When customers keep their activity online, this attribution is easy to track. Even activity across multiple devices can be properly attributed to its source marketing content. But things change when customers leave the digital realm: Offline marketing results are more challenging to accurately attribute. Too often, marketers are forced to either estimate the offline impact of their SEM, social and other digital campaigns, or they don't factor them in at all.

This creates a distorted view of how these channels are driving returns on investment (ROI). Accuracy in measuring ROI is essential in helping you know how to allocate your resources. Fortunately, improved approaches to offline marketing make it easier to pin down concrete numbers.

Remaining relevant and visible is a top objective for any search marketer, which means maintaining prime positioning where online search factors into the customer journey.

However, the role of search has changed over time. In the past, search was seen as a bottom-of-the-funnel activity, rather than something that permeates every stage of the journey. Today, we know that isn't the case. Customers depend on search at every stage leading up to the transaction, which means search strategies must be built to account for these varied stages, too. A diversified approach is required for brands to generate positive results from across the spectrum of customer search activity.

Just as search engines tweak their algorithms, an SEM campaign strategy needs to adjust accordingly. Google and other search engines continually work on improving algorithms and connecting consumers with the information they seek.

If you follow the rules and keep up with these changing demands, you can use this evolution to your advantage. Here are four crucial reminders for SEM this year:

1. Acquaint Yourself With Schema

Schema is a way of organizing data developed and promoted through Schema.org, and the way it works is simple: If you've ever typed in a Google search result that delivers the answer to a question in a text box above the search results, that's the product of Schema. It uses structured data to give on-page information context that Google uses to seek out simple search query answers, according to Search Engine Watch.

What business doesn't want more leads? But wanting more is the easy part. Getting leads is hard work, and acquiring high-quality leads from strong prospects is even more of a hassle. Reaching leads means finding the right place to make yourself visible and available. There are a number of ways to do this, even on a small budget, but it takes careful planning and a strong understanding of your audience.

If you're up to the task, here are four methods for capturing new leads for your business.

Search engine marketing (SEM) may sound like a simple concept, but with the ever-evolving world of changing algorithms, enhancing search engine results pages and the increasing focus on local and social results, this world has become increasingly complex for even the most experienced marketers to navigate. Fortunately, there are some simple audits for your SEM plan to find out why your strategy isn't working.

Your Keyword Strategy Isn't Good

According to Forbes, recent updates to Google's search engine algorithm have removed the focus from direct keyword matches in 2016. Instead, the search engine giant uses a complex system that determines user intent and attempts to find pages that match broad topics rather than specific words. So, for instance, a consumer who searches for "Pet Care 32837" will get results for grooming salons in Orlando, Florida.

Data analytics is a cornerstone of effective digital marketing, and the challenge for many of today's organizations is finding ways to bring this data to traditionally offline channels. Until all channels of a marketing campaign can be effectively tracked and analyzed, marketers are only working with part of the picture — and that means they'll never have a truly comprehensive view of their company's performance.

In that regard, call tracking software addresses a major blind spot that marketers have had to work around. Thanks to increased referral traffic from mobile devices, along with innovative strategies for tracking calls and collecting data, marketers now have the tools necessary to examine the organization's success in using phone calls to improve the customer experience. As HubSpot pointed out, It can also shed light on which channels are most effective at driving phone referrals, which will improve budget allocation for marketing campaigns in the future.

One of the biggest reasons why small and midsize local businesses have shied away from search engine marketing (SEM) in recent years is due to the growth of social media marketing.

Facebook in particular has been a great platform for local businesses, as its programmatic infrastructure is easily scalable to fit almost any budget, and marketers are often already familiar with the platform.

However, though social media has made marketing accessible to the masses, there are a number of reasons not to discount the importance of SEM for local businesses.

When it comes to running paid digital marketing campaigns, online search and social media have become popular places for marketers to focus their budgetary spending. Everyone's familiar with the possibilities and benefits of SEM, which leverages the massive data troves of search engines to target relevant consumers based on keywords and intent.

Social media, meanwhile, has quickly flexed its own muscles. While it's a great organic channel, many marketers are happy with the ROI they can drive from paid advertising through a number of social networks, most notably Facebook.

But if you're a marketer choosing between these two campaigns while sorting out your budget, you may want to rethink that strategy. Although each channel has value on its own, paid SEM and social campaigns become even more formidable when paired together. This has to do with their different strengths and targeting options, as well as their shared goal of driving engagement, traffic and conversions.

Paid search is one of the most effective ways to grow your online business, and call-to-action phrases are one of the most important elements of successful search engine marketing. But search engine results pages (SERPs) are highly competitive arenas. With all these businesses going after the same customers in the same place, it's more important than ever to refine your call-to-action phrases so they're irresistibly clickable.

The Call-to-Action Phrase

The best known call-to-action phrase (CTA) is "Buy Now." But while this may be exactly what you want a visitor to do, it's not a very enticing message. In a search engine marketing (SEM) context, you must consider that when your ad appears, it will appear as one of many others. Design and page placement matter, but the difference between being passed over and actually getting your customer to "Buy Now" lies in the wording of your CTA.

Google AdWords recently announced it will launch a new feature for marketers that allows cross-device targeting campaigns for the first time ever. This means that if someone searches for a company's product or service in the morning on a smartphone, you can then serve ads related to that product on his or her desktop computer at work or tablet on the train ride home.

As long as the potential customer is signed in to a Google account (via Gmail, YouTube or any other Google service), marketers are now able to use powerful tools within AdWords for retargeting. Though it's been a long time coming — Facebook has been leading the way in cross-device targeting for many years now — this new development has some very practical implications for advertisers using Google's AdWord platform.