In recent times, a lot of businesses have become interested in performance marketing and SEO because of their positive impact on revenue growth. Both are very effective means of reaching customers which is why they are so popular.
What exactly constitutes a performance marketing campaign and how does it stack up against an SEO campaign? Here’s how to distinguish between the two.
What is performance marketing?
Performance marketing is a marketing strategy whereby payment for advertising services is processed only after a desired action, eg. clicks or impressions, is completed. The success of a performance marketing campaign is dependent on the quality of the website, landing pages, and content.
The goal of performance marketing is to get more sales by increasing leads and inquiries about the subject of the ad campaign. It is used by many companies to market products or services.
How is performance marketing implemented?
Performance marketing campaigns require a platform for advertising (such as Google, Facebook or email) and a landing page (the page that users will be redirected to when they click your ad). It is important to test ads with a variety of different designs and landing pages to see which ones convert best.
The following are steps to implement a successful performance marketing campaign:
Step 1: Choose your target market
It is important to clearly know who you want to advertise to. This will help you determine what the message of you ad campaign should be and which platforms to advertise on. Choosing the right audience and the right ads will increase your campaign’s efficiency. Each platform (Google, Facebook, etc.) has an in-built classification of their users based on interests to make targeting easier and more effective. The choice of platform depends on the presence of your target audience. For example, if you’re targeting people interested in beauty and makeup from the Gen Z cohort, TikTok could be a good choice.
Step 2: Design landing pages
A performance marketing campaign is not just about generating leads but about generating quality leads and the highest quality leads for any business are always the ones that convert to customers. However, great ads alone can’t accomplish this. You need a great landing as well.
A landing page that converts well is a potential goldmine for any business. One way to find the best copy for your landing page is by trying out many different versions of the page during a performance marketing ad campaign.
You don’t necessarily need to hire a web designer to do this for you. You can design the page on your own or use one of many available templates online at no cost. However, when investing a significant amount of money into an ad campaign, you should take steps to ensure you get the most return on your investment with professionally designed landing pages that entice customers.
Step 3: Create content for your website and landing pages
In the event that you don’t convert a customer on the spot, it is important to have quality content posted on your website and the landing pages to educate the reader about your business. You should include blog posts, articles, videos, and other forms of content that help you get people interested in your product or service.
Step 4: Implement your performance marketing campaign
Once the previous steps are complete, you can implement your performance marketing campaign. A performance marketing campaign is not a campaign that can run on its own. You’ll need to keep optimizing it to achieve better results. Find out where your audience is losing interest – tweaking the landing pages and the ads themselves as you do so.
Quick Link – Visit Group6 Interactive for more info on performance marketing campaigns. We will cover the full performance marketing guide.
How is performance marketing effective?
Performance marketing provides many benefits to a business. When it is implemented correctly, it can help boost sales and improve the reputation of a brand or product. Performance marketing is a smart way to market your business. Here are a few of its benefits:
1. Drives more traffic to your website
Performance marketing can be an effective way to get more traffic to your website. Content is king and when you keep providing great content to readers, they develop trust. Trust is the basic necessity of a monetary transaction. Build trust with your content by paying to direct people in your target group to read your content.
2. Increases brand awareness
Performance marketing can help increase brand awareness for your company or product offering. The goal of a brand awareness campaign is not to directly initiate a sale but rather create a good impression of your brand and become the first choice when people are ready to make a purchase. You could run a brand awareness campaign to reach as many people as possible, or target a specific niche audience.
3. Increases sales and revenue
Performance marketing can increase sales for your business. When people become aware of the service or product you are offering and they are in need of it, they will want to buy it. It is important to mention the benefits of your product/service on landing pages and educate the readers about how you could potentially solve a problem for them.
4. Increases opportunities for new conversations
When visitors come to your site and read more about it, they may leave comments on your posts or leave reviews on the pages where you have content for them. This gives you the opportunity to reach out to them personally and market your products or services to them.
5. Improves the lead nurturing strategy
Performance marketing helps improve a business’s lead nurturing strategy. You can target people with different types of content at different stages of the buyer journey. An omnichannel performance marketing strategy will ensure that you always stay on top of your prospect’s mind. It’ll give you the opportunity to create a relationship with potential customers who could be converted into actual clients if nurtured correctly.
What is SEO?
SEO (Search engine optimization) is a marketing strategy that involves optimizing your site to rank higher on search engines. SEO is one of the most effective digital marketing strategies when it comes to generating high-quality leads at low costs. It is also one of the best ways to get your business found on the Internet.
SEO can be used by small businesses and large corporations alike. To get your website ranked on search engines, you will need to create quality content. It must be relevant, interesting and on-topic. These elements will create a compelling website that will draw in visitors, thus helping your company drive sales and increase overall exposure.
SEO is a long-term strategy, which takes time to yield results but once the results start flowing in, you’ll start reaping the benefits with minimal effort. To learn more about SEO and how to implement it for your brand, read on!
How to perform SEO for your business?
SEO is a strategic way of marketing that involves optimizing your site for search engines. SEO can help you drive high-quality website traffic from different search engines. This will help increase your ranking on the search engine results page (SERP), which increases exposure and sales. There are many steps that you must take to successfully execute this strategy in your company; the following are the steps to implement an SEO campaign:
Step 1: Create a strategic plan
Create a strategic plan for an SEO campaign. Determine the keywords to target, the content to be written and the pages to prioritize. Also, estimate how much time and money will be required for it. The plan should include a traffic estimate (SEO forecasting) and the timespan that would be needed to achieve the results.
Step 2: Create the site’s architecture
After you have created a strategic plan, it is important to create the site’s architecture. This should include creating a site map and determining the site’s structure. Decide how you would like to dissect your site. For example, if your site is about pets, your site’s structure could begin with pets and then branch into dogs, cats, rabbits, and more. Further, dogs can branch into Labrador, German Shepherd, Pitbull, and more based on the breed. It is also important to use search engine-friendly URLs (URLs that are easy to read and remember).
Step 3: Create content
The content is what will give your site a ranking boost in search engines. It is very important to create valuable content. The rule of thumb is to create content that is better than the content already ranking on page 1 for the target keyword. It should be relevant, keyword-rich, and on-topic. However, keyword stuffing, i.e. needlessly repeating keywords simply to increase its ranking on search engines to the detriment of the content’s readability, is not advised.
Step 4: Use social media to your advantage
Social media is an important aspect of a successful SEO campaign. Once SEO pages are ready, start sharing them from your social media accounts. It will help you drive more traffic to your site and also help these pages get indexed by search engines faster.
Step 5: Monitor performance
It is important to monitor performance in order to make improvements to the ongoing project. It is also important to keep track of how effective the pages are in terms of traffic, leads, and conversions. If your SEO pages are struggling to rank, it could be because there isn’t enough content to solve for the search intent of the keyword. If this is the case, add new content and test the ranking changes. Iterate until your content starts to appear on page 1. You can also use off-page SEO initiatives like link building and PR mentions to compound your traffic.
What are the advantages of SEO?
SEO is the process of optimizing content to drive high-quality leads and traffic to the site. Here are the advantages of having an SEO strategy in place:
Increases Organic Discovery & High-Quality Website Traffic
When you implement an SEO strategy for your company’s website, you’ll increase the possibility of organic discovery of your products and services. Beyond the initial stages of a company, organic traffic is the channel most companies would want their leads to come from as they don’t have to keep paying continuously(as in performance marketing campaigns)
SEO Offers Impressive ROI
When you invest in SEO, it will help increase your marketing ROI (Return on Investment) as it can get you recurring leads.
Improves Credibility & Trust
SEO is a long-term game. It is important that you know what works and what does not work. When you create high-quality content for your site, it will help increase your company’s credibility and trust among potential customers. This will make them more likely to buy products and services from your company.
Generates High-Intent Leads
SEO can help generate high-intent leads. Here is an example: Let’s assume you operate a dental practice in Rutland. When someone searches for ‘Dentists in Rutland’ and you rank first because of your SEO efforts, that potential customer can be considered a high-intent lead because of the specificity of their search term.
Quick link – Looking for an SEO expert? Head on over to Group6Interactive.com to find the right SEO expert!
Which is suitable for your business – SEO or performance marketing?
Although SEO is a very important element of digital marketing, you should consider the stage of your business to decide between the two. To learn more about how to decide which one is suitable for your business, read on!
- If you are a startup, it is important for you to have immediate leads to keep your business afloat. Begin with performance marketing as it can often yield immediate results.
- If you are doing business in an industry that has cut-throat competition, it is better to start with paid advertising to promote your products and services to quickly get your name out. In a few months, start focusing on SEO because highly competitive industries require businesses to be good at both to succeed long-term.
- If your company has graduated from startup, it is better to focus on using both SEO and performance marketing. Being good at both can help your company adapt to the market’s needs.
There is no one-fit solution with SEO and performance marketing. It is important to consider your company’s unique needs and limitations, like budget and resources, when choosing the best approach.
Quick Link – Are you ready to take your business to the next level? Find out what we can do for you at Group6 Interactive.
Can I use performance marketing and SEO at the same time?
u003cmeta charset=u0022utf-8u0022u003eYes, you can use performance marketing and SEO at the same time. In fact, using both is the ideal strategy for companies to grow.
How does SEO affect a company’s brand awareness?
The more you invest in SEO, the more your content gets read by users. The more your content is read, the more credibility you’ll develop. This creates good brand awareness for you.
u003cmeta charset=u0022utf-8u0022u003eShould I hire an SEO agency?
u003cmeta charset=u0022utf-8u0022u003eYes, when pursuing a performance marketing and SEO strategy, an agency like Group6 Interactive and help you explore your options. They will understand your business and help implement the right strategies to suit your business.
Wrapping up, both performance marketing and SEO have endless benefits for businesses. In this modern era, digital marketing is the most effective way for any business to succeed. It is vital that businesses invest in marketing in order to improve brand awareness, generate leads, traffic, and achieve higher ROI. Remember these tips, and you will be on your way to success with SEO and performance marketing! Get in touch with Group6 Interactive to get started!
