Search Marketing is a relatively new field.  It’s been around less than a decade, but it’s a field that has evolved a great deal over the years. But, tactics that worked as recently as 2005 may not work now. How can a company keep its staff up to speed on the changes & ensure they are on the right path to maximize the effectiveness of their search campaigns?

Training

Ok, not just basic training.  But, training by people who know what they’re talking about; people who do the work on a daily basis; people who keep their finger on the pulse of the industry; and people who try different, innovative ideas to see what works and what doesn’t.

The next challenge is how you decide to spend your training budget. Do you spend it to send one member of your staff to a conference in a faraway city?  And, hope that they’ll attend the right sessions, get something out of them, then return to the office, and disseminate that knowledge amongst the rest of the staff?  Or, do you find someone that can come in and personally train your entire staff in your location?

Here at Serengeti, we handle both kinds of training.  We speak at many conferences yearly on varying topics (Search, PPC, email, Social Media, Reputation Management, and Analytics, amongst others) as well as developing customized training solutions for many of our clients. So, what are the benefits of each?

Let’s start by looking at conferences.

At conferences - there’s a variety of speakers, some good, some great, some not so good (they tend to get weeded out, but that doesn’t help you if a member of your staff ends up sitting with them).  Speakers introduce a variety of topics, which your staff member can pick and choose between to select the optimal mix for their benefit.

On the downside, there may not be that many sessions that relate directly to your vertical or your particular situation. This can lead to sessions that provide less benefits for you than you’d like. True, there are Q&A opportunities at the end of sessions to ask your specific questions.  But, if a session runs late - time will be cut back and you’ll compete with everyone else with a raised hand.

With customized training, the Serengeti team can come to you and present our expertise and evaluations to your team about your situation and possibilities. 

So, which works best for you? It depends on your goals. If you’re looking to get one person exposed to the industry and get them to do some networking with other attendees; then the conference is the way to go. If, on the other hand, you’re looking for more of a department/corporate wide solution; then you need to find the right people to handle that for you.  You can partner with them to develop a program that works out best for you and your organization, with the cost for either option being comparable.

Filed under: Education and Training on Monday, April 14th, 2008 by Simon Heseltine |
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.