Blog Post

4 SEM Mistakes That Are Costing You Money

Amber Blevins • Mar 17, 2023

No matter how you market your local business, you want the most bang for your buck. Making avoidable mistakes or simply not understanding certain marketing processes will not only waste your time, it's likely to have a negative effect on your ROI.

Digital forms of marketing and in particular, SEM, come with an additional set of speed bumps. Evolving technology, fluctuating algorithms, and changes in digital consumer behavior are all variables that add to the challenge of running a successful campaign. Missteps in your SEM campaign can leave you with a spent budget and nothing to show for it.

Fortunately, many of the mistakes local business owners make in their SEM campaigns are easily remedied. Here are a few common blunders that could be costing you money and how you can avoid them.

Understanding SEM

Before we get started, let’s take a moment to review what SEM is and how it differs from some other forms of digital marketing.

SEM, or search engine marketing, is a form of internet marketing that involves the promotion of websites by increasing their visibility in search engine results pages primarily through paid advertising. - Wikipedia

In other words, SEM is paid marketing. It’s the opposite of SEO—search engine optimization—which is organic or non-paid marketing. Examples of SEM are pay-per-click campaigns or YouTube ads.

Common SEM Mistakes

SEM, like every other form of marketing, has its own set of nuances. There are a few tried-and-true rules along with other guidelines that are more fluid. Stick to the established rules and avoid common pitfalls for the best chance of a successful campaign.

1. Not Using SEO in Tandem with SEM

Just because you’re spending money on SEM doesn’t mean you should ignore the no-cost benefits of SEO. SEM and SEO have a symbiotic relationship that works beautifully to enhance the success of both campaigns. SEM results will appear more quickly, while SEO results will build over time. But the combination of the two will work together to build a great foundation for a strong, long-running campaign.

2. Ignoring Negative Keywords

Most marketing experts will tell you negative keywords are just as important as your other keywords. Instead of triggering your ad when a particular keyword is used, negative keywords actually prevent your ad from appearing. This helps target the correct audience and make the most of your ad spend. For example, if you’re a kitchen and bath remodeler, you might select “DIY” or “do-it-yourself" as negative keywords. This would prevent your ad from showing up when a consumer searches for information on DIY projects, since they’re obviously looking to do the work themselves as opposed to hiring a professional.

3. Neglecting to Update Geotargeting

This one may seem obvious, but many SEM campaigns don’t have the correct geo-locations targeted. If you’re running a campaign in Google Ads for example, the default location is worldwide. Now, if you’re a local kitchen and bath remodeler in Lexington, Kentucky, why would you want your ads appearing to someone in Sri Lanka? You wouldn’t, of course. Don’t miss this crucial step in setting up your campaign; select the appropriate geo-locations.

4. Failing to Allow Enough Time for Results

It’s true, SEM typically yields results a lot faster than SEO. In fact, nearly any paid marketing campaign (digital or otherwise) will generate leads faster than an organic one. But just because they’re quicker doesn’t mean they’re immediate. Give your campaigns time to gain traction and provide you with genuine data on their effectiveness. Don’t bail after a week of less-than-stellar results.

SEM is Not Set-It and Forget-It

Once set up, your SEM campaign will continue to run as long as there’s money available to fund it. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t keep a close eye on it. Monitor your campaign regularly and make adjustments as needed, remembering to avoid common SEM mistakes.

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