Recent studies conducted by Hubspot, a leading provider of inbound marketing software have re-enforced the previous studies indicating a growing trend in the importance of B2B internet marketing. According to recent figures over 80% of all online sales fall into the B2B sector. This means that if you are not adverting online, you are missing out on a wealth of leads and sales daily. You will find that there are numerous options available for marketing your business online, some of which include pay per click advertising, search engine optimization, and social media marketing. Below, we are going to take a look at a few of the methods you can implement to create your B2B internet marketing strategy.
B2B Internet Marketing with Pay Per Click
One of the fastest methods of generating traffic online is through the use of pay per click marketing. Pay per click (PPC) marketing is a method that allows you to create text and image ads that are displayed when select keywords are searched or other predefined criteria are met. There are a variety of places that you can display your paid ads, let’s take a look at a few of the most popular places and platforms to advertise on.
Google Adwords
Quite possibly most widely known and used method of B2B internet marketing and B2C internet marketing is Google Adwords. Since 1999 online advertisers have been able to create paid ads and display them across Google’s ad network. Significant improvements have been made over the past 14 years to Adwords and you can now laser target traffic, ad locations, and devices to drive the highest possible ROI for your ad dollars. If you are not familiar with Adwords, I suggest that you set aside a few weeks to study the ins and outs of the system before launching a campaign. If you are going to launch a large scale campaign, hiring a professional PPC ad management company will save you time and money through campaign optimization. If you have to choose just one advertising platform, Google Adwords is a great place to start.
Bing/Yahoo AdCenter
Extremely similar to Google Adwords, Bing and Yahoo share a pay per click advertising platform known as AdCenter. If you have used Adwords or Adcenter you will notice a great deal of similarities in these two programs. The big difference is of course where you ads can be displayed. A solid B2B internet marketing campaign should have a diversified reach, Adcenter is a great place to reach potential clients who may not be on the Google Network. Much like Adwords, this platform will give you numerous options to target the exact behavior and reach of your advertising campaign. Some people suggest that Adcenter offers a lower average cost per click, but a well optimized campaign on Adwords can be just as cheap. Either way, this is a great addition to using Adwords or can be a solid stand-alone method of advertising your business.
Twitter Paid Marketing
If you are not terribly familiar with this platform, do not feel bad. It was only recently opened up for everyone to use. With Twitter you are given a few advertising options. You can either have a promoted tweet or a promoted account. The goal with both of these is to of course help you reach more potential consumers with your brand and message. Unlike Adwords and Adcenter, paid ads with Twitter are focused on getting people to follow or retweet your message. Since its inception, paid advertising with Twitter has proven to be a valuable B2B internet marketing tool.
LinkedIn Advertising
LinkedIn was developed to connect business owners and any B2B internet marketing strategy wouldn’t be complete without advertising on this online business hub. Very similar to Facebook’s paid advertising, LinkedIn allows you to target you demographic using numerous factors such as the company they work for, specific skills listed in their profile, or even what college they attended. There are also several other criteria you can use to laser target the reach of your ads. Overall, LinkedIn is certainly a PPC advertising platform that you should put some thought into when planning out your B2B internet marketing campaign.
Facebook PPC Ads
If you have ever seen a TV, listened to the radio, or visited a store, you most likely have heard about and seen the incredible reach and diverse audience that Facebook has. By including Facebook in your B2B marketing strategy, you will be able to advertise directly to senior leaders at other companies and connect with them on a more personal level than other methods. Where I see many companies fail in B2B marketing is by trying to send only a sales message to people via Facebook, if you take the time to interact with potential consumers and tell them your story through social media, Facebook paid ads will help you make the very most out of your social account and ad dollar.
SEO for B2B Internet Marketing
Aside from using paid advertising for your B2B internet marketing campaigns, you may also want to consider implementing an SEO strategy as well. In case you are not familiar with search engine optimization, it is the method of adjusting on page and off page factors to improve the organic rank of your keywords in the search results. Let’s say you sell a CRM solution, using SEO you could rank your site to show up first when people search CRM solutions, CRM systems, Business CRM software… Etc. This would position your website to receive clicks from already interested consumers. The key in determining whether or not to use SEO is ROI. You should consider your average profit per sale, the number of people searching, and how much work it would take to achieve rankings. If you would like some help deciding if SEO is a wise choice, contact us and we would be happy to help you crunch the numbers.
Final Thoughts on B2B Internet Marketing
The internet is the future of B2B sales, but the future is now. If you are not leveraging this powerful growth accelerator and reaching the thousands or millions of potential clients through paid or organic advertising, you are falling behind your competitors. Over 90% of internet experiences start with a search engine; will you be there for potential consumers? If not, contact us today, we can help.