Search Engine Marketing (SEM) remains one of the most powerful tools for driving quality leads and improving visibility across competitive digital spaces. However, one common challenge businesses face is how to manage SEM budgets effectively while keeping keyword strategies up to date.
Whether you’re working with an in-house team or an external agency, aligning budget adjustments with keyword performance is essential. In this post, we’ll walk through how to communicate SEM bidding changes and keyword portfolio updates in a structured and result-oriented way.
Why Adjusting SEM Budgets Matters
SEM campaigns run on bidding systems. The higher your bid for a keyword, the better your chances of securing top placements on search results—especially when competing in high-interest or saturated markets. However, blindly increasing or decreasing bids without strategic planning can waste money or limit campaign performance.
Budget allocation should reflect both the importance of the program or product being advertised and the keyword’s potential return on investment.
Let’s break down a real-world scenario where a business reviews its budget allocation to optimize performance across different programs.
Sample SEM Budget Adjustment Plan
Here’s an example of a structured instruction sent to an ad agency to adjust SEM campaign bidding for different academic programs:
Increased Budgets:
- Project Management (PM): Increased to N20,000
- Finance: Increased to N20,000
- Marketing: Increased to N23,000
- Data Science (DS): Increased to N16,000
- Agribusiness: Increased to N18,000
These increases reflect a prioritisation of programs expected to generate high-quality leads or where more aggressive competition is observed.
Reduced Budget:
- Corporate Communication: Reduced to N14,000
This reduction might be based on lower demand, reduced conversion rates, or the need to divert funds to better-performing programs.
By adjusting these amounts, businesses can better allocate their ad spend to areas with greater growth potential or higher lead value.
Managing Keyword Portfolios: What to Remove and What to Add
In SEM, keywords are the foundation of visibility. Over time, some keywords become outdated, underperforming, or misaligned with audience intent. Others may need to be added based on new trends, search behavior, or business focus areas.
A structured keyword update strategy should include:
1. Identifying Keywords to Remove
Poor-performing keywords can drain your budget. In this case, keywords marked in red are flagged for removal. These could include:
- Keywords with low click-through or conversion rates
- Irrelevant terms based on new program focus
- Terms attracting unqualified leads
2. Adding New Keywords
Keywords highlighted in amber (yellow) are new additions. These are often discovered through:
- Market research
- Google Trends data
- Changes in program offerings
- Feedback from previous campaigns
Adding new keywords ensures the SEM campaign remains dynamic and aligned with what prospective students or customers are actively searching for.
Tips for Working with Your Ad Agency
To get the most from your SEM campaigns, it’s important to maintain clear communication with your agency or marketing partner. Here are a few tips:
- Be Specific: Use clear instructions with exact figures and keyword categories.
- Provide Visual Aids: Spreadsheets with color-coded changes help prevent confusion.
- Explain the Why: Sharing reasoning behind budget shifts or keyword removals helps the agency understand long-term goals.
- Follow Up: Ask for confirmation once changes are implemented and monitor performance weekly.
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Final Thoughts
Effective SEM campaign management is not just about spending more or adding new keywords. It’s about aligning your budget with your strategic priorities and staying responsive to performance data. Whether you’re scaling high-performing programs or trimming budgets where needed, each decision should support overall business growth.
By routinely reviewing your bidding strategy and keyword portfolio—and communicating clearly with your team or agency—you set the stage for better performance, stronger leads, and a more efficient use of your marketing budget.
