Earlier this month, Microsoft adCenter released the results of an online survey examining the search marketing behavior of 400 small-business owners in the United States. The results of the survey have stirred up quite a bit of discussion among search marketers.  According to the study:

• Nearly nine in 10 (89 percent) feared keywords may become too expensive.
• Eighty-one percent questioned if paid search marketing is the best use of their marketing budgets.
• One quarter of respondents believe paid search marketing is too complex.
• Twenty-one percent thought it would be too time-consuming.
• Thirty-five percent felt they would need an agency to help set up a search marketing campaign.

The bottom line on this study: Small-business owners are facing a good deal of fear, uncertainty and doubt (FUD) regarding PPC search.

Microsoft is using the results of this study to promote its new product, adCenter QuckLaunch. The key features of this new service, targeted at advertisers willing to commit to $500 per month in PPC advertising with Microsoft, are all centered on making the process of setting up and executing a PPC campaign as painless as possible.  These services include:

• Assistance uploading existing search campaigns
• Assistance creating online campaigns
• adCenter tutorial
• Designated online search expert
• Optimization advice
• Editorial assistance
• Ads will appear on MSN.com and Live.com
• Keyword suggestions

The survey obviously was conceived as a way to promote the new service. Notice that all of the questions and concerns center on the logistics of setting up and running a PPC campaign. The reality is that designing an effective PPC campaign has more to do with aligning it your business goals and marketing objectives than with logistical issues.

My experience with Microsoft and other PPC vendors is that they are of very little assistance in planning for measurement and ROI. The problem is that by marketing their QuickLaunch program in this way, Microsoft is doing a disservice to small-business decision makers by saying “Look how easy this is. We will walk you through all the steps.” What they are not addressing, and would probably be unable to, are the strategic marketing concerns that should be considered when developing an SEM program.  For example:

• What are the business objectives I am trying to support and achieve with this effort?
• How does this effort fit into my overall marketing communications program?
• How will I measure success?
• How do I assess the ROI of the dollars I am committing?

The bottom line is that Microsoft has released a survey that surfaces only part of  the challenge small-business owners face in evaluating the use of SEM. The survey may precondition the SBO market for Microsoft’s QuickLaunch program, but it doesn’t address the bigger issues a small-business decision maker should consider when approaching this channel.