4 Best B2B PPC Tactics to Generate Sales and Leads
B2B PPC campaigns are much more complicated than a PPC campaign targeting consumers. For a B2B PPC campaign, the sales cycle is much shorter and the sales funnel is actually quite different.
There may be multiple decision makers you need to speak to in a B2B sale before closing the deal. A recent report published by Salesforce identified the average B2B sales cycle as being 84 days long though admittedly, this number can vary wildly. Also, there’s a greater need for multiple messaging points across such a long, extended cycle.
When building your B2B PPC campaign, here are four strategies that have worked. Though a successful B2B PPC campaign can win big, there’s more opportunity to lose the decision maker along the way. Be smart and understand the importance of relevant, appropriate messaging that is changeable depending on where a decision maker is in the sales funnel.
Branded Keywords for Prospects
After you have drawn in the customer’s eye, they are likely to perform at least some research prior to buying. Comparing features and price points between you and others, to do that, they’ll be using branded keywords to find information on searches.
Data-Driven Attribution on Google AdWords
Data-driven attribution uses algorithms to calculate and assign partial credit to different touch points. Though Google will highly recommend that you take this specific algorithm as fact, volume requirements can be high to make them work. Businesses that don’t meet the threshold are not going to find much use necessarily out of this. There are alternatives however, including time-decay attribution and position-based. Be sure to explore these in some detail. An attribution model can also provide value in comparing conversion journeys.
Remarketing and Retargeting
After prospects are qualified, serving them messaging and relevant landing pages are key. Do not inundate these users with sales messaging that does not apply to them. Doing so, you may lose them. Remarketing Lists for Search Ads (RLSA) help to provide varied messaging for these prospects. Google Display Network (GDN) is also similarly effective. For any mid-funnel campaigns, either of these are highly recommended.
YouTube Video Advertising
Video ads may not be the best channel to drive conversions however they can help drive awareness and help keep your brand on the mind of someone who is mid-funnel. Do have realistic expectations though about these, which usually are deployed in a pre-roll video that can be easily skipped. Fortunately, if a user sees less than 30 seconds of your video, it’s only considered an ad impression and YouTube provides those free of charge.
With longer sales cycles, more stakeholders involved, and more proof points, it’s necessary to examine the conversion journey for any prospective customer. Crafting the best marketing campaigns will be about knowing where to deploy what messages and learning how to get the most out of your customer’s conversion journey.