To start, the key to a successful search engine marketing (SEM) campaign, just like any advertising campaign, is determining the goal of the program, and defining the specific products and/or services that will be promoted. Focusing on keywords and phases often leads to a long list of keywords that you then try to mold into a campaign. 

Another important step is determining the content of your landing pages. Do you already have landing pages that support what will be promoted? If not they need to be developed, and designed so that visitors feel compelled to break anonymity. This is where the visitor moves from a nameless "page view" to a prospect. Also, having landing pages that are relevant to your keywords and your ad will help increase your ranking (and enhance your visitor's experience). Sending a visitor to your homepage that does not have easily found content relevant to their search will weaken your ROI.

Once you have your goals set and landing pages that follow through on the promotion, developing keywords and phrases should be relatively easy, and Google offers several tools to help build that list. Be sure to build a list of negative keywords to ensure you are only reaching a specified target audience.

The final step before launching the campaign is writing the ads. Keywords in the ad copy are not the only essential element for the ad to get high click-through rates. A strong call to action is also essential to getting that click. Let the reader know what they will find on the landing page that you’ve created.