In March this year Zara launched their online store to complement their bricks and mortar offering and implemented Search Engine Marketing (SEM) campaigns to drive awareness among Australian consumers. As an article in Smart Company explains, this caused other retailers to up their game and this began a bidding war. As SEM is the paid search engine tool, it works through the use of key search terms and a bid, with a combination of the most relevant and highest bidder being featured in the first 2-3 search results. This crucial spot at the top of the search results could drive major traffic to that website, however the green ‘Ad’ icon can deter people away too.
As retailers wanted to combat Zara’s entry into the Australian ecommerce landscape, they too began to launch larger SEM campaigns and bid higher than they did before to win over customers. While this is something competitors should consider, it is vital that businesses stick within their means. These big campaigns run by big companies like Zara who increased traffic to their website by 18,900% is unrealistic for smaller businesses.
In the article they also mention that SEM isn’t always the answer, SEO is a cost-effective way of bringing in more traffic to your website by people who are motivated and willing to purchase from you. As organic search results are the ones under the ‘Ad’ results, these can still give you important exposure. You are more likely to attract your target customer this way as these customers are most likely searching for businesses like yours and you don’t need to bid.
This situation really highlights how you should stick to what works for your business and not chase after what new and other competitors are doing because you need to focus on your target customers and optimising your business and what other businesses are doing may not suit you. At the end of the day most companies are out there to make profit so don’t waste money on SEM if SEO or another strategy works a lot better for you.
If you have any opinions or questions about this topic then please leave a comment below.
Image sourced: https://www.gobankingrates.com/saving-money/best-annual-sales-to-shop/
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