What is SEM in Digital Marketing?

Depending on who you ask, search engine marketing  can mean a few different things. Normally SEM is  
used to refer to paid search ad campaigns, like  Google Ads. But some may use it to refer to all  
marketing actions that take place within a  search engine, whether they are paid or not. 
Today, we'll explain what SEM is, what its  advantages are, and the basic concepts to  
help you get started in the world of  search engine marketing. Let’s dive in! 
*** Like I said before,  
defining exactly what SEM consists of can be  tricky since there are different definitions. 
Basically SEM is defined by the set of tools,  techniques and strategies that help optimize  
the visibility of websites and web pages  through search engines. To put it simply,  
the goal of SEM is to gain better search engine  positioning on Google and other similar sites.  
Generally, Google search pages and other sites  show two types of results; organic and paid.  
Let’s see the differences between them: Organic results: To know which results to show,  
the search engine uses an algorithm that tells  you which websites best respond to a specific  
query. Google's algorithm is based on relevance  with web content and authority with links from  
other pages. The set of techniques and tools used  to position organic listings is known as SEO.
Paid results: Unlike organic listings, here the  advertiser must pay for each click. To get traffic  
by buying ads in search engines, you will have  to resort to search engine advertising solutions,  
such as Google Ads. This system is also  called pay per click or cost per click. 
Search Engine Marketing encompasses both SEO  techniques and search engine advertising.  
In this video we will address SEM to refer to  search engine advertising and paid advertising. 
Why use SEM for your business? There are many reasons to incorporate  
SEM in your digital marketing strategy.  These are just some of its benefits: 
Bring highly qualified traffic to your  page. One of the bases of any digital  
marketing strategy is to attract the  right users to your landing pages.  
Search engine marketing is very effective in  attracting users' attention and generating clicks  
by allowing users to filter based on the  words they seek. This ensures that your  
traffic is made up of people who are  potentially interested in your brand.
Make your brand or company known throughout the  world. Placing yourself at the top of Google is a  
great way to get visibility for your brand. Seeing  your page in the first place will allow the user  
to associate it with the need that they’re looking  to solve even if they don't click on the page.
Generate conversions. Google Ads offers many ways  
to measure conversions and thus ensure  that your ads are really effective.
Get results with a tight budget. Search engine  advertising solutions can be adjusted to your  
budgetary needs at any time. You do not need a  large initial investment, so these are suitable  
for small and medium businesses. If your  brand is growing, the sky is the limit!
Finally, with Search Engine  Marketing Google Ads solutions,  
you can not only place advertisements in  the search engine, but also take advantage  
of the data and parameters available to place  contextual advertising on other websites. The  
possibilities of personalization are  very high. Combined with your search  
engine advertising campaigns, these can  be powerful tools to grow your brand.
Advantages and Disadvantages of SEM Clearly, search engine marketing is a powerful  
tool for almost all types of brands. To evaluate  when and how to use it correctly, let's look at  
some of the advantages and disadvantages: Advantages 
It is highly measurable. Tools like Google Ads  give you highly detailed reports of the evolution  
of your campaign, so you can always know what is  happening with your ads. In addition, you can take  
advantage of the integration with Analytics  to have everything controlled to perfection.
Real-time monitoring. The analytics interface  allows you to see what is happening at each  
moment and corrects the course if you do  not get the results you are looking for.
Pay per click. With this, you will only  pay if you get results. You can control  
the maximum daily budget that you are  willing to invest as well as the maximum  
cost per click you can pay. This way, you  make sure that the campaign is profitable.
Speed. Regarding other techniques  such as SEO or content marketing,  
search engine advertising allows you to  achieve relatively fast, large-scale results.
It is within everyone's reach. Since  budgetary investment is scalable,  
this solution works for both large companies  
and SMEs. They all compete in equal conditions  to reach the first positions for keywords.
Segmentation. Finally, another positive aspect  is its great segmentation possibilities. By  
focusing on keywords, you will reach the  public that is actively interested in you.  
You can also filter it by other factors  such as location, language, or behavior.
Although the advantages are really high,  you should also take into account some of  
its main disadvantages before getting started: Higher long-term cost. To be clear, SEM only works  
while you pay. Although over time you can  optimize your campaigns and reduce costs  
per click, you will have to continue  paying for each of the visits you get.
High level of competition. Search  Engine Marketing has become popular  
and there are many companies that compete to  position themselves for the same keywords.  
This competition causes costs to rise and  sometimes it can be difficult to get a good ROI.
It's interruptive. As opposed to other  solutions like native advertising,  
SEM involves "invading" the user's space  with content that they didn't seek out.  
In fact, if the user you are targeting has  an ad blocker, they may not see your ads. 
Now let’s see some of the most  popular search engines for SEM. 
When we think of search engines, usually the first  thing that comes to mind is Google. But the truth  
is that there are other SEM platforms that can  also give us good results. These are the three  
main solutions for search engine advertising. · Google Ads 
Of course Google is one of the main search  engines. Here are some tips for using Google Ads: 
Keywords: a keyword is a set of terms entered by a  user in a search engine. It can be a single word,  
several words, or even a whole phrase, for  example: "buy dumbbells for home exercise".  
Keywords let Google know which ads are relevant  to a particular user at a particular time.
Match types: match types determine  to what extent the term entered  
by the user in the search engine  matches the keyword. In Google Ads,  
from the broadest to the strictest, you'll find:  broad match, phrase match, and exact match.  
You can also set negative matches (searches for  which you do NOT want your ads to be shown).
Ads: the advertising displayed on  Google's search engine is mainly  
based on text ads consisting of a title,  visible URL, description, and extensions.
CPC (or cost per click): the price you pay for  each click on your ads, which in turn depends on  
the level of quality and bids set. · Microsoft Advertising or Bing Ads 
This is a very solid alternative to Google  Ads, as it reaches a relevant potential  
audience (almost 10% of the market share) and has  very good targeting and configuration options. 
In general, it is a very  similar tool to Google Ads,  
but there are some differences  that you should be aware of: 
Negative keyword matching is stricter. You can  only place negative keywords with phrase matching.
Bing sets a minimum amount for maximum bids.
Bing's location options allow you to  specify a radius within a city or zip code.
You can schedule ads to show in  15-minute increments throughout the day,  
or to appear only at certain times.
Bing has image-specific and  stock-specific extensions.
You can set up different time  zones within a single campaign.
And it filters reports based on search partners  and discards those you are not interested in.
Yahoo Yahoo Advertising or Yahoo Ads is Yahoo's  
advertising solution. In Yahoo ads, you can find: Search Ads: The most classic SEM format,  
which shows ads in the search engine  when users enter a specific keyword.
Display Ads: These ads are  placed at the top, bottom,  
to the side, or in the middle of  content and can be used for remarketing.
Sponsored Ads in different formats:  Image, carousel, and native video ads.
Mail Ads: These ads are integrated  within inboxes and through banners.
Not everyone can afford to do SEM, or maybe  you can but it’s not working the way that  
you wanted to. Don’t worry, it’s not the  only option you have. Click on the video  
right now to learn what SEO is and how to  implement it in your marketing campaign. 
Thanks for watching!