The search marketing industry itself is still very young, with ‘veterans’ having 10 – 15 years of experience the timeline of the SEM world closely mimics that of search engine creation, growth and expansion. Up to a few years ago, two years of experience in the SEM industry was regarded as significant while in 2010, the rough industry standard for ‘experienced’ is 3-5 years.

Many SEM specialists learned the ropes in their first position, perhaps in a start up their repertoire grew as the business expanded or they have a programming background and taught themselves SEO. Whether they took some online courses or developed their knowledge through extensive reading, SEM is no derivatives trading, that is to say, until a couple of years ago there were no university courses that taught SEM skills nor how to think as an SEM specialist. What this means is that the skills, level of expertise and SEM background is very fragmented and varied. This translates directly to SEM teams working together, whether in independent organisations or within SEM agencies, do they operate cohesively or in silos?

Speaking the Same Language

How do you ensure that your SEM team is speaking the same language? The saying goes, ‘the only constant in this industry is change’ so as an employer how do you ensure that your SEM team moves ahead of the tide, has the skill set that puts them at the top of the bell-curve and ensure that any new team members are effectively integrated?

There is no steadfast methodology in place and the solution will vary from organisation to organisation, but below we’ll explore 7 ways to proactively ensure that SEM teams work together in an integrated manner:

1. Offer a Robust Internal Training Program – ensure that new recruits are versed in all the important components of SEM. In the training process the new team member should start to develop a sense of performance expectations – the minimum benchmark by which client deliverables are measured. By omitting to do so right from the start of the candidate’s tenure may create dissonance and result in a discovery process during which unnecessary time is wasted. Don’t make recruits guess what is expected of them.

2. Share Internal Knowledge & Skills – grow as a team, rather than just individually. Given the accumulation of skills & knowledge in the SEM industry is so fragmented, this will result in a team with rich pockets of expertise, from varying disciplines. To put this into perspective, it is not like a legal team who will have had similar training & education. For an SEM team, that is so diversified, this can either be a great strength or an almost insurmountable challenge if the team does not share knowledge and work together. Actively sharing knowledge will not only build intellectual property but also create a strong team, capable of handling bigger projects, more demanding clients and greater responsibilities.

3. External Training to Develop Expertise – you’ve heard it before, you’ll hear it again – the SEM industry is in a state of permanent flux. Information is readily available, industry professionals share sound advice on blogs, webinars, books and whitepapers. This has allowed clients to become increasingly knowledgeable and for this reason it is critical that SEM specialists are always a few steps ahead of clients. If the client’s expertise grows and they no longer feel that the specialist / agency is offering real remarkable value, they may start to consider to take their online operation in house. It is important to continually push the boundaries of your knowledge and industry required skills.