5 Steps to Effective Media Planning for SEM Programs

SEM programs are always the ones that keep you on a tight rope. The precariousness of program management often gets to the manager, resulting in haphazard decisions and unarranged reporting. And like every other type of management, the best way to avoid getting nipped at the last moment is by taking on a paid search program with a clearly defined media plan. A plan of action, which clearly states what needs to be done, how it needs to be done and by when it has to meet its completion, is the only respite that exists for paid search managers who are desperate to draw some ease into the process.

1. Assign clearly defined duties: This is an underscored aspect for achieving some sort of clarity and ease while handing a paid search program. Everybody working on an SEM project must be well aware of what they are responsible for, who are they supposed to report to, from whom are they required to gather inputs from and who has be to be updated about any developments; if not more. A clear understanding of one’s duty helps systematise the course of handling an SEM program, ironing out much of the discrepancies that result from unfocused work duties. 

2. Explicitly define program objectives: Every SEM program manager will agree that clearly defined program objectives are crucial to handling a program. Objectives that are explicitly stated, rather than subjectively cocooned are essential for understanding what you are working towards. Stating that ‘you are working towards increasing profits by 15% to $150,000 by next quarter’ is a well-defined objective; merely expressing you are working towards ‘maximizing profits’ is simply an expression of your program goals, not its objectives. 

3. Work with a budget: To have an unlimited budget is an aspiration for any paid search program manager. But the possibilities of it being under-optimized are very high. A better measure would be to understand how many conversions you can achieve with a certain budget, and then circle your way out around it.

4. Report with clarity: It is hard to not be a diplomat when reporting results, particularly when they have not been up to the mark. But take it with a bullet, and state results with clarity. It is better to make stakeholders understand a situation as it is than have them amount to any surreal expectations in future. 

5. Working with a timeline helps: Timeline helps optimize priorities better. Moreover, by working with a timeline, you can hope to get access to seasonal information which can be just the catalysing ingredient for your program.

So, in essence, work with media plan that seeks to collaborate and co-ordinate with dependencies and helps define a proper work-flow and responsibility for everyone involved.  

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Personal selling gets modern with Social Media

There was a time when personal selling through sales person and cold calls were the money-spinning tricks of the day. However, they lost their charm mid-way. People were annoyed with constant nagging and insistence on how we need a product or service and how they can get it to us at half price.

Fast forward to 21^st century! Enter Facebook, Twitter, Blogs and Forums, and marketing as we knew it changed for ever (and for good too!). No one first anticipated the power social media would hold as a business driver, but modern marketing is testament to the fact that social media is as indispensible to sales leads as water is to plants. It is inarguably the best way for a brand to reach out to a set of people and engage with them in way that a conversation develops between them. It is this conversation, the voluntarily inflicted affiliation to a brand, which causes prospects to turn into customers, without the brand coming across a pushy and annoying.

Opting for social media marketing is a four-step process: Getting attention, Igniting interest, creating desire and inflicting action. Benefits, however, are three fold. One, their capital investment in the channel is practically nil. The only investment social media marketing calls for is that of time. Two, the choice of platform makes them comes across as anything but annoying like a sales person. This is because social media, by some stroke genius, is home to more than 60% of world population.  This means that people love being on social media, particularly networking sites, and find interactions on the same as more meaningful and appealing. Lastly, social media facilitates brand advocacy. This is best explained by considering that you are a brand with an active fan base, and interact with your audiences on a regular basis through a Facebook page, Twitter account or Blog. When audiences are proactively interacting, it signals that they like the brand, enjoy talking about it, and are genuinely interested in what it has to offer. When audiences start filtering brand’s identity in candied overtones, they are more inclined to refer the brand to someone else, and these people, on having similar experiences, are likely to set off the cycle again. It’s like word of mouth; only digitized.

So, bottom line remains that social media marketing, perhaps coined with a little dose of search engine optimization and PPC advertising, is the best way to reach out to you audiences and convert them into customers. Cold calls are better left to the 90s.