Advertising can be difficult for B2B marketers in the paid space because of rising costs and trouble finding qualified leads, but there are strategies that help make B2B PPC advertising more successful.
1.) Choose Highly Targeted, Long-Tail Keywords: A major problem with PPC advertising for B2B marketers is finding qualified leads. Users searching for B2B products/services tend to be more sophisticated with what they are looking for, and will use longer search terms to find the appropriate results. By using shorter broad match terms B2B advertisers are likely driving unqualified traffic and wasting their budget. Remember the end user when performing your keyword research.
2.) Take Advantage of Niche B2B Search Engines: An important key to a successful PPC campaign is advertise where your target audience is! The people who are making the decisions for businesses are usually aware of the best way to find the right company to satisfy their business needs whether it is trade shows, trade publications or word of mouth. But with more and more people turning to the Internet to make their business decisions, B2B search engines are often the first place a user will look to find their B2B needs. Below are some B2B search engines to consider when implementing your PPC strategy:
a. Business.com – The largest B2B search engine with over 40 million unique visitors per month.
b. GlobalSpec – A B2B search engine focused on engineering, manufacturing, scientific and technical markets. Currently GlobalSpec has nearly 5 million registered users and is continuing to grow.
c. ThomasNet – Focused on industrial products and services, ThomasNet will drive low volume but highly qualified traffic.
d. MasterSeek – Provides low volume but is focused on becoming the world’s largest B2B search engine.
3.) Send Users to the Appropriate Landing Page: When searching for the best product or service for their company, a B2B user will not spend time trying to find what they searched for after landing on your site; if they can’t find it right away they will go back and click on the next ad. By sending the users to a specific landing page directly related to the search term, you will achieve more conversions than sending them to your home page.
4.) Write Your Ads With the User in Mind: Users searching for B2B products/services are different than users searching for consumer products/services. Write your ads with this in mind to improve your Click-Through-Rate (CTR) and increase the amount of qualified visitors.
5.) Remember, Quality is More Important than Quantity: Because you may purchase longer search terms for your PPC campaign, it can be frustrating if you aren’t getting the traffic or conversions you expected. Keep in mind that the buying cycle is much longer for B2B purchases and a user may not act the first time they click on your ad…but hopefully they remember your name. Do not jump the gun and add several keywords because you are not happy with the traffic after 2 months. Adding unnecessary keywords just to gain traffic will likely not convert and you will be wasting your money. Reevaluate your campaign carefully after you have given the strategy some time always remember your business will make more money with conversions, not traffic!
For more information on B2B advertising check out this article and visit www.protocol80.com.
