In the last article, we talked about how the emergence of digital technology had changed the B2B buyer journey – the B2B buyer journey has become more self-driven, and they now conduct more online research to look for the products and services they need.
A study from Pardot’s State of Demand Generation highlights that 72% of consumers begin their buying journey by using Search Engine. Furthermore, Google processes more than two trillion searches every year, which is why appearing prominently on the search engine results pages (SERP) is important to reach your potential audience.
If you would like to generate more leads for your B2B business, Google Ads is a great way to start.
Before we go more in-depth about B2B Google Ads lead generation, let’s have a look at the unique challenges that B2B marketers will overcome when advertising with Google Ads.
1. B2B sales cycle is longer
B2B sales cycle takes longer because you’re selling the products or services to another business instead of an individual consumer. Compared to B2C consumers that are more likely to make impulse purchases, B2B buyers decision-making process takes longer because there are various key stakeholders involved.
2. B2B has a lower lead volume
Understanding the size of your target audience is also important. In B2B, the audience size is narrower. B2B products and services are often marketed to a specific group of buyers with particular challenges and needs, whereas B2C goods have a wider and general audience.
3. B2B and B2C keyword crossover
Keyword crossover happens when your keywords are used by both B2B and B2C searches. For instance, when a user searches for ‘cleaning service’, it can represent commercial cleaning service or residential cleaning service. If a B2B company bids on this keyword, it might result in attracting unqualified audiences.
Although there are some challenges that need to be overcome, it’s undeniable that Google Ads has huge potential for B2B companies. The reasons that B2B businesses should use it as part of their lead generation strategy are as mentioned below.
1. Targeting Capabilities
Google Ads offers you different powerful targeting tools, for instance, keyword and geotargeting. With keyword targeting tool, you can reach your potential customers effectively by bidding on the keywords that match the search intent.
Besides, you can also advertise based on geo-targeting. This feature allows your ads to only appear to audiences in certain locations, so you can only focus on the people who are eligible to receive your products and services. Of course, there are still more specific targeting options to help you find the right audience.
2. Grow Website Traffic
With Google Ads targeting capabilities, you are able to advertise to the right audiences who are interested in your services or products, this helps to grow your website traffic and also increases the opportunities to generate leads. And more leads mean more chances to convert prospects into customers.
3. Build Brand Awareness
Google Ads not just drive traffic and conversions, but also help to build brand awareness. Even if your target audiences are not clicking on your ads, the moment they search for information about your products and services, your brand message can make an impact on them, and in turn, strengthen your brand.
1. Good Landing Page Experience
A landing page is where you direct your target audience to click on your ads, so it’s important that your landing page is well designed, optimized, and delivers a good user experience to differentiate yourself from your competitors when you’re investing in Google Ads.
2. Make your ad relevant to what your audience’s searching for
A great landing page will not only affect your lead generation efforts but also your ad relevance. Ads relevance means how closely your ad matches with your target audience’s search. To improve your ad relevance, try to put yourself from the below perspective:
By answering these questions, it helps you optimize your keyword selection, finding the best keywords that match your target audience’s search intent. Furthermore, it can also help you to improve your ad copy. For instance, you can create a headline that conveys what you’re offering and how you can solve your target audience’s pain points in order to drive qualified traffic to your website.
3. Remarketing
Remarketing works well for B2B marketers, it allows you to target those who have visited your website. When the buyers are still in the stage of consideration, they are indecisive between you and your competitors. Even when they don’t convert on your landing page, remarketing enables your brands to stay in the mind of the prospects, so you’ll be more likely to recapture the bounded traffic and convert more leads.
It’s time to give Google Ads a try. More visibility, as well as leads, helps to grow your business.
If you are ready but unfamiliar with Google Ads or work in a competitive industry, you can partner with YEA, digital marketing agency jb. We have a deep understanding and first-hand experience of the B2B buyer’s journey for our clients, and we’ll do the same for you.
Schedule your free consultation today to speak with our strategist!
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