Guide using Google ads for B2B Lead Generation

Prologue

The race for featuring higher & ranking up in the Google search results for organic traffic is ferocious than has ever been before, making it imperative to using Google ads for B2B lead generation. Featuring high in the organic search results is also difficult owing to the zero-click search results.

Consequently, running Pay Per Click (PPC) campaigns on Google not only helps in optimizing the number of high quality leads being generated but also serves as a quick way for the brands to reach the potential buyers & convert them into valuable leads.

Using Google ads for B2B Lead Generation Pays off by Motivating Users to Visit Your Site 

Google lead generation system is inevitable for B2B marketers as is also evidenced by a study from Webfx, which claims that 70% of the buyers in the business-to-business (B2B) industry use search engines while researching about their buying preferences. 

A PPC advertising campaign is a quick way for your company to get leads from Google. Lead generation using Google ads not only generates leads but also has a positive impact on the organic reach of the brands. Depending upon the prime business objectives of brands b2b Google ads can be used majorly for driving traffic or for generating quality leas for optimized sales.

Productively Using Google ads for B2B Lead Generation

Prospecting potential buyers, reaching out to them & finally engaging & engrossing them for sales conversions can be quite a tricky process.

The B2B marketing industry is highly competitive & featuring high for expensive keywords can be a bit expensive & thorny.  According to a report from Wordstream, the average cost per click (CPC) for B2B terms is over $3. 

Besides, there are other inherent core challenges associated with the prospecting, engagement & conversion of the B2B audiences including longer sales cycle, bidding for highly competitive keywords which are having lower inventory than the B2C terms. Furthermore, the subset of niche-specific keywords common for both B2B & B2C audiences & the complex nature of services in industries such as healthcare & technology makes ad copywriting quite an overwhelming task.

The following steps can be considered to be a guide to using Google ads for B2B lead generation:

1. Research Valuable Keywords:

The first step to effectively be using Google ads for B2B lead generation encompasses organizing relevant keywords from the industry to help create your team members, ad campaigns & ad groups.

The B2B keyword list compilation can fall into the following categories:

  • Generic Keywords: These keywords include those related to brand-specific services or products
  • Branded Keywords: These include the keywords related to companies’ brand names.
  • Competitor Keywords: These are the keywords that mimic branded keywords but also include the brand name of the competitors
  • Related Keywords: These keywords constitute the repository of keywords related to a competitor, brands as well as the generic keywords

Keyword research is the first step to get ahead with an effective PPC optimization strategy for the brands.

The following steps can be used to get the maximum relevance out of a keyword research strategy:

  • Using tools for keyword research
  • Competitively benchmarking & targeting the keywords that brands’ competitors might already be using
  • Compile a list of in-house keywords
  • Research keywords using Keyword planner from Google Ads

The value & the relevance of the keywords can be substantiated by some of the keyword tools like the following:

  • Answer the Public
  • FAQ Fox
  • Ubersuggest &
  • Google Trends

Researching keywords before turning to Google Ads is always advantageous. Google Keyword Planner can be used to compile keyword suggestions. One can enter a website URL to receive keyword recommendations.

2. Structuring the PPC Campaign as Per the Best Practices:

While using Google Ads for B2B lead generation, marketers must follow best practices for structuring their B2B paid advertising campaigns. Marketers need to match their account hierarchy to optimize their ads & to prevent the deterioration of their B2B Ads strategy.

The account hierarchy from top to bottom is:

  • Account
  • Ad campaign
  • Ad groups
  • Keywords

Marketers need to create ad campaigns with relevant & organized ad groups. The campaigns can feature ad groups targeting related, competitor & branded search terms.

Often for running the PPC ads, the companies need to define how much they want to spend each day on the ads, audiences that the companies want to target, landing pages for directing their prospects to & bidding for companies to pay for someone to click on the ad.

3. Build Creative Ads:

Before using Google Ads for B2B lead generation, the marketers need to get the copywriting of the ads correct. They must brainstorm ad copy ideas that emphasize the benefits of products or services of a particular brand, highlight the limited offers & also include the Call-To-Action buttons.

Usually, headlines up to 30 characters in length & description up to 90 characters serve the purpose.

4. Be Specific with specific parameters to minimize the “Unqualified Clicks”:

Landing to higher Cost-per-Click (CPCs) & the unqualified clicks emerges as the biggest challenges while using Google Ads for B2B lead generation.

The marketers need to be highly specific with the following parameters to optimize their Ad strategies:

  • Keywords:

The marketers need to be highly specific with keyword selection, landing page creation & ad messaging.

  • Ads:

Some ad messaging can be used to optimize the number of relevant clicks by getting rid of the keywords that are irrelevant to businesses, not the customers.

  • Landing Pages:

The landing pages should be designed in such a manner that they reference the keywords that the marketers are bidding on. The landing pages help curtail the unqualified clicks by speaking directly to the ideal customers, i.e. the businesses & not with the customers.

  • Leverage Geotargeting:

While using the Google Ads for B2B lead generation, the marketers must take into consideration the primary & secondary geographies that they want to target to make the optimal use of their ad budgets including country, zip code, city & more.

Learn more: How to Incorporate Geofencing in B2B Content Strategy

  • Research & add Negative Keywords:

Negative keywords can be researched using Google’s search term report & can be added to brands’ accounts to minimize the wasted clicks.

5. Design Landing Pages for PPC Ads:

Besides, delivering your ad copy, landing pages must also be: fast, intuitive, on-brand & responsible. Landing pages need to be split-tested before using Google Ads for B2B lead generation.

Learn more: 11 Practices for B2B landing Page Optimization (LPO)

6. Quantify the PPC Ad campaigns:

Using Google Ads for B2B lead generation is beneficial for generating quality traffic. For best results, the marketers need to split-test & optimize their ad copies. They need to check the effectiveness & measure the ROI of their ad campaigns over weeks & months as well as on quarterly & yearly basis for deeper insights.

Wrapping It Up

The B2B landscape is challenges & the challenges transcend to Google Ads as well. Effectively using Google Ads for B2B lead generation requires clearly established goals to track, measure & optimize the Ad campaigns. The marketing strategies of companies & ad campaigns need to be integrated. Brand messaging, sales, content, ad copywriting & everything else in the interim need to be in alignment with each other for B2B marketers to optimize their core bottom lines by using Google Ads for B2B lead generation.

We, at Valasys Media, run hyper-targeted campaigns to help our B2B clients optimize their lead generation endeavors. Our tailored services include lead generation, account-based marketing, lead nurturing, event promotion services, list building services & content syndication services.

Contact us to decipher pathways to perennially fetching sales pipelines.

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