The phrasing changes, but a question we in the Colorado SEM business hear all the time is, “Should we add a channel?”. What our advertisers are asking us is:

Should we expand our PPC campaigns to Bing?

Should we start running Facebook ads?

Should we think about a Display campaign?

Each decision you and your online marketing company reach about strategy should be considered carefully and designed to meet your conversion goals, but here are a few points to think about as you ponder an expansion onto another online marketing channel.

Move Only What’s Working

If you’re moving material from one marketing channel like AdWords, to a very similar channel, like Bing Ads, keeping the same account and campaign structure will help you keep organized, but don’t bother moving all the material under each campaign. Instead spent some time finding the ads, keywords and ad groups that are working, and move only those instead. You’ll give your new Bing Ads campaigns the best chance for success and you can always move more marginal material later

Remember Management Time

Whether you’re managing your ads in-house or you’ve hired an online marketing company, you’ll want to keep in mind management time for any new channels you open up. Under a certain threshold, the management time will be the same. For example, managing $2,500 a month in PPC ads is almost the same as managing $5,000 a month, and adding a channel increases the management time regardless of the budget for media cost.

Keep Your Goals in Mind

This sounds obvious, but many companies lose sight of the fact that different marketing channels aren’t created equally. Facebook ads might be great for launching a new product or generating interest in a contest, but poor for recruiting new employees. Sponsored Linkedin content might be great for recruiting but terrible for selling products. Have a clear goal in mind for each channel you opt into.

To sum, not all online marketing channels are alike, so careful attention should be paid to how you enter each channel, what you hope to get out of each one, and how you evaluate your success. If you’re not sure how to begin, or whether or not your efforts are working, feel free to . We’re always ready to help.