Five To Do’s Before Starting an SEM Search

Hiring an SEM is at minimum a million dollar decision and for many marketers, the stakes are much higher. Advertising budgets will be allocated. Managers and line workers will be hired. Revenue will be projected and counted upon. Thousands of hours will be put into establishing and managing the relationship. While the upside will be apparent, how can clients limit the downside risk and hire the right partner?

Ensuring success and limiting risk starts with the implementation of a robust regimen of upfront planning before any SEM meetings take place. The upfront planning process is designed to ensure that clients are making objective and well-informed decisions that lead to long-term, successful partnerships with their SEM.

Here are five steps that clients should take before meetings with the SEMs:

Current Situation: Write an evaluation of the current situation. Key questions to answer are: What is the current budget? What is the current approach? What are the current resources and tools? What is working? What is not working? Why are we considering hiring a new agency? What will change from the current situation when the new agency takes over?

Objectives: Outline the objectives of the engagement and expected results. Create a business case which outlines the expense, projected quantitative and qualitative results and costs for not making any change.

Requirements: Outline requirements for the agency’s capabilities, resources, tools, staff, client experience, case history, proximity, scope of work, etc. Prioritize requirements as need to have and nice to have. Need to have requirements are the minimal requirements the SEM needs to meet to be considered. Nice to have requirements will provide flexibility for the SEMs to differentiate their offering from the competition.

Constituents: Identify who in the client organization will be involved with the research, evaluation, negotiation and decision making. Ensure that there is buy-in from each consituent on their role in the process and the time commitment that is expected.

Decision Criteria: Review the objectives and requirements with constituents and determine each constituents decision criteria. Ensure that there are not any conflicts between different constituents criteria. Ensure each constituents criteria matches the role that they will play in the evaluation.

By implementing a planning process that involves these five steps, clients will maximize their odds of finding the right long-term partner and realizing the gains that a business can achieve with the right SEM partner.

If you would like additional information on this topic or to meet with an advisor to discuss your upcoming agency search, please contact a Thrivepoint Advisor.

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