S.E.M. stands for Search Engine Marketing, and at our digital marketing agency, we believe it's one of the most powerful ways to grow your local business using the web.

The concept we follow called the "SEM Mountain" is used it to generate massive results for local businesses in terms of new customers, sales and profitability.

It's all about focusing on the right marketing tactics at the right time and in the right order. No skipping ahead, no shortcuts, no "hacks". Just natural growth that builds on top of each other, allowing you to reach new heights in your business.

Ready to climb? Let's dive in.

The SEM Mountain is divided into multiple phases. Each phase must be fully completed before moving to the next one.

Think of it as starting at the base of a mountain and then climbing up towards the summit with the right gear and the right momentum.

Whether you're a small local business just starting out or a more established business looking to expand, this approach helps you take the right actions in the right order, maximizing impact and minimizing wasted resources.

Now, at times, this does vary from business to business based on your marketing budget and ability to execute multiple areas of focus at once. Get in touch with us and our team can help you assess your unique situation and create a roadmap for your company.

If you want to start your digital marketing off right. You should really focus on getting these four things set up right before moving on to anything else.

CRM (Customer Relationship Manager):

Every business needs some kind of CRM.

A CRM stands for "Customer Relationship Manager", and it's typically a software to help you organize your contacts, customers, leads and communication with all of those people in one place.

I would say get this implemented before you even optimize your website or anything else, because your CRM will keep you well organized as you grow.

With a CRM, you can potentially get more revenue opportunities out of what you're already doing without needing to spend much on outbound marketing at all. Putting in systems for better efficiency early is much better than scrambling to implement it later when things are busy.

A Professional Website:

Chances are you have a website, but it might not be turning its visitors into customers like it should. Additionally, you may not be getting enough visitors to your website in the first place to get a chance at a conversion.

A website design built to attract and convert new visitors solves both of these problems. It will attract more visitors because of search engine optimization, and help turn them into customers from its design, and its content.

Similar to the results of implementing a CRM, a professional website can help you get more out of what you are already doing and in some cases, will bring near immediate results after launch in terms of your close rate.

Google Business Profile:

Your GBP profile will ultimately drive the majority of local phone calls and customer visits to your business. Completely optimizing your profile could result in ranking in the top 3 of the Google Maps results in your local area when customers are looking for services you offer.

Updating and optimizing your Google Business Profile is free and we have a full thorough video guide on how to do it right in this article:

Local SEO Google Business Profile Optimization Guide

Google LSA:

Google Local Services Ads (LSA) is a pay-per-lead system that provides quality leads that you only pay for when they call or message you. It's a cost-effective way to start generating business as you start to market your business online.

You do need a budget to pay for the leads, however, this platform will increase the number of monthly opportunities you get to be in front of, and close new customers.

If you're curious about what Google LSA will cost your business, they have a handy calculator you can access on their main page (about midway down):

Google LSA Cost Per Load Calculator

Use these four levers to help your business grow until you're ready to move on to the next phase.

Phase Two: Increase Your Footprint

Once the foundational elements are in place, it's time to look into investing in paid advertising. This can be accomplished in one of the following ways:

Google Ads:

This is a pay-per-click system that allows your business to show up near the top of Google for a variety of keywords you can choose. Then, you pay whenever someone clicks on your ad.

This is a highly effective way to generating leads with more control and predictability than with Google LSA, however, it is more costly. When Google Ads is set up correctly for lead generation, the people who find you there are more likely to be ready to purchase or at least very close.

Learn More: Google Pay Per Click Services

Meta Ads:

Similar to Google Ads, you can also pay for impressions and clicks by advertising on Facebook and Instagram. These people can be directed back to your website, a landing page, or a lead form.

Ads run on the Meta platform (Facebook & Instagram) typically receive many more impressions and engagements for less money than Google Adwords. However, we've found that the people you find there are further away from making a purchase.

Have you ever searched for a pair of shoes and then suddenly see those shoes all over social media trying to advertise to you? This is known as retargeting.

Retargeting is a great way to capture visitors who visited your website but took no action. At this stage in the SEM Mountain, your business should be attracting a good number of visitors to your website.

When you use retargeting, you are increasing your chances to maximize engagement with each of these visitors and potentially get more customers.

This strategy involves targeting warmer visitors (warmer because they already know who you are after coming to your website) and giving them a solid offer to return to your website and engage with you.

You can use both Google and Meta (Facebook and Instagram) to retarget your website visitors. It's highly likely your present and future customers visit at least one or all of these multiple times per day.

If you've had a CRM in place for some time, it's time to start utilizing all of the contacts you've gathered and start marketing to them regularly.

Targeted Emails - Send emails based on customer interactions, scheduled reminders for service, birthdays, and more.

Newsletters - Regularly send updates with information about your company, valuable insights, blog posts, offers, events and other programs to stay top-of-mind with your contacts.

SMS Marketing - Send out texts to multiple people at one time to alert them about information related to your company.

In this phase, we want to continually touch all of our contacts, past and present, to ensure we are making an impression on them regularly.

Phase Six: Deepen Brand Connection

Now comes the hard part. Producing video content.

There's no greater way to communicate your message effectively online than with a video. The other added benefit is that as people see your videos, they'll get to know you, your team, and your company better than any other medium you could invest in.

The videos should be about your products and services, sure, but more importantly, you should focus on conveying the unique point of view your company has within your industry.

Be helpful, be valuable, be authentic.

These videos can be used in ads on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and any platform where video is the primary method of consumption, which today are many of the most popular platforms out there.

Producing videos consistently and getting people to see them is going to give you serious traction with your brand, and company's growth.

Not to mention, it will make your entire sales process much easier, as video will make it as if customers already met you before they decided to call.

Phase Seven: Reaching New Heights

After scaling the first six phases of the SEM Mountain, you'll reach New Heights in your business. This usually means having your search engine marketing systems dialed in to reach your next million in sales and beyond.

From here, you can explore other marketing and advertising strategies outside of a primary search engine like Google.

• Third party advertising platforms like Yelp, eLocal and more
• Local community sponsorships
• Local TV or radio
• OTT ads such as Hulu and other streaming platforms
• Mailers, print advertising, branding improvements
• Etc...

Another thing you should consider is putting time and attention into Conversion Rate Optimization.

For example, if you have seen a conversion rate of 15% on your website, and that is bringing you roughly $120,000 per month in closed business, imagine if you increased it to 20%? You'd see an extra $40,000 just by improving what you already have in place.

Conclusion

By following the SEM Mountain approach, you can systematically grow your business by focusing on high impact actions first and then stacking on top of that growth to help fund the next strategies.

Additionally, you'll know where to put your time and attention into building up first prior to moving ahead.

We help local businesses generate millions of additional dollars in revenue using this approach and we believe it's the best way to start and grow your online marketing.

If your local business looks to know where you stand on the SEM Mountain, schedule a time with us here and we'd love to give you a clear roadmap.

Thanks for reading and stay tuned!