As the sea of the world wide web becomes more inundated with information, the focus of content marketing has shifted to putting out high-quality content. More than ever, brands are looking to share content that is valuable and meaningful to their audience. In this strategy, “high-quality” translates into a higher likelihood that content will produce more engagement on social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Heavily shared content across social channels means that a brand’s audience is essentially doing the distribution work for them. Because of this, people may pose the question, “ Is SEM Still Viable in Content Marketing Strategy?”

There is a high value placed on SEO.

Due to the focus change toward quality content, online marketing strategies place a high value on Search Engine Optimization (SEO), and rightfully so. Effective SEO increases your search traffic, improves your rank in search engines, and builds brand recognition all organically. That being said, producing content that resonates with people can sometimes feel like a guessing game. It’s difficult to discern exactly what people will want to share, but thoughtful research and strategy are certainly good places to start. Competition among keyword phrases is also a factor that can feel like a hurdle to having your content stand out, despite the quality you implement.

Where does SEM currently stand in content marketing?

Despite the shift in prominence of certain features of content marketing, Search Engine Marketing (SEM) should still have a place in your strategy arsenal. SEM is still the larger umbrella that encompasses the other important factors of an online marketing strategy such as SEO, PPC, and other paid media. Unlike SEO, Search Engine Marketing utilizes paid advertisements (such as Google Adwords) to gain search traffic. This means that when a phrase is entered into a search engine like Google, your link or article will appear among other results at the top of the page with an indication that it is an ad. Google promotes your page as a top result because your business used SEM to be listed as such. Its financial and strategic flexibility make it incredibly useful for businesses of all sizes, with ranging budgets. For this reason, SEM is still a massively growing space within content marketing, where

Utilize an Integrated Approach to Your Marketing Strategy

To answer our initial question, SEM is definitely still viable in content marketing strategy. That being said, the best way to maximize SEM within your budget is to have effective SEO already situated in your marketing plan. SEM and SEO can work together cohesively for a highly successful online marketing approach.

To learn about when it is best to use SEO or SEM, check out our article, “SEM vs SEO – Can’t We All Just Get Along?”