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Most users flock to the internet’s search engines for one thing: to find help. Help in finding the answer to a question. Help in solving a problem that they have. Help in purchasing the right car at their local dealership.
Being visible on a variety of keyword searches in Google is applicable and valuable for businesses in every industry. The world’s largest companies use their websites as the best (and most accessible) source of information about their brand, products, or services. At the same time the world’s smallest companies have established a web presence as a vital lifeline to previously inaccessible markets.
In the end, search engines pull them all together: the smallest companies can compete right next to the largest. Search engines are the great equalizer of digital marketing.
Or are they?
Not all markets are the same. The search “landscape” for certain industries are more competitive than others. The big box electronics chains are fighting tooth and nail for top position on keywords like“blu ray dvd player” and “flat screen tv”.
The insurance industry, both personal and commercial products, is no different. In fact, one leading industry blog just proclaimed the search landscape for insurance-related searches to be the most competitive amongst all PPC keywords. A study conducted on the average cost-per-click (CPC) across millions of keywords found that insurance-related terms were the most expensive, ahead of keyword groups such as “mortgage” and “loans”.
Does that mean that this search landscape is inaccessible and cost-inefficient for the smaller agencies in the industry? I would offer an emphatic “NO”. In fact, I believe just the opposite: the high competition in this particular realm indicates the sheer demand for insurance information that potential customers are looking for. Does that mean that smaller agencies should focus their PPC marketing dollars into bids for high-dollar keywords like “car insurance”? No. It simply means that these agencies need to have their paid search campaigns strategies modified to get the biggest “bang” for their marketing buck. There is room in this competitive space to be active…and profitable! After all, if 80% of all insurance customers are beginning their search for their policy online, can you afford to ignore this marketing tactic?
Here are some strategies to be competitive in a competitive paid search marketplace:
- Use longer, more specific keywords. Instead of trying to match dollars with companies that have larger marketing budgets than you, be smart about the keywords that you choose to advertise on. Sure, your budget might allow you to bid enough for the keyword “auto insurance quotes” to be found on the second or third page of Google search results, but use these broad (and more expensive) keywords as a small piece of your SEM campaign. Instead, fill your campaign with longer, more specific keywords – like “auto insurance quotes in Peoria”. You’ll kill two birds with one stone with this strategy. Not only will you pay less per click for these longer keywords (as competition lessens on longer, more specific terms), but you’ll also be driving a more qualified visitor. Wouldn’t you rather get a visit from someone who has qualified themselves geographically than someone who has entered a more generic term.
- Use negative keywords to eliminate traffic from people who don’t help your bottom line. While marketing giants want to get traffic from searches that are even loosely related to selling insurance, your agency doesn’t have that benefit. Your goal should be to eliminate traffic that comes from searches that are “informational” in general — people who are not likely to convert into a lead. To do this, utilize negative keywords in your AdWords campaign to eliminate groups of people who are searching on terms that will provide little or no potential revenue. One of the most popular negative keywords to use is “jobs”. By including this as a negative term, you’ll eliminate people that are looking for employment opportunities in insurance agencies (for example), and are thus not likely to buy a policy.
- Set a budget that you’re comfortable with. One of the best things about paid search is that it is a demand-based performance marketing system. The word “performance” is what makes this type of marketing most valuable: you only pay when someone performs the act of clicking on your site. With that being said, you can decide exactly how much “performance” (or clicks) you are willing to pay for. If you allocate $1,000 to your SEM budget per month, you can rest assured that you will not pay more than that amount. You might not have the monthly SEM budget of the Progressive’s or Allstate’s of the world, but you can be comfortable that your campaign won’t spend more than you are comfortable with.
With these simple steps, you are well on your way to becoming effective in a competitive advertising space. Companies of any size can be active in this marketing medium, and capitalize on all of those people who are saying “HELP!” to their search engines.
