Studies show that on an average, a company spends 92$ for acquiring a customer for every 1$ it spends on converting it. (source) This ratio fluctuates massively when we talk about B2B marketing in comparison to the B2C marketing. If you have an enterprise-grade product/service in the B2B marketing space the cost of acquisition far exceeds the cost of conversion. This is where paid search steps in. If used correctly, paid search is one of the strongest weapons in the arsenal of a B2B company.

Does it Really Work?

Now, the paid search is a game based on both luck as well as strategy. If you have a well-defined strategy, you are halfway there. You can only cover the other half of the distance with luck. You might score a million-dollar deal (Deals of this size are pretty common in the B2B space compared to the B2C space) if a particular company is looking for something specific that you are offering. On the other hand, you can lose a million dollars into advertisements and paid search if no one needs your services at that point.

The best practice involves investment in a balance of outbound sales and marketing to reap considerable results over time.

Common Mistakes Made by B2B Marketers

The B2B space is highly dynamic. One needs to adapt to the changes in this space very quickly or he/she may suffer a huge potential loss. Here are a few common mistakes that you should avoid in the B2B marketing space, especially when it comes to paid search.

• Unplanned Launch Strategy: If you are out in the market selling sweaters in the month of May, you are doomed to fail. Similarly, if you are selling sweatpants in the month of December, your business won’t take off with the desired results. An unplanned and untimely launch strategy has ruined several business campaigns. You need to understand your target demographic and target its psyche on the right time at the right place.

• Not Enough Market Research: Market research plays a critical role in the ROI (Return On Investment) for the paid search. Before launching a full-fledged campaign, it is a wise idea to collect data from within focus groups and the company itself. This research will help you refine the campaign before launch.

• Relying on a Single Tactic: The best marketers have the knack for combining multiple marketing strategies for desired results. They never rely on a single strategy to show the desired results. Instead, they optimize the campaign with multiple pillars for a comprehensive support to the paid search marketing.
• Focussing only on Marketing: An exclusive focus on marketing will not reap any results. ROI is generated out of sales, not marketing. So, you need to have the right sales team and tactics in place to convert the maximum potential candidates that come in from the marketing campaign. Without the right conversion mechanism, you are just wasting your money.

How to Scale the Paid Search?

Now your paid search marketing campaign has taken off and delivering promising results. You have started generating a good ROI out of the deal. What do you do next? You scale! Here are a few tips that can help you scale your paid search to a whole new extent without losing that competitive ROI edge.

• Start Small: In the world of marketing you need to take small steps carefully to get the best results out of the mix. It is a good idea to start small with the new tactics and see their results. Instead of putting all your resources into one single strategy, divide it into 10 different ones. This way, you can easily measure the success/failure of all the strategies in a single attempt.

• Optimize: Once you know which paid search tactic works the best, optimize it. Optimization may include combing the right mix of two or more strategies together.  

• Experiment: Experimentation is helpful in B2B paid search marketing since the market shifts every second. You never know which particular strategy may yield a better result over the other. Have you tried the corporate version of the paid search? Let’s give the humorous version a shot once. The C-Level executives of a few firms might find the second one more memorable and relatable than the first.

• Use AdWords: AdWords is your biggest friend in paid search marketing. If you are using a CRM and marketing automation tool, you must connect it to the AdWords platform today. This will help you measure the click to conversion rate effectively.
• Compile Marketing and Sales Data: Make sure that your marketing and sales teams are on the same page with their conversion efforts. The inbound salespeople of your organization act as the key drivers of connection between the marketing and sales departments.

How to Optimize the B2B Marketing Campaigns?

Optimization of the B2B paid search marketing campaigns consists of changing the following factors.

• Time of Posting the Ad: Posting the advertisement at the right time plays a critical role in conversion statistics. If you own a seasonal product such as a sweater. Running ads during the winter makes a lot more sense.
• Controlled Exposure: Make sure that your re-marketing strategies do not buy the end-customers too much. Overexposure of the marketing campaigns may result in a negative consequence rather than a positive one.
• Choice of Keywords: Making small changes to the keywords can reap overwhelming results. Adding a small phrase or preposition might change the effect of the keyword completely.
• Use of Google Analytics: If you are not using Google Analytics right now, start today! With inputs from this application, you can optimize the paid search campaign to a great extent.

Paid search relies on targeting the psyche of the end-customer. If you know how the VP or the C-Level executives (mainly decision-makers) of the target company think, you can use this information to your favour. With this knowledge, you can find the right keywords that these people will most likely type into the search engine bar.

This article is contributed by Andrella Fehmi, Freelancer writer at  SEO Services Consultants .