help you mitigate ad costs and increase conversion rates. Pivoting your messaging can also benefit your customers by helping them to easily find relevant information that they need from your site.
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Mohd Obed khan
Senior Digital Marketer
Test ad effectiveness with tools like Google Ads Editor, AdEspresso, or WordStream. Create variations to assess clicks, conversions, and quality scores. Adhere to copywriting best practices: use keywords, highlight benefits, leverage emotional triggers, provide a clear offer, use ad extensions, and ensure alignment with the landing page. Aim to create compelling ads that capture attention and stand out, enhancing engagement and interest.
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Shafiul Islam Ruhan
Helping businesses build sustainable growth with Proven Marketing strategies || Help them to 5X their revenue || Convert their businesses into a sales machine🚀|| Founder @ TeneX Digital ||
Experiment with different ad copy, images, and calls-to-action to see what resonates best with your audience. A/B testing can help you identify which ad variations perform better and refine your messaging accordingly.
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Ashwini Rajvaidya
1M+ Views | Top Search Engine Marketing Voice | Top Digital Marketing Voice | Top Social Media optimization (SMO) Voice | Top Video Production Voice | Social Media Branding Expert | Strategic Innovator Driving Results
Testing your ads is crucial for optimizing their effectiveness and engagement. Utilize tools like Google Ads Editor, AdEspresso, or WordStream to create and manage multiple ad variations. Analyze metrics such as click-through rates, conversions, and quality scores to identify top-performing ads. Adhere to ad copywriting best practices by incorporating relevant keywords, highlighting benefits, and leveraging emotional triggers. Ensure clarity and relevance in your offer, utilize ad extensions effectively, and maintain consistency with your landing page. Strive to create ads that differentiate your brand, captivate your audience, and drive desired actions, ultimately maximizing campaign success.
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Cynthia Mackey
Digital Business and Learning Strategist, Speaker, Author, Innovator, Founder
IF you have audited your keywords, and researched your target audience, test your ads. I am always amazed how many people do not do this. This is so important in developing ads that deliver. You an follow the traditional A/B testing model. That is, break up your test into 2 primary areas: the visual and the copy. With the visual, try very different visuals, including video, to test the response. Once you have a successful response, try different copy options. This may take more work, but it always has delivered successful ads.There are many tools available to use, but it still comes down to the audience, the relationship you want to develop with them, and the visuals and copy they respond too.
The fifth step is to experiment with your bidding and see if you can optimize your budget, reach, and ROI. You can use tools like Google Ads Smart Bidding, Bid Simulator, or Bid Optimizer to automate and adjust your bidding based on your goals, performance, and market conditions. You can also try different bidding strategies, such as cost per click, cost per acquisition, cost per thousand impressions, or target return on ad spend, and see which ones work best for your campaign. You should aim to bid on the keywords and ads that have the highest potential to generate conversions and revenue.
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Sashika Dilshan
LinkedIn Ads Expert | Helping B2B companies get great customers | Certified LinkedIn Marketing Professional | Sales Navigator Expert
In my years as a search engine marketer, I've found tweaking bids to be a game-changer. It's like fine-tuning a guitar for the perfect melody; adjusting bids can harmonize your budget, reach, and returns. Testing various strategies, be it cost per click or target return on ad spend, is key. It's not just about data – it's about finding the sweet spot where keywords and ads strike a chord, turning clicks into conversions and revenue.
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Ashwini Rajvaidya
1M+ Views | Top Search Engine Marketing Voice | Top Digital Marketing Voice | Top Social Media optimization (SMO) Voice | Top Video Production Voice | Social Media Branding Expert | Strategic Innovator Driving Results
Experimenting with bidding strategies is crucial for maximizing the efficiency and effectiveness of your SEM campaigns. Utilize tools like Google Ads Smart Bidding, Bid Simulator, or Bid Optimizer to automate and fine-tune your bidding based on campaign objectives, performance metrics, and market dynamics. Explore different bidding approaches, such as cost per click, cost per acquisition, cost per thousand impressions, or target return on ad spend, to determine the optimal strategy for your specific goals. Focus bidding efforts on keywords and ads with the greatest potential to drive conversions and revenue, ensuring strategic allocation of resources for enhanced campaign performance and ROI.
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Shafiul Islam Ruhan
Helping businesses build sustainable growth with Proven Marketing strategies || Help them to 5X their revenue || Convert their businesses into a sales machine🚀|| Founder @ TeneX Digital ||
Adjust your bidding strategy to optimize your SEM campaigns. Test different bidding strategies such as manual bidding, automated bidding, and bid modifiers to find the most cost-effective approach for your goals.
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Mohd Obed khan
Senior Digital Marketer
Experiment with bidding using tools like Google Ads Smart Bidding, Bid Simulator, or Bid Optimizer. Automate and adjust bids based on goals, performance, and market conditions. Test various bidding strategies like cost per click, cost per acquisition, cost per thousand impressions, or target return on ad spend. Aim to prioritize keywords and ads with the highest potential for conversions and revenue, optimizing budget, reach, and ROI.
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Tymothy Gómez
PROFESIONAL DE COMUNICACIÓN SOCIAL PERIODISMO | MARKETING DIGITAL | SEO | SEM | ADS | ADMINISTRADOR | DATOS | POSICIONAMIENTO DE MARCA | DESARROLLADOR WEB | KPI | ECOMMERCE | PHOTOSHOP | ILLUSTRATOR | PREMIER | VEGAS PRO
4. Use of ad extensions: Utilize extensions to provide additional information and enhance visibility. 5. Precise targeting: Refine targeting to reach specific audiences. 6. Continuous monitoring and analysis: Maintain ongoing tracking of performance and conduct regular analysis to identify areas for improvement.
The final step is to monitor and adjust your strategy and see if you can maintain and improve your SEM performance over time. You should review your data and results regularly, and look for any trends, patterns, or changes. You should also keep an eye on your competitors and see what they are doing, and how you can differentiate yourself. You should also keep testing and experimenting with different elements of your SEM strategy, such as keywords, landing pages, ads, and bidding, and see what works and what doesn't. You should aim to learn from your feedback and optimize your SEM strategy accordingly.
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Mohd Obed khan
Senior Digital Marketer
Continuously monitor and adjust your SEM strategy for sustained improvement. Regularly review data, identifying trends or patterns. Stay informed about competitors and differentiate your approach. Conduct ongoing testing and experimentation with keywords, landing pages, ads, and bidding. Learn from feedback and optimize your SEM strategy accordingly, ensuring adaptability and sustained performance enhancements over time.
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Shafiul Islam Ruhan
Helping businesses build sustainable growth with Proven Marketing strategies || Help them to 5X their revenue || Convert their businesses into a sales machine🚀|| Founder @ TeneX Digital ||
Continuously monitor the performance of your SEM campaigns and make adjustments as needed. Stay informed about changes in the competitive landscape, search engine algorithms, and industry trends that may impact your strategy.
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Silvio Junior
Marketing Coordinator| Performance Media
A otimização da campanha é algo que tem que ser feito com recorrência. Porque a campanha por si só chega em um ponto de saturação e cabe ao especialista de mídia, efetuar as melhorias, os testes, revisão de orçamento e palavra chave. Esses pontos são cruciais para garantir um resultado eficiente.
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Umer Siddique
Digital Growth Marketer | Data Analytics & GA4 Expert | PPC | Media Buying | PROGRAMMATIC SEO Expert 📈 I Digital Marketing Trainer I B2B, B2C, SAAS Marketing I Leads Generation | Performance Marketing
Analyze data to identify specific areas of underperformance, such as low click-through rates, high costs, or low conversions.
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Santosh K.
Let's scale your E-commerce Store beyond 7 figures with Google Ads
If none of the above work then ask for professional help from other SEM Experts. Sometimes your SEM campaigns can be the victim of your personal biases resulting in poor performance. An outsider can easily spot those biases and offer constructive suggestions. Yours truly has done this several times and therefore speaking from experience.
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Jesse Witham
President at Search Marketing Agency💡Top SEO Voice 📈 Guaranteed Rankings
If your SEM strategy is underperforming, first analyze data to pinpoint issues. Assess keyword relevance, ad copy effectiveness, and landing page quality. Adjust bid strategy to optimize budget allocation. Experiment with new keywords, ad variations, or targeting options. Improve ad relevance and landing page experience to enhance Quality Score. Monitor competition and industry trends for insights. Continuously test and refine tactics. Consider seeking expert consultation or training if needed. Flexibility, data-driven decision-making, and ongoing optimization are key to reviving a struggling SEM strategy.
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Shafiul Islam Ruhan
Helping businesses build sustainable growth with Proven Marketing strategies || Help them to 5X their revenue || Convert their businesses into a sales machine🚀|| Founder @ TeneX Digital ||
Seek feedback from your target audience through surveys or focus groups to understand their needs and preferences better. Keep an eye on your competitors' SEM strategies to identify opportunities for improvement or differentiation. Additionally, consider leveraging AI-powered tools and insights from the LinkedIn community to optimize your SEM efforts further.
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Nifemi Aluko
Writer & B2B Growth Strategist | Working with business leaders to grow their pipeline of business and opportunities with effortless content marketing systems.
Make sure that your landing page is matched to your keywords. Use words in the headlines of your landing page that matches the words and keywords used for the search engine campaign. This is very important. You have a few seconds to hold the readers attention. If there is a mismatch between what they expect to see and your copy, they will leave. This is what causes a lot of people to bounce (bad and unmatched headlines). Then you want to use a persuasive structure to get them through your page to the call-to-action. Happy growth and optimization.
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Yuki Cherry W.
ゆきです,どうぞよろしく
Relook at the campaign structure , some keywords may need to break down into theme and move to another campaign for budget and bidding strategy focused reason
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