When done right, pay per click traffic is one of the fastest and most effective ways to drive qualified visitors to any type of B2B offer. In combination with a robust organic traffic strategy, PPC can boost your sales and ensure new offerings gain traction quickly.
This is especially valuable in industries where sales cycles may stretch multiple quarters.
Of course, PPC is one of the more challenging approaches to generating traffic. It offers high risk and high reward, requiring a sound strategy and clear goals from the start. What’s more, B2B PPC has its own peculiarities not reflected in B2C.
Let’s look at five ways to make B2B PPC work for you:
Start With Deeper Research
Typical keyword research isn’t always enough when dealing with B2B, especially in specialized industries. Research should start with industry journals and online platforms so you can not only reflect the appropriate terminology, but also use it in the right context. The correct way to situate components, materials, and techniques as keywords may not be obvious at first.
Incorporate Acronyms
As a rule, B2B searches employ more acronyms than B2C. Technical and scientific fields will use them most of all. Part and model numbers can be effective in capturing targeted traffic, as can phrases clarifying an industry basis, such as “for construction” or “for agriculture.” More generic overarching terminology like “vendor” and “supplier” may also be helpful.
Organize Your Ads
Campaigns and ad groups are both fundamental units of organization you probably use already if you have customer-facing campaigns. In B2B, the most efficient grouping of your ads is to align with the steps of the buyer journey. Ads should reflect Awareness, Consideration, and Decision and make full use of retargeting to keep your message top-of-mind.
Develop Appropriate Ad Copy and CTAs
Strong, customer-centered CTAs like “buy now” simply won’t work in a B2B context most of the time. While designing ad copy, be aware of the consensus nature of purchases and the fact that stakeholders from multiple departments may be involved. The advantages you highlight in your copy depend on the buyer’s background, but “get more information” is a reliable CTA.
Implement Tracking
From day one of your PPC campaign, ensure you’re using Google Analytics or another solution to help you uncover insights about your performance. By understanding decision-makers as individuals and tracking their sessions, you get a clearer picture of what content they access in what order – and when it may be appropriate to escalate to your sales team.
With appropriate tactics, PPC is one of the best ways to accelerate the long B2B sales cycle. Apply these five ideas consistently and you could shave weeks or even months off time-to-sale.