MediaVision Blog : Search Engine Marketing

Each industry in the world of business plays its own unique game involving a different set of rules. Often the companies within those industries have come up with their own guidelines, which may bend the structured rules a little. SEO agencies are no different. They are often forced to come up with new and innovative ways in which to approach a particular campaign. This is especially if their client works in an industry that has set a lot of boundaries in place regarding the manner in which they advertise their product, or how much information on that product is made legally available to the public.

SEO agencies strive to tailor their search campaigns around client needs but are also having to watch out for the bite of client bureaucracy. And you thought communities were harsh on politicians during their campaigning for the presidential elections. SEO agents often get hounded by the client if the client believes their campaign isn’t delivering the results that were promised to them before signing up.

Some of the most challenging industries that tend to require a great deal of tailoring, due to factors that legally inhibit the marketing campaign, are usually apart of industries such as pharmaceuticals, tobacco companies and alcoholic beverage suppliers. Marketers, online and offline, often struggle to advertise these products especially in the current decade, when advertising to an open market has been restricted or even completely banned in some countries.

In the tobacco industry, advertising has been very restricted in many countries over the last 10 years. This is due to beliefs that advertising smoking to those under the legal age encourages them to take up smoking. In 2005, the World Health Organisation initiated a treaty that banned tobacco advertising in 168 countries. For alcoholic beverage suppliers, the rules aren’t as strict because it is a more socially acceptable form of substance usage. However, limitations have also been set for alcohol advertising, in an attempt to control alcohol consumption. The primary problem in online advertising for these types of industries is the requirement by law for the viewer to confirm that his or her age is above the legal age limit in order to access the site. Whereas advertising for pharmaceutical companies isn’t as selective, they do have their own legal regulations to follow, including brand reputation management, which comes into play more often than not in this turbulent industry.

Required precautions in these industries may steer an SEO strategy off-course, leaving it up to the SEO agency to ensure a safe route through corporate compliance issues. Certain tactical considerations need to be considered when dealing with such sensitive campaigns. It is vital that the technical recommendations, content, and linkbuilding tactics are all compliant with the legal, regulatory or medical reviews that are essential to ensure an accurate, balanced solution for such industries.

When managing a new SEO campaign, use common sense, knowledge and a methodical plan of action to tailor the particular strategy that has been decided on for a site that is not legally allowed to promote their product to every sector of the market. A successful SEO strategy that worked for one legally inhibited site may not be as equally successful for another site with similar restrictions. No two sites are ever the same, so don’t think that you can apply the same rules to every case. Some rules ultimately need to be broken. Just ask a politician.