Search engine marketing (SEM) is just an umbrella moniker for paid campaigns or anything other than reliance on organic search.  SEM goes by Pay-Per-Click (PPC), Cost-Per-Click (CPC) and various other acronyms and is available on a seemingly infinite number of platforms. Google Adwords is the market leader for obvious reasons, but Bing/Yahoo certainly have their place with considerably less volume but higher CTRs. Professionally managed paid search efforts can work seamlessly with organic strategies or replace them entirely if the value or need for both isn't there.  A holistic approach is ideal and encompasses paid, organic and social channels all in one cohesive package.  

For more information about greenco's paid search management services or cannabis PPC, email, text or call Jamie now or set up a short, no-obligation phone consultation.

No matter the channel, the concept is the same: you create text and/or image based ads that are shown to your preferred target audience (impressions) and you are normally charged an explicit amount for every click.  Ideally, that click is from someone seeking your goods or services and they are then redirected to a destination of your choosing (landing page) where they hopefully "convert" into a lead.  An obvious oversimplification, but the gist is that you supplement your organic traffic with paid search traffic at an acceptable ROI/ROAS.  

Pay per click advertising's fundamental tenet is hard to fault - put yourself squarely where your potential customers are already looking.

Except for cannabis companies, especially those that dispense (or even worse DELIVER!) marijuana, be it medical, adult-use or a combination of the two. The cost of these clicks can vary from pennies a piece to north of $10 or even $20 for coveted search queries at the top of the first page.

Google Ads (until very recently known as Adwords) uses that pesky federal Schedule I designation as the teeth behind its considering cannabis in violation of its TOS.  Hemp products are potentially allowed, but no cannabidiol and the word “marijuana” is a definite ad killer. 

There are workarounds that "work" some of the time, but that's certainly not the kind campaign deliverability that you want if you are trying to generate sustainable ROI on any kind of budget. You can request exemptions and otherwise engineer your ad copy into approval though it can be painstaking, tedious, frustrating and time-consuming, even for a cannabis search marketing professional.

For more information about greenco's paid search management services or cannabis PPC, set up a short phone consultation now

LinkedIn and Pinterest are the only real possibilities for paid social, with varying degrees of success from region to region, and Bing Ads, Yahoo Gemini, Facebook and Instagram are currently more trouble than they are worth if and when semantic workarounds are even available.

Display networks like Mantis (with a self-proclaimed 500 publishing partners, 35 million viewers and 100 million impressions), Traffic Roots, Adistry, AdRoll, Kush Clicks, Dank City, Cannavu, Acuity, AdVangelist, Division-D, Sizmek and the 420Network offer even more opportunities for cannabis search engine marketing for bigger budgets.

It's been said that the digital marketing industry loves a good acronym and they are in no shortage when it comes to programmatic advertising options. Programmatic direct ad campaigns involve several platforms, including demand side (DSP), supply side (SSP), data management (DMP) and involve real-time bidding (RTB) options, private marketplaces (PMPs) and either fixed or variable CPM (cost per mille) to rate the impressions.  

Professional paid search campaign management (Google Ads) from an industry insider, specializing in PPC for cannabis brands and dispensaries in the United States and Canada.

          Google Ads Search Certification (43622464)

If you are interested in seeing if paid search is a viable channel for your US or Canadian cannabis company or you have an existing PPC campaign that you are unable to optimize or manage on your own, greenco can help.  Email, text or call Jamie today or set up a short, no-obligation call.