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Home Blog PPC B2B: Definition, Tips & How to Start B2B Advertising

PPC B2B: Definition, Tips & How to Start B2B Advertising

Tired of generic marketing tactics that fail to resonate with other businesses? PPC B2B is your secret weapon for generating qualified leads and propelling your company towards explosive growth. This comprehensive guide dives deep into the world of PPC advertising for B2B companies, simplifying the process and equipping you with the knowledge to craft high-converting campaigns.
Last updated:
September 23, 2024
ppc b2b
TABLE OF CONTENT

PPC B2B advertising offers a powerful and targeted approach to attract business owners and decision-makers with your products or services. Among various options, search engine advertising can be highly effective in B2B, as 90% of B2B buyers turn to online searches to find potential vendors, according to Kurve Marketing Consultancy statistics. Whether you want to generate high-quality leads, increase brand awareness, or drive sales, PPC can be a game-changer for your B2B strategy. Yet, standing out and reaching the right audience may be challenging without expert knowledge and professional tools.

This article delves into the essentials of PPC B2B advertising, providing a clear definition, practical tips, and a step-by-step guide on how to start. By understanding and leveraging the unique aspects of PPC for B2B, choosing the right advertising platforms, and using the best PPC B2B marketing tool for landing pages – Landingi, you can create consistent, effective campaigns that connect with decision-makers and propel your business forward. Read on and learn everything about successful B2B advertising campaigns.

What Is PPC B2B?

PPC B2B, or Pay-Per-Click Business-to-Business, is a digital advertising strategy where businesses promote their products or services to other businesses through online platforms, paying only when their ads are clicked. This model aims to generate leads, drive website traffic, and increase conversions specifically from other businesses rather than individual consumers.

Paid advertising in the B2B sector relies on advanced targeting, allowing businesses to reach decision-makers and stakeholders. It’s achievable by setting demographics such as company size, industry, job title, and geographic location where the target businesses operate.

B2B ad campaigns provide companies with the benefits that any other strategy can’t promise:

  • Immediate results – visibility and potential leads as soon as the campaign launches.
  • Precise targeting – displaying ads only for relevant business audiences.
  • Brand awareness – enhanced brand visibility among target businesses even if they don’t click the ads.
  • Measurable ROI – clear metrics for tracking performance and return on investment.
  • Scalability – campaigns can be scaled up or down based on performance and budget.

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How Does B2B PPC Work?

B2B PPC works by allowing businesses to create targeted online ads on dedicated advertising platforms, where they pay each time their ad is clicked. These ads are directed toward specific business audiences thanks to advanced targeting parameters.

B2B PPC campaigns can be launched through various advertising platforms, such as Google Ads, Microsoft Advertising (Bing Ads), Meta Ads (Facebook Ads), or LinkedIn Ads. Each offers various ad formats and specific targeting options, thanks to which reaching targeted professionals and companies is effective.

The most popular ad formats in B2B PPC are search ads, display ads, video ads, or sponsored social media content. Search ads are text ads that appear in search engine results, while display ads are banner ads shown on websites within the ad network. Video ads can play before, during, or after video content, for instance, on YouTube, and sponsored content blends in with the native content of platforms like LinkedIn.

In the B2B PPC, keyword research, targeting, and bid setting are the three most important steps in ad creation that impact overall campaign success. These steps include advanced techniques as follows:

Keyword Research

Keyword research is nothing more than establishing how customers can search for promoted products or services. There is no room for guessing – professional tools help identify proper phrases and provide data on search queries, letting businesses choose the most relevant and effective ones. Identifying proper keywords involves the 4 following strategies, which help businesses build a comprehensive list of relevant keywords that effectively target their ideal B2B customers.

  • Understanding buyer personas – in-depth research goes beyond just products and services. Businesses create buyer personas and detailed profiles of their ideal customers. This includes understanding their pain points, job titles, industry challenges, and the specific language they use when describing their needs.
  • Leveraging keyword research tools – knowing their buyer personas, businesses leverage keyword research tools to analyze search trends, identify relevant keywords with search volume, and uncover long-tail keywords (more specific phrases) that potential clients might use.
  • Analyzing competitors – a smart strategy is to analyze the keywords on which competitors are targeting ads. This helps identify potential gaps and opportunities to reach a wider audience in the B2B space.
  • Understanding search intent – beyond just the keywords themselves, understanding the intent behind searches is crucial. It’s crucial to know if potential clients are in the information-gathering stage, actively researching solutions, or ready to purchase. Targeting keywords that align with each stage of the buyer’s journey optimizes the overall PPC campaign.

Targeting

Targeting in B2B advertising differs from the B2C approach – it’s about focusing ads on the ideal decision-makers within a specific target market. Advanced targeting options allow businesses to tailor their message to the most relevant B2B audience. Advertisers set up targeting parameters, which can be finely tuned to match the specific characteristics of the businesses they want to attract. The main types of B2B targeting parameters involve the following:

  • Company size – targeting by company size allows advertisers to focus on businesses within a specific range of employee numbers or revenue brackets. These can include small, mid-size, or large enterprises. This parameter helps tailor the ad content and offerings to suit the scale and resources of the target companies.
  • Industry – targeting by industry enables advertisers to reach businesses within specific sectors. By focusing on industry-specific audiences, advertisers can create highly relevant ads that address the unique needs and challenges of each sector.
  • Job title – targeting by job title allows advertisers to reach decision-makers and key influencers within target companies. These can be, for example, executives, such as CEOs, CFOs, and COOs, who make strategic decisions, or specialists, like IT specialists, who may be end-users or recommenders of products and services. This level of targeting ensures that ads are seen by those most likely to influence or decide on purchasing decisions.
  • Geographic location – geographic targeting enables advertisers to focus on specific regions, countries, states, cities, or even postal codes, ensuring that ads are relevant to the local context, culture, and market conditions. This is particularly useful for businesses that operate locally, target international markets, or serve multiple regions and want to tailor messages to different geographic markets.

Additional targeting parameters can include:

  • Demographic and firmographic targeting, as age and gender, education level, or professional experience.
  • Behavioral targeting, such as website visits, content interaction, or search behavior.

Bidding

Bidding in B2B PPC is similar to bidding in other PPC strategies. Advertisers determine how much they are willing to pay for each click on their ad (CPC – cost-per-click). Platforms like Google Ads and LinkedIn Ads often use an auction system, where ads compete for placement based on the bid amount and ad quality. Businesses can choose between two strategies, as follows:

  • Manual bidding – this strategy requires setting bids for keywords based on data and previous experiences. It’s a great option for professionals who want to gain full cost control.
  • Automated bidding – it takes the manual workload out of optimizing your bids for B2B PPC campaigns. Instead of constantly adjusting bids yourself, you can leverage advanced algorithms that dynamically allocate your budget across auctions.

Design targeted PPC pages and optimize them to maximize your campaign effectiveness.

Does PPC Work for B2B?

PPC strategy is highly effective for B2B, empowering businesses to accurately pinpoint decisionmakers and stakeholders in other companies using specific keywords, demographics, and behavioral data. PPC ads drive great results in the B2B marketing, providing companies with the following PPC benefits:

  1. Targeted reach and precision – PPC allows businesses to precisely target their ideal audience based on detailed criteria such as industry, company size, job title, and geographic location. It ensures decision-makers within target companies see ads, increasing the likelihood of generating high-quality leads.
  2. Cost-effective advertising – the pay-per-click model allows for better budget control and helps companies achieve a higher return on investment (ROI) by focusing on engaged prospects more likely to convert.
  3. Measurable and trackable results – PPC campaigns offer comprehensive analytics and tracking capabilities, enabling businesses to measure the performance of their ads in real time. Tracking KPIs provides valuable insights into campaign effectiveness and allows for data-driven optimization.
  4. Quick implementation and results – PPC ads can be set up and launched quickly, delivering immediate website visibility and traffic. This rapid deployment is particularly beneficial for B2B companies looking to promote time-sensitive offers, events, or new products, as it helps capture the attention of potential clients promptly.
  5. Enhanced brand awareness – even if users do not click on the ads, PPC campaigns help increase brand visibility and awareness among target businesses. Repeated exposure to the company’s name and offerings can build brand recognition and establish credibility in the industry over time.
  6. Flexibility and scalability – PPC campaigns are highly flexible and can be adjusted in real time based on performance data. Businesses can easily scale their campaigns, modify targeting parameters, and experiment with different ad formats and strategies to find the most effective approach for their goals.
  7. Competitive advantage – PPC allows B2B companies to compete effectively in their industry by securing top ad placements on search engines and other platforms. This can help level the playing field with larger competitors and attract the attention of potential customers actively seeking solutions.
  8. Lead generation and conversion – campaigns are designed to drive traffic to landing pages optimized for lead generation. By targeting the right audience and delivering compelling ad content, B2B companies can capture leads through form submissions, downloads, or inquiries, ultimately increasing their sales pipeline and conversion rates.

8 PPC B2B Tips for Improving Ad Performance

Improving ad performance in B2B PPC campaigns involves several ad creation strategies and ongoing optimization to ensure that ads reach the right audience and generate quality leads. Check out the following 8 professional tips that will help you fully leverage the potential of PPC advertising in the B2B sector.

#1 Focus on Targeting and Audience Segmentation

The first PPC tip for improving ad performance in the B2B sector is to focus on targeting and audience segmentation. Use detailed targeting options your chosen platform provides. Set parameters crucial for targeting businesses, such as company size, industry, and geographic location, to reach the most relevant audience. Add job titles if you aim to target specific professionals. You can also leverage Account-Based Marketing (ABM) and focus on specific high-value accounts by creating custom lists and tailoring ads to these companies.

#2 Develop an Effective Keyword Strategy

The second tip for successful B2B PPC campaigns is to develop an effective keyword strategy. Once you understand your potential customers, their needs and pain points, and their searching habits, use professional tools to conduct thorough keyword research. Identify and bid on high-intent phrases relevant to your business offerings. It’s a good practice to target long-tail keywords that are more specific and less competitive – this can result in higher conversion rates and lower CPC. Additionally, use negative keywords to prevent your ads from appearing in irrelevant searches.

#3 Create and Test Various Ad Formats

The third tip for winning B2B ad campaigns is to create and test various ad copy. When focusing your strategy on search ads, pay attention to compelling, persuasive ad copy that underscores a unique selling proposition. It should include high-value keywords and industry-relevant phrases to attract your target audience. Use strong CTAs to encourage clicks.

For display ads, consider using high-quality pictures or animations, and ensure the headlines match your audience’s needs. When creating video ads, pay attention to their duration – it should be short yet immersive, with a compelling message that will catch and keep the user’s attention. Use A/B testing tools to experiment with ad variations. Test different versions of your ads, including headlines, descriptions, images, and CTAs, to determine which combinations perform best.

Display ads spark curiosity. Consumers exposed to them are 155% more likely to actively search for your brand online, as highlighted in WordStream statistics.

#4 Link High-Converting Landing Pages

The fourth tip for B2B pay-per-click advertising is to link high-converting landing pages. Ads can be catchy and attractive enough to encourage users to click, but they are ineffective without a well-designed, ad-relevant landing page focusing on a single conversion goal. Once you attract businesses with your ad, you have to continue your mission and make them willing to convert – for this purpose, creating and optimizing a landing page is your key strategy.

Build your PPC landing page using professional tools, like the Landingi platform. Ensure it’s highly relevant to the ad content and keywords. A seamless transition from ad to landing page improves user experience and conversion rates. Include clear CTAs, concise and persuasive content, and easy-to-fill forms on your landing page. Use lead magnets such as whitepapers, case studies, or free trials to entice visitors. Optimize your page for mobile, ensuring it displays well on smaller screens, and remember to stick to a single goal – landing pages with various CTAs are ineffective.

Start generating B2B leads today! Build optimized PPC pages with Landingi and convert more from your ads.

#5 Focus on Budget Management

The fifth piece of advice for improving B2B PPC campaign performance is to focus on budget management. Running each PPC campaign requires setting its overall budget and bids. You will be charged for each ad click regardless of the chosen platform, but setting the overall campaign budget ensures you won’t pay more than you want. However, PPC budget management is more complicated, as it affects ad placements and, when properly done, can significantly improve ROI

Allocate your budget based on campaign goals and performance. Ensure that high-performing campaigns receive sufficient funding. Effective budget allocation involves distributing your funds across various campaigns, ad groups, and keywords based on their performance and potential ROI. Prioritizing high-performing campaigns ensures that your budget is spent on ads that deliver the best results.

Set daily and campaign budgets. This helps control overall spending and prevent running out of budget at the beginning of the campaign period. This approach ensures that ads are displayed consistently and are seen throughout the day or campaign period.

Focus on bidding strategy and choose between manual bidding, which gives you full control over keyword bids, and automated bidding, which distributes your budget to maximize ROI but offers less cost control. Your bid amount directly influences your ad’s position in search results and display networks. Higher bids increase the chances of securing top ad placements, but they must be balanced with your budget constraints to avoid overspending. Regularly review and adjust bids to stay competitive. Increase bids on high-converting keywords and reduce bids on underperforming ones.

Additionally, budget management allows for scalability. As you gather more data and see positive results, you can increase your budget to scale successful campaigns. Conversely, you can scale down or pause underperforming campaigns to reallocate funds more effectively.

#6 Leverage Performance Tracking and Analytics

The sixth tip for running effective B2B PPC campaigns is to leverage performance tracking and analytics. Use tools like Google Analytics and advertising platform-specific conversion tracking to measure the effectiveness of your campaigns. Regularly analyze metrics such as CTR, conversion rate, and CPA to identify trends and areas for improvement.

Don’t forget about landing pages – use the EventTracker tool from Landingi to track events and user behavior. Use the collected information for data-driven optimization. This way, you can improve user experience and influence increasing conversion rates, which greatly impacts your overall PPC strategy performance.

#7 Optimize Campaigns Continuously

The seventh tip for B2B PPC campaign improvement is to optimize your campaigns continuously. It refers to the ongoing process of analyzing performance data, making strategic adjustments, and refining your approach to ensure your PPC campaigns remain effective and aligned with your business goals.

You can adjust ad schedules to show ads during peak times when your target audience is most active and use retargeting to reach users who have previously visited your website but did not convert, reminding them of your offerings and encouraging them to return.

Design targeted PPC pages and optimize them to maximize your campaign effectiveness.

#8 Use Ad Extensions and Advanced Features

The eighth tip for a successful B2B PPC advertising campaign is to use ad extensions and advanced features. By utilizing ad extensions like site links, callouts, and structured snippets, you enhance your ads, make them provide additional information, and increase their visibility.

Take advantage of advanced features, like dynamic search ads, which automatically match your ads to relevant searches, and remarketing lists for search ads (RLSA), which allow you to customize bids and ads for your website’s past visitors. Utilize custom audiences to target specific groups based on demographics, interests, and behaviors, refining your targeting to improve ad performance and reach the most relevant potential clients.

Once you master these PPC tactics, you can change your casual advertising strategy into a powerful digital marketing tool that drives high-quality leads and maximizes campaign results.

How to Start PPC B2B Ads?

To start PPC B2B ads, define your goals and understand your audience, choose the proper advertising platform, focus on keyword research, create ads, and prepare landing pages. Leverage the platform’s targeting options to reach businesses you want to attract with your offer and utilize ad extensions to enhance your ads. Allocate budget and set bidding strategy. The rest is launching and ongoing optimization.

Look at the detailed guide below and use it as your checklist for creating your first highly effective B2B advertising campaign:

1. Define Campaign Goals

Firstly, define campaign goals. Establishing clear objectives for your B2B campaign will guide your strategy and help you measure success. Think if you aim to generate leads, increase website traffic, or boost brand awareness. Each of those goals requires investing in advertising on different platforms, depending on their efficiency in the selected sector. For example, when your goal is to boost brand awareness, you should create display ads on the Google Ads platform, but when you aim to generate leads, you can consider LinkedIn Ads.

2. Understand Your Audience

Secondly, understand your audience. In B2B marketing, your audiences are businesses, but you can fail to reach potential customers without considering industries, company sizes, and even job titles. Conduct thorough research to understand your target audience and create detailed buyer personas to tailor your ads effectively.

3. Choose the Right Platforms

Thirdly, choose the right platforms. Once you know your goals and particular audience, you can select the PPC platforms that best align with your objectives and the businesses you want to attract. Popular choices for B2B marketing are Google Ads and LinkedIn Ads. Google Ads is great for search intent, while LinkedIn Ads excels in professional targeting.

Don’t miss out on qualified leads! LinkedIn Ads can significantly increase buyer intent (by 33%) for your B2B campaigns, as the Social Shepherd statistics prove.

4. Explore Keywords

Fourthly, explore keywords. It’s the most important part of campaign creation, ensuring your ads reach target audiences and rank highly. Perform extensive keyword research to identify the terms and phrases your target audience is searching for. Use tools like Google Keyword Planner, SEMrush, or Ahrefs to find high-volume, low-competition keywords relevant to your business. Remember to use these phrases in your ads and on ad-related landing pages. Use negative keywords to save the budget by avoiding clicks from users who are unlikely to convert, ensuring that your ads reach a more targeted audience interested in your specific B2B offerings.

5. Create Compelling Ads

Fifthly, create compelling ads. Depending on the chosen ad formats, focus on highlighting unique selling points in a way specific to the platforms on which your ads will appear. For search ads, develop ad copy that speaks directly to your target audience’s pain points and needs. Display ads should be visually attractive, and video ads must catch attention in their first seconds. Regardless of the ad format, include strong calls to action (CTAs), and always ensure your copy is clear, concise, and engaging.

6. Design Effective Landing Pages

Sixthly, design effective landing pages dedicated to your PPC ads. These pages should be relevant to the ad content and optimized for conversions. Use professional tools, like Landingi, to ensure your PPC landing pages are perfectly designed to engage users and encourage them to convert – add clear headlines, compelling copy, and easy-to-complete forms to capture leads.

Boost your B2B PPC strategy! Use Landingi to design landing pages that attract and convert business clients.

Homepages aren’t enough for B2B PPC! Over half (52%) of campaigns suffer from ads linked to the homepage, as proven by Findstack statistics – create focused landing pages to capture leads.

7. Use Advanced Targeting

Seventhly, use advanced targeting to reach potential customers efficiently. Classical PPC campaigns rely on targeting by demographics, behavior, and location, but B2B advertising requires a more specific approach. Choose the industry, company size, geographical area, and job titles that match your ideal customer profile. Leverage features like LinkedIn’s robust targeting options to filter by company name, job function, or seniority level.

Additionally, utilize remarketing to re-engage visitors who have previously interacted with your site but didn’t convert. By refining your targeting parameters, you can maximize the relevance and impact of your ads, ensuring they reach the most valuable prospects.

8. Leverage Ad Extensions

Eighthly, leverage ad extensions for paid search campaigns in Google Ads or Microsoft Advertising to enhance your PPC ads and improve click-through rates. These provide additional information and options directly in your ad, making it more appealing and useful to potential customers. Use site link extensions to link to specific pages on your website, call extensions to display your phone number, and callout extensions to highlight unique features or offers.

For B2B campaigns, consider adding structured snippets to showcase aspects like services offered or product categories. By utilizing ad extensions, you can provide more value, stand out from competitors, and drive higher engagement and conversions.

9. Allocate Budget and Bidding Strategy

Ninthly, allocate a budget and bidding strategy. Determine your overall budget and set daily or monthly budgets to ensure you control your spending and can sustain your PPC campaigns over time. This allows for better financial management, helping you allocate resources effectively while maintaining the flexibility to adjust your budget based on campaign performance and business goals.

Based on your campaign objectives and experience level, decide whether to use manual or automated bidding strategies. Manual bidding gives you more control over individual keyword bids, allowing for precise adjustments, while automated bidding uses machine learning to optimize bids for conversions or other goals, potentially saving time and improving efficiency. Monitor your budget regularly to ensure the best ROI.

10. Launch and Monitor Your Campaign

Lastly, launch your PPC campaign and closely monitor their performance. Before launching, you should double-check everything you set, including targeting, bidding, and ad creatives with relevant landing pages. After launching, analyze data to identify trends and areas for improvement.

Creating and launching ads is just the beginning of campaign management. To achieve the best results, continuously optimize your campaigns based on performance data. Test different ad variations, landing pages, and targeting options. Once you have a successful campaign, consider scaling your efforts by increasing your budget or expanding to new platforms.

What Role Do Landing Pages Play in B2B PPC Campaigns?

Landing pages are important elements in B2B PPC campaigns, being digital spaces that enable the transition between ad clicks and conversions. Potential customers arrive on the page after clicking on an ad. Landing pages are designed to capture leads, not just website traffic. They provide relevant information and guide users towards actions like form submissions or resource downloads.

Effective PPC landing pages mirror your B2B ad content, ensuring a smooth transition for the visitor and keeping them interested. At this point, clear messaging is key. Landing pages showcase your key value propositions and include clear calls to action, making it easy for prospects to understand your offer’s benefits and take the next step.

Pick the Sign Up for Test template from Landingi and customize it for conversion by adding ad-relevant content and proper keywords. Leverage the power of PPC landing pages in your B2B paid advertising campaign and watch your ROI grow.

PPC strategy based on landing page

Additionally, landing pages help track and analyze PPC campaigns’ effectiveness. By examining metrics like bounce rate, time on page, and conversion rate, businesses can understand the effectiveness of their landing pages and implement data-driven optimizations. Landing pages can be continuously tested and refined so businesses can improve their conversion rates and achieve better ROI from their PPC efforts.

To run a PPC campaign based on a high-converting landing page, access Landingi – the best multifunctional digital marketing platform focusing on landing pages. You can start the page design process by choosing one of over 400 templates prepared for various industries and campaign goals. Customization goes effortlessly with Landingi’s editor, which offers AI landing page features. You can create ad-related content for your PPC landing page with AI + Text tool. Landingi supports 29 languages and enables the creation of RTL landing pages, allowing quick page translations to help you reach your target audiences.

With the A/B testing tool, you can experiment with various page versions to find the best-performing one and boost overall campaign efficiency. A built-in EventTracker tool allows you to track events and user behavior across your PPC landing pages, collecting data in one Landingi’s dashboard. Thanks to this, you can make data-based optimization to increase user experience and boost conversions. Smart Sections, the tool designed to support page management, allows you to implement bulk changes across multiple landing pages with just a few clicks.

Additionally, Landingi offers over 170 integrations, including advertising platforms like Google Ads, thanks to which you can compose a professional digital marketing toolkit. This comprehensive platform is designed to simplify landing page creation, management, and optimization, which makes it perfect for B2B PPC marketing.

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How to Choose the Best PPC B2B Agency?

Choosing the best PPC B2B agency requires a detailed evaluation of their experience in the B2B sector, as this expertise is crucial for understanding complex sales cycles and effectively targeting professional audiences. Explore client testimonials and case studies to see if they’ve achieved results in your industry. Assess the agency’s strategic approach, including how they handle keyword research, ad creation, and campaign optimization.

Choose a company that can adapt its PPC approach to fit your unique goals and budget. A good agency should stay current with PPC trends and technologies to keep your campaigns competitive. Lastly, discuss your goals with their team to ensure a collaborative approach that drives long-term success.

What Is the Difference Between B2B PPC vs. B2C PPC Advertising?

B2B PPC and B2C PPC advertising differ significantly in their target audiences, strategies, and objectives. B2B advertising targets businesses and professionals, focusing on long sales cycles, higher-priced products or services, and decision-makers such as managers and executives. The ads often emphasize detailed technical information, industry expertise, and benefits. Keywords are usually more specific, targeting niche markets and industry terms.

In contrast, B2C PPC targets individual consumers, aiming for quick conversions with lower-priced items and shorter sales cycles. The ads prioritize emotional appeals, convenience, and immediate benefits, using broader keywords and appealing visuals. While B2B campaigns might focus on lead generation and nurturing through white papers or webinars, business-to-consumer campaigns typically drive direct sales or quick actions, like signing up for newsletters or making online purchases. The measurement of success also varies – B2B campaigns often track lead quality and long-term ROI, while B2C campaigns focus on immediate sales and customer acquisition costs.

Which Metrics to Track in Your B2B PPC Campaign?

Key metrics to track in your B2B PPC campaign, allowing for evaluating performance and making data-driven optimizations, include the following:

  • Click-Through Rate (CTR) – measures the effectiveness of your ad in attracting clicks. A higher CTR indicates that your ad is relevant and compelling to your target audience.
  • Conversion Rate – tracks the percentage of visitors who complete a desired action, such as filling out a form or downloading a white paper. This metric is essential for assessing the traffic quality and the effectiveness of your landing page.
  • Cost Per Click (CPC) – indicates how much you are paying for each click on your ad. Keeping this cost low while maintaining high-quality traffic is vital for budget efficiency.
  • Cost Per Lead (CPL) – measures the cost of acquiring a lead. CPL helps you understand the financial efficiency of your campaign and compare it to the potential revenue generated from those leads.
  • Quality Score – the relevance and quality of your keywords and ads, measured by Google. A higher Quality Score can lead to lower CPC and better ad placements.
  • Impression Share – the percentage of total possible impressions your ad receives. This helps in understanding your ad’s visibility and identifying opportunities to increase reach.
  • Bounce Rate – the percentage of visitors who leave your landing page without taking any action. A high bounce rate may indicate issues with the landing page’s relevance or user experience.
  • Return on Ad Spend (ROAS) – measures the revenue generated for every dollar spent on PPC. It’s a critical factor for understanding the overall financial return of your campaign.
  • Lifetime Value (LTV) of Acquired Leads – estimates the total revenue a lead will generate over their lifetime. Tracking this metric helps in evaluating the long-term profitability of your PPC efforts.

Track your PPC page performance and make data-based adjustments to achieve higher ROI!

How to Measure ROI in B2B PPC Advertising?

To measure ROI in B2B PPC advertising, track your overall ad spending, conversion number, and revenue from each conversion or LTV from each acquired customer. Collecting these data allows you to calculate the return on investment properly.

Overall campaign costs include your total ad spend and additional expenses such as agency fees or software tools. Conversions include leads captured through forms, downloads of white papers, registrations for webinars, and other key actions relevant to your business. To gather precise data, you can utilize conversion tracking tools in platforms like Google Ads and LinkedIn Ads or, in a simpler way, leverage Landingi’s EventTracker. Revenue from each conversion in B2B often refers to the lifetime value of each customer, which estimates the average value of a lead, e.g., over the subscription duration.

Once you have gathered all the data over a set period, e.g., your campaign’s lifetime, you can calculate ROI with a simple formula as follows:

ROI [%] = (Revenue from Conversions − Total Ad Spend) / Total Ad Spend * 100

For example, if you had 5 customers who decided to purchase your product in an annual subscription for $50 monthly, the total LTV would be $3000. Let’s say campaign costs are $1000. Your revenue from conversions would be $2000. Divining it by campaign costs and multiplying it by 100 gives an ROI of 200%.

Calculating ROI and regularly analyzing it allows you to adjust your campaigns based on real data to optimize performance and ensure your PPC efforts drive substantial value for your business. It helps to scale your campaigns – once you see great ROI results, you can invest more in your PPC campaign to increase revenue and scale your business.

3 Best PPC Platforms for B2B Marketing

Meet the 3 best PPC advertising platforms for B2B marketing. Reach your ideal audience across Google and its partner sites, Microsoft Advertising partner websites, browsers like Bing or Yahoo!, and social media. Discover which platform aligns with your goals and which will support your B2B marketing best with targeted campaigns.

1. Google Ads

Google Ads is a powerful platform that offers extensive reach due to Google’s dominance in search. It’s ideal for B2B marketing because it allows you to target specific keywords that potential clients use when searching for business solutions. With features like keyword targeting, remarketing, and various ad formats (search, display, video), Google Ads provides versatility and scalability. The platform’s robust analytics and reporting tools help you measure performance and optimize your campaigns for better ROI. Additionally, Google Ads can place your ads on a vast network of sites and apps, increasing visibility among decision-makers actively seeking solutions.

2. LinkedIn Ads

LinkedIn Ads is highly effective for B2B marketing due to its professional user base and precise targeting capabilities. You can target ads based on specific job titles, industries, company sizes, and even skills, making it easier to reach key decision-makers. LinkedIn offers various ad formats, including Sponsored Content, Sponsored Messaging, Dynamic Ads, and Text Ads, which can be used to promote content, generate leads, or drive website traffic. The platform’s focus on professional networking ensures your ads are seen by a relevant audience, and LinkedIn’s analytics tools help track engagement and conversions. This precision makes LinkedIn Ads particularly valuable for businesses with a clearly defined target audience.

3. Microsoft Advertising

Microsoft Advertising (Bing Ads) is another valuable platform for B2B marketers. While it may not have the same reach as Google, it offers access to a unique audience, including users who prefer Bing, Yahoo!, and AOL. This can be particularly advantageous for reaching professionals who use these search engines. Microsoft Advertising provides robust targeting options, including demographics, device types, and location, and supports various ad formats, such as Search Ads and Display Ads. The platform is known for its competitive CPCs (cost-per-click) and detailed analytics, allowing cost-effective campaigns with precise performance tracking. Additionally, its integration with LinkedIn allows enhanced targeting based on professional demographics.

What to Avoid in B2B PPC Advertising?

In B2B PPC advertising, avoid broad targeting, poorly optimized landing pages, ignoring negative keywords, neglecting mobile optimization, and overlooking analytics and tracking. Avoiding these common pitfalls can significantly enhance your campaign’s effectiveness and ROI. Check how common mistakes can affect your marketing efforts:

  1. Broad Targeting – broad targeting can lead to wasted budgets and low-quality leads. Unlike B2C campaigns, B2B advertising requires a more refined approach. Target specific industries, company sizes, job titles, and geographic locations to ensure your ads reach the right audience.
  2. Ignoring Negative Keywords – failing to use negative keywords can result in your ads appearing in irrelevant searches. This not only wastes your ad spend but also undermines campaign effectiveness. Regularly update your negative keyword list to filter out non-relevant traffic and improve the quality of clicks.
  3. Poor Landing Page Experience – driving traffic to poorly optimized landing pages can drastically decrease your conversion rates. Disconnection between your ad and the landing page can lead to high bounce rates and lost opportunities. Ensure your landing pages are relevant to the ad content, have clear CTAs, load quickly, and provide a seamless user experience.
  4. Neglecting Mobile Optimization – if your ads and landing pages are not optimized for mobile, you could miss out on a significant portion of your audience. Many B2B decision-makers use mobile devices to research and make decisions so ensure your content is mobile-friendly, with easy navigation and quick load times.
  5. Overlooking Analytics and Tracking – ignoring analytics can lead to missed opportunities for improvement. Without proper tracking and analytics, measuring your campaigns’ success is challenging. Set up conversion tracking, monitor key metrics like CTR, conversion rate, and CPL, and use these insights to make data-driven optimizations.
  6. Inconsistent Messaging – inconsistent messaging can confuse potential leads and reduce trust in your brand. Ensure that your ads’ message, tone, and offer align with the content on your landing pages.

How to Align B2B PPC Campaigns with Overall Marketing Strategy?

To align B2B PPC campaigns with your overall marketing strategy, ensure your PPC goals are consistent with your broader marketing objectives, such as lead generation, brand awareness, or sales growth. Integrate your PPC efforts with other marketing channels, like content marketing, email campaigns, and social media, to create a cohesive and unified message. Use consistent branding, tone, and messaging across all platforms.

Remember to coordinate your PPC keywords with SEO strategies to cover all relevant search queries. Regularly share insights and data between marketing teams to refine targeting and messaging, ensuring all marketing efforts support each other and contribute to common goals. This way, you can enhance the effectiveness and ROI of your marketing initiatives.

Boost your B2B PPC strategy! Use Landingi to design landing pages that attract and convert business clients.

Create B2B Ad Campaigns with Landingi

PPC B2B advertising is a powerful tool that can significantly boost your business’s visibility, lead generation, and revenue. By understanding the fundamentals of PPC and tailoring your campaigns to the unique needs of B2B marketing, you can reach targeted decision-makers effectively. The foundation for success starts with clear goals, thorough audience research, and strategic keyword planning.

To maximize your efforts, leverage advanced targeting, create compelling ad copy, and ensure your landing pages are optimized for conversions. Setting KPIs and leveraging gathered data to optimize your campaigns can significantly improve overall ROI. Following the tips and best practices described in this article, you can create a robust PPC B2B campaign that drives meaningful results and positions your business as an industry leader. Stay adaptive, keep learning from your data, and continually optimize your strategies to stay ahead in the competitive B2B landscape.

Now that you know how to run effective B2B PPC campaigns try Landingi and discover how perfectly designed PPC landing pages can boost your marketing campaigns’ efficiency!

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Martyna Targosz

Content Writer

Martyna Targosz is a marketing content expert with over 3 years of experience in digital marketing. She specializes in landing page creation and conversion optimization. She is currently being mentored by Błażej Abel, CEO of Landingi, a leading company in landing page technology.
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