Companies selling goods and services for businesses do not always know how to address potential clients and what channels to choose for this. Indeed, the advertising of a conveyor line and a last-minute tour cannot be built on similar principles. Evgeny Glazyrin, Middle PPC Specialist at Netpeak agency , will tell you about such differences. Read what works for context in B2B, what points to consider when setting up campaigns and what principles to use to compose ads.
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ToggleNiche Features
Let me start with the most global difference. Why is it that tactics that work great in B2C are often not applicable in B2B? The problem is that potential buyers of the product in these two cases are too different – as is their perception. Therefore, you need to speak different languages with them. I will try to list the distinctive features of clients in both cases.
Potential buyer in B2C:
- buys goods for himself or his loved ones;
- has a rough idea of why it is needed and how it works;
- may make a purchase in a fit of emotion – that’s why marketers often rely on the high spirits on the eve of the holidays;
- making a decision does not take much time – unless it is a product with a high average bill: an apartment, a car;
- the purchase is discussed with a minimum number of people or not discussed at all.
Potential buyer in B2B:
- purchases goods for his business or client;
- may not understand how the product works, especially when it comes to complex products and technical solutions;
- when buying, pays attention to figures and facts – here there is a more rational approach and a clear understanding of what money can be spent on the product;
- weighs all the pros and cons for a long time and carefully – because of this, the transaction cycle is usually long;
- A decision about a purchase can be made by a dozen people: a business owner, a manager, a marketer, a technologist, etc.
These features directly impact the delivery of advertising messages and benefits – we will discuss this below.
There are a number of other features that affect promotion in the niche. In B2B, on average, goods are more expensive, and the demand for them is lower. After all, not everyone buys such products. It is also difficult to make references to holidays in campaigns. Yes, you can time your activities to the New Year, but only if you offer a good discount – i.e. some kind of material advantage. The typical B2C call to “please your loved ones” or “treat yourself” will not work here.
Budgets
B2B search contextual advertising budgets are usually higher, but traffic is lower. This is explained by the fact that narrow niches usually have high competition – and each player is ready to pay a high rate per click. After all, there are few potential buyers, and there is a fierce battle for them.
The graph below shows that B2B usually has a low CTR. This is again a consequence of the fact that not many people are interested in such products. It is logical that this segment is adjacent to another highly specialized area – technology. Therefore, you should not expect sky-high conversion rates in B2B; in this area, this is rather an exception.
But this does not mean that contextual advertising in this niche is not effective. Our agency works with a company that sells large agricultural machinery. This client uses more precise niche keywords for promotion. Therefore, they get high rates and huge advertising budgets. At the same time, the customer is promoted well with the help of search campaigns. Thanks to competent development of the audience and ads, this business finds its traffic, advertising pays off and brings profit. The company also actively participates in exhibitions and conferences – they get many leads from there. And their recognition at such events is not least influenced by context.
Advertising tools and formats
It is impossible to say that something works worse in B2B than in B2C. Until recently, it seemed that Facebook and especially Instagram were not intended for promotion among business representatives. But this is no longer the case. Instagram is not only used for cosmetics advertising, but also for remarketing SaaS products. And after all, decision makers are also there — people who make purchasing decisions.
It also makes sense for B2B to promote in social networks, special communities and LinkedIn. Advertising there will cost more than on Facebook and Google. But there you can target by positions, professions and more accurately reach the target audience. This graph shows which social networks are of greatest interest to B2B:
If we talk about more traditional contextual advertising, then you shouldn’t discount the KMS. Set up targeting by keywords, audiences, intentions. You can also add targeting to the page content – for example, to be shown on thematic forums. The main thing is to make the banner attractive and describe what your product provides.
Remarketing also works well for B2B. But it is better to show ads not to those who simply clicked, but to those who performed a target action. For example, a call, a subscription to a newsletter, filling out an online form. Here it is important to divide all visitors into audiences with different durations of participation. Below I will give an approximate duration to explain the basic principles.
- Users who visited the site seven days ago still remember your product. Therefore, you can show up for them more often and at a higher rate. Use a simple and clear message related to the content that this audience viewed.
- Users who visited the site 30 days ago. They have already partially forgotten your product, so they need to be reminded of it. Use a description of the problem and how your tool solves it in the ad.
- Users who visited the site 90 days ago or longer. They can be shown rarely, but with carefully thought-out creatives. The ad can describe new features that have appeared during this time. As in the second example, we mention the problem and ways to solve it, show that the product is constantly being improved.
To understand what to focus on, it is useful to analyze competitors. Since the user could have chosen them at one time after visiting your site.
Audience selection
The difficulty of contextual advertising in B2B is in finding the right audience. Agree, hardly anyone identifies themselves as a person interested in agricultural equipment. And on Instagram, for example, not everyone indicates their place of work and specialty. Therefore, one of the solutions is to first target a wide audience, and then gradually narrow it down to the target audience. Figuratively speaking, we cast a large net to pull out one or two large fish.
Another option is to focus on expensive niche keywords. But with the right approach, it should pay off. For example, we worked with a project from a very specific topic, this company sells aircraft fuel accounting systems. They have one lead every two to three months. But usually these are large airports. They buy one system, and if they like it, they come back and spend even more money. But here you need to understand that if you conduct context only for narrow queries, you can very quickly hit a ceiling.
If you launch outreach campaigns, be sure to measure engagement — after all, your target audience will be small among these people. For example, focus on watching a video to a certain point, reading a post to the end, etc. And then use remarketing for this audience, testing different messages and creatives.
When promoting B2B companies, we most often start with more precise and narrow keywords. This way we get traffic from people who are really interested in the product. When this audience ends, we move on to outreach campaigns to collect targeted traffic among them. This process requires constant experimentation and creative development.
What should the announcements and messages be like?
Address the buyer in the language of benefits and numbers. Business decision makers value their time, so the advertising message needs to be formulated as clearly and specifically as possible. A potential buyer does not always realize that he has a need for something – especially if the product is specific. Therefore, the ad needs to outline the problem and how your product solves it.
The ad must include a phone number. After all, in B2B the product is usually more complex than in B2C, and buyers prefer to discuss it “by voice”. Therefore, in this area, I usually recommend using call tracking . For companies that are promoted using several channels and dozens of campaigns, it will help to understand what brings calls and applications.
If the product is complex, then its essence needs to be explained to potential clients as clearly as possible – this is especially true for SaaS . After all, a potential client does not always understand how the service works and why it is needed. For such products, visual creatives, banners with visualization, video advertising that shows the product in action are suitable.
When advertising a complex product, it is worth showing different creatives to users at different stages of the funnel. For example, for a wider audience, we show a banner with a problem – for example, “You can do better.” If a person clicks on the ad, we send them further down the funnel and give them more specific creatives. For a narrower audience that is already familiar with your topic, you can show the functionality, etc. If you do this right away, at the top stage of the funnel, you are more likely to scare off users with unclear messages and interface descriptions.
If you are a subscription SaaS , exclude repeat calls when analyzing the effectiveness of advertising. Because a person who calls after a purchase is most likely interested in post-sales service. If you do not filter out repeat calls, it will seem that the advertising brings more leads than it actually does. This can be done if you use call tracking. To do this, rely on data on unique calls within the sales cycle.
It is also beneficial for SaaS to have a subscription purchased for a longer period. Therefore, promotions with discounts for purchases for several months or years work well in this area. Such activity can be timed to coincide with the company’s birthday or Black Friday – here a reference to holidays will be appropriate.
Is a price required in an ad?
This point needs to be tested for a specific product. But often a B2B product is a complex solution, the price of which depends heavily on the customer’s requirements. Therefore, it makes no sense to write it. Similarly, if the product is niche and expensive. It is better not to indicate the price here, so as not to scare off a potential buyer. You are interested in the buyer calling first, and your manager explaining the advantages of your product during the conversation.
Where to lead the user – to the website or to the landing page?
If the product is complex and consists of various modules, then it is better to create landing pages for individual products. The advantage is that you can easily make changes to the landing page and conduct A/B testing to identify the most converting options. If your product performs one global task, then you can lead users to the site. Its various sections will help the buyer better understand the tasks and value of your product. Another good option is to lead users from advertising to a corporate blog. In an article, you can more fully disclose the benefits of the product than in a short ad.
Conclusion
- Contextual advertising in B2B differs from B2C. This is due to the fact that we address very different audiences. An ordinary buyer buys a product for himself, makes a decision to buy quickly and often under the influence of emotions. In B2B, a group of people makes a decision, they are interested in clear advantages – profit, specific benefits. The transaction cycle is usually long, so the buyer needs to be constantly “warmed up”.
- When it comes to search campaigns that include niche keywords, budgets and bids are usually high and potential buyers are few. But in B2B, the average check is usually high, so well-configured campaigns pay off. Social media marketing services can complement contextual advertising by providing additional channels for engaging and nurturing leads throughout the decision-making process.
- For companies selling goods/services for business, it is not easy to find their audience. There are two ways out – the first is to first target a wide audience, and then “filter out” the ones you need and catch up with remarketing. The second is to first use niche keywords and only then, having exhausted the traffic for them, move on to a wide audience and experiment with creatives.
- If you are selling a complex product, it is especially important to use different creatives for each stage of the funnel. For a wider audience, you need to describe a problem that is familiar to them and how your product solves it. For a more advanced audience, you need to talk about your capabilities and functionality.
- For complex products, it makes sense to create separate landing pages for each module and lead users there from contextual advertising. This will make it easier to test hypotheses and help clearly explain your advantages to the user.