Pay-Per-Click (PPC) is a great way to generate business-to-business (B2B) leads via inbound marketing. Your target market comes to you by searching for your keyword and then clicking on your ad, which shows that they have an interest. Although PPC and paid media campaigns are a great way to bolster your brand to wider audiences, not every business knows how to follow best practices. With this in mind, let’s explore some of the things you should be mindful of as you embark on ways to get businesses into your digital marketing funnel.
Research
Understanding what is being sold is vital. The more correct and specific the information you put out into the world, the better off your campaigns will be. It’s also important to be aware of who your target audience is. Any company in the industry that you’re marketing towards could be the key account your product or service needs to see great returns on your marketing investments.
Before you begin launching campaigns, you need to dig in and conduct some serious research. Just because you might have your finger on the pulse of your industry doesn’t mean your PPC channels will adhere to the expectations you have of your customers. As you conduct your research, be sure to pay attention to negative keywords that can waste your marketing spend.
In short, you need to keep in mind that Google and Bing don’t know your market as well as you do. They’ll try to match you to as many types of keywords as possible, so it’s important to stay on top of your search query report. If you don’t know how to do this, it might be time to hire a B2B marketing agency to keep track of everything for you.
Make Use of Your Marketing Funnel
When aiming to increase awareness, the wording doesn’t need to be as technical as if you were speaking to an expert. Remember, the goal, in the beginning, is to increase consideration that your company can be the solution to your future customers’ problems. Sure, you’ll use some technical terminology, but this really comes more into play when you’re targeting businesses that have reached bottom-of-the-funnel phases (the final step in their journeys). Once you’re talking to these businesses, it’s more appropriate to use industry- and product-specific terminology.
As you develop your PPC management strategies, consider the research stage down to the commitment stage, then build your paid media campaigns and ad groups around these specific phases.
Calls to Action
B2B calls to action (or CTAs) are different from those used in business-to-consumer (B2C) campaigns. Business clients spend more time researching products than typical consumers, so it’s important not to rush them with your CTAs. Instead of something like “buy now,” use verbiage that’s a little more journey-driven, such as “explore more about this product” or “get more information here.”
Your CTA meaning can make all the difference between landing a new business customer or losing them to your competitors. This is because you’re dealing with buyers who need a lot of time to make purchasing decisions, and they likely have to justify their decisions to many people within their organizations. Additionally, they’ll likely want to speak with someone at your company so they can better understand your pricing or view a demo of your product before passing their opinions on to their internal teams. As a result, you need to create CTAs that speak to their specific needs and expectations as B2B buyers.
Here are some tips to keep in mind as you create your B2B ads:
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- Be specific. Use exact verbiage as it relates to the product or service you’re selling.
- Prequalify customers with your ad copy. Talk about price points, so people know exactly what you charge. This will help you avoid attracting people who aren’t willing to pay your fees.
- Address pain points. Make sure your copy speaks to the needs and wants of your prospective customers. When they know you feel their pain, they’ll be more open to letting you walk them through the phases of the purchase funnel. Be clear and compelling in your ad copy to show that you understand what your customers need.
- Use credible examples. Have you won “best-in-class” notoriety? If so, use that to your advantage by touting it within your PPC ad copy.
- Create landing pages. B2B campaigns typically require special landing pages to navigate users through the long buying cycles. These pages are often set up to get information from the consumers through special promotions or product demo offerings.
- Be the trusted source for information. Utilize your site links to let potential buyers know about the whitepapers, eBooks, case studies, and downloadable forms you’ve created to help them make the best decisions possible.
Hire Zero Gravity Marketing
ZGM is here to help with all of your B2B PPC needs. Touch base with us to learn how we can help your business improve your outreach today!
