When should a company focus on an SEM strategy?

SEM is an excellent way for a company to get up and running by responding to demand in the market. Early-stage companies who have not established their brand can start driving interest and opportunities immediately.

As an organization grows, SEM can continue to be a large part of its digital toolbox while adding in other areas, including organic (SEO), as the company's brand becomes known and it builds authority.

SEM is helpful at a variety of stages. I wouldn’t say there is a specific moment when a company should focus on an SEM strategy though. It depends on your goals.

Here are some questions to consider for when you should launch SEM:

• How much coverage do you have from an SEO perspective? SEM is helpful while you are building your organic strategy.

• How healthy is the company from a budget perspective? SEM oftentimes is a profitable tactic, but I wouldn’t say it is absolutely necessary.

• What’s your company’s tolerance level for experimentation? While SEM is a more mature tactic, there is still a level of experimentation that comes along with it.

As someone who has built campaigns from the ground up, I’ve seen a lot of success with SEM. One pro tip to upgrade your SEM is to really think critically about tracking and reporting. If you can gauge performance through to retention you could really speak to what’s more impactful.

SEM is helpful at a variety of stages. I wouldn’t say there is a specific moment when a company should focus on an SEM strategy though. It depends on your goals.

Here are some questions to consider for when you should launch SEM:

• How much coverage do you have from an SEO perspective? SEM is helpful while you are building your organic strategy.
• How healthy is the company from a budget perspective? SEM oftentimes is a profitable tactic, but I wouldn’t say it is absolutely necessary.
• What’s your company’s tolerance level for experimentation? While SEM is a more mature tactic, there is still a level of experimentation that comes along with it.

As someone who has built campaigns from the ground up, I’ve seen a lot of success with SEM. One pro tip to upgrade your SEM is to really think critically about tracking and reporting. If you can gauge performance through to retention you could really speak to what’s more impactful.

A company should focus on SEM strategy if inbound has proven to be a meaningful channel to generate high quality leads. If setup and managed correctly, SEM programs can deliver highly qualified potential buyers. In addition, though Google's algorithm is constantly changing, SEO efforts have seen positive impact when supported with SEM programs.

Another primary use case is when you are in the process of building out and implementing your SEO strategy. Unlike SEM, where you can see immediate results based on your setup/investment, etc., SEO takes time. There are also a ton of competing factors that will ultimately determine your organic rank. So often times companies will supplement paid efforts against their SEO keywords to essentially bridge the gap while their SEO programs take root.

Whether or not you see high quality leads come through, you should see a lift in website traffic from your SEM efforts. While most SEM programs are setup based on conversion goals, more sophisticated attribution systems can take into account qualified website traffic as part of their overall conversion journey.

Both SEO and SEM are effective in tandem. Like most things, it ultimately comes down to your goals, your keyword strategy, your budget, and how quickly you want to move.