Search engine marketing (SEM) promotes a website on Google, Yahoo, and other search engines through various methods, such as organic search marketing, paid placement, and contextual advertising. When a website product or service is searched for, organic search marketing allows the site to appear on the first page of search engine results increasing its visibility. Paid placement allows the website to be included in sponsored listings that are normally found in or next to organic search results (for example, Google sponsored links). Paid placement is also called pay per click, as the advertiser will be charged when the link is clicked. Contextual advertising places text ads on websites that have the same content theme as the advertiser (for example, Google AdSense).
Social networks allow interaction between two or more people who know each other directly or indirectly by sharing points of view and thoughts on a topic of common interest. Social media includes websites and portals like YouTube, Facebook, Wikipedia, Twitter and Flicker etc. Social media marketing uses social networks, online communities, blogs, wikis, or any other means of online collaboration for marketing, sales, public relations, and customer service.
Search Engine Marketing
o Customers search for a product or service on a search engine when they are interested in it. Based on the search phrase they type into search engines, a marketer can tell the customer’s intent. This helps identify relevant keywords.
o When a user searches for a particular product, service or any information, search engines return the most relevant web pages to the search query at the top of the search engine results page (SERP). Usually, the relevance of the web page to the search query decreases as we scroll down to the last few results. Thus, the user is focused on the top web pages that appear on the first page of search engine results.
o Website owners can promote their products or services by appearing in search results through search engine optimization campaign. A professional SEO company can enable first page ranking for the website, thus increasing the chances of a click.
o Advertisers can also opt for pay-per-click ads on search engines to promote their site.
or SEM can be accurately measured. A website can measure sales for a search keyword, which is very effective for tracking ROI on each and every phrase.
o SEM is more affordable for small and medium businesses to promote their products and services within their marketing budget.
social media marketing
o Social networks allow direct communication between companies and customers about the product or service.
o It’s a great tool to learn customer feedback and feedback, and to stay connected with customers.
o In social networks it is very easy to obtain a negative brand image. For example, a person who had a bad experience with a product may express their opinion in a negative tone. This destroys any positive image of that brand or product that can spread virally in no time.
o The biggest drawback of social media marketing is that social media is used primarily for communication and not for purchases or advertisements, which distracts from the user experience. Therefore, influencing the customer to buy may not work in most cases in social media marketing.
o It may not be as useful as SEM for small and emerging brands, since the biggest and most popular brands dominate the content.
o The possibility of conversion rate is lower in social media marketing.
A study conducted by GFK Roper for ‘Citibank Small Business Segment’ reveals that small businesses choose search marketing over social media marketing. More than 76% of small business owners did not find social media helpful for their business to generate leads and grow their business. 86% of business owners have not used social networking sites for advertising their business or for any other information.
Social media advertising, after strong growth in 2008 of 33%, is expected to show negative growth of 3% in 2009. Over the next 2 years it is expected to grow at a slower pace at 13.2% and then down 8.2% in 2011, according to eMarketer. On the other hand, search revenue accounted for 47 percent of Internet advertising revenue for the second quarter of 2009, up from 44 percent reported in the second quarter of 2008.
Marketers from large organizations, who have already established a brand image, are using social media. Small business owners rely less on social media for marketing. Even for business advice or information, they don’t use social media, with around 61% of respondents saying they trust search engine sites.