5 Strategies for generating B2B leads & driving ROI with Google Ads

Sometimes, capturing leads can feel like fossicking for gold. It’s hard work that requires the right tools and a deep understanding of the methods used to create results. And with a poorly targeted marketing strategy, you may as well be mining fool’s gold, sifting through worthless lead after worthless lead.

But what if we told you that fool’s gold has some value? Pyrite (the actual name of fool’s gold) can contain amounts of natural, valuable gold. It’s difficult to extract and only apparent at a molecular level, so much so that scientists call it “invisible gold”. Nevertheless, it’s there. And we’re here to help you find that invisible gold within your own business and marketing opportunities too.

Improving your B2B marketing strategy can lower ad spend while increasing your target audience. One of the easiest ways to achieve this is to reach high intent customers looking for what you do. At EngineRoom, we drive B2B leads with highly optmised and targeted Google Ad campaigns. We also develop websites that talks to your key target markets through highly optimised and conversion-focused pages.

In this article, we’ll take a look at B2B Google Ads campaigns and give you some tips on how to best use display advertising, Google Ads, and landing pages to your advantage so you can find the hidden gold within your business.

Tip 1: Understand your target audience

B2B targeting is about giving prospective customers the tools for success. They are looking to use your product or service to further their own success in business. You need to understand who they are, what they’re looking for, how they search, and what they respond to.

You can better understand your target audience by:

• Developing customer personas and target industries to allow you to then build out those specific pages on your website 
• Conducting research into how your competitors use keywords 
• Find keywords that cost less but have enough search volume to generate some traffic
• Create ads that target different stages of the sales funnel to see how they perform

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And audience research doesn’t all have to be geared towards active search. For example, negative keywords can prevent your content from being shown to people outside your audience - our fool’s gold leads. Generating a negative keyword list can ensure that your PPC campaigns are more highly optimised than your competitors.

Custom audience targeting can ensure that you don’t waste ad spend. Through the EngineRoom platform, you can develop richer audience insights. By understanding what your customers are searching for using your services, you can create industry pages that speak to their needs.

Tip 2: Follow Google Ads account best practices

Creating the optimal ad experience often relies on having your Google Ads account optimised for success. Before you even begin thinking about creating ads, you need to structure your Google Ads account so that it is firing on all cylinders. Optimising your PPC efforts at the account, campaign, and ad level can produce a better return on your investment. 

Don’t just blindly follow Google’s recommendations - that’s a surefire way to find yourself spending money on a poorly optimised campaign. For the best Google Ads account experience, ensure you are consistently:

• Creating an ad group or series of ad groups that can be A/B tested against each other
• Use all relevant facets of PPC advertising, including the Google Display Network
• Conducting audits of all levels of your Google Ads account and optimising where you can
• Use metrics like Quality Score and landing page experience to cleanly group your campaigns
• Write better ad copy using all of the above insights to target the right industries

It’s important to understand that in the world of PPC marketing, nothing is set in stone. Things can always be changed. The best results come from accounts that are geared toward generating better ROI and achieving business goals.

That’s where the EngineRoom platform comes in. While our PPC experts can keep your account structured for B2B success, our platform can help you attribute your Google Ads campaigns to business goals. Every dollar you spend on B2B advertising can be attributed to an outcome, allowing you the clarity you need to make better campaign decisions.

Tip 3: Create compelling content and design appealing ads

Targeting a user’s search query can get you in front of customers. Creating great non-disruptive ad content seals the deal. When a B2B customer conducts a Google search, they want to be presented with ads that answer questions and deliver solutions. You also need to produce ads that extoll the virtues of your business effectively through copy and imagery.

Here are some tips to keep in mind when getting ready to create your ads.

• Let qualitative and quantitative user data guide your messaging. You don’t need to rely on your style guide which was produced in 2012.
• Develop more compelling content that is useful for B2B business, like industry guides, technical spec sheets, and rich infographics.
• Creating a new landing page for a service or product can form the basis for an effective B2B PPC campaign.
• Online display advertising, like the Google Display Network, can create graphic short-form ads that can concisely communicate a message.
• Remarketing campaigns can continually follow prospective customers with targeted messages as they continue their information search.

If you’re looking for a helping hand in the creative and technical departments, look no further than the team at EngineRoom. Our PPC team has had experience creating winning B2B ads in industries ranging from water treatment to accountancy. Our strategists can understand your business goals, and will feed those insights to our creative and production teams, who will produce ads that convert.

Tip 4: Offer incentives for responses

There’s no such thing as a free lunch. In B2B, this works both ways. By offering an incentive to gain a lead, you are generating mutual benefit for both parties. You are also generating a great icebreaker through which to engage with a prospective customer.

Incentives in search engine advertising are a crucial strategy for success. Some examples of incentives include:

• An industry white paper, like A Guide To The Australian Tourism Sector In 2022
• Product brochures with specifications, schematics, and granular details
• An interactive quiz with a result, like What Kind Of Shed Door Do You Need For Your Warehouse?
• An offer of a strategy session and insights into a customer’s industry
• Limited time only offers that can create a sense of urgency
• eBooks, videos, infographics, and other instructional material

There’s no limit to what you can offer. The only thing to remember is that it needs to be worth it. No B2B customer will waste time filling in a form if they aren’t interested in your offer. Talk to your existing customers and find out what gets them out of bed.

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Tip 5: Use data to gain a competitive advantage

Having access to the right data is crucial for gathering B2B insights that give you an edge over your competitors.

Not only can you identify new market opportunities, you can also maximise your exposure to them by reverse-engineering the ‘roadmap’ that will help you achieve your goals. When it comes to Google Ads and search engine marketing, in the face of cutthroat competition, such insights are the difference between brands that sink and those that swim.

Take, for instance, the outcome of our work with Cleanawater. We purchased a traditionally offline business to show the power of digital and the end result surpassed even our own expectations. 

Cleanawater specialises in the design, manufacture, installation and service of commercial and industrial water treatment equipment. By using competitive industry data, and applying it to online marketing channels including Google Ads, we were able to grow revenue by 1266%.

Perhaps best of all, however, is that our newfound online presence secured contracts from:

• Three federal departments
• Over 30 local councils
• Some of Australia’s largest companies

Leveraging such opportunities in the B2B sector requires data that can fuel your brand’s digital strategy.

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Putting data-driven Google Ads into action for your B2B business

No matter your industry or type of service, you can’t go wrong with a data-driven strategy. If you’re wondering how to out it into action, here’s another example walking you through how to apply the same to your business. 

One of our clients, Policrete, trusted us with the creation and execution of a tailored Google Ads strategy to connect with more industry partners.

After researching their market, we started by creating a range of highly-targeted industry landing pages like this one.

With each of these landing pages, we were then able to drive relevant leads through a Google Ads campaign that was deliberately crafted to reach specific audience segments. 

For instance, for the example page above, we created a campaign that targeted highly-relevant, long-tail keyword opportunities around “concrete floors for car parks”. 

Instead of wasting our client’s ad budget on “fool’s gold” by targeting highly competitive terms like “concrete flooring”, we applied a more nuanced approach that works exceptionally well for many B2B campaigns. It’s simply a matter of quality over quantity.

But it doesn’t just stop with the ads, the experience that people have once they click through to the website also matters. So in this example, we designed the pages with a number of high-converting elements, quality visual assets and a prominent call to action visible before you scroll.

As a business owner though, managing the details of B2B ad campaigns is not always you highest priority. Nor should it be, you’ve got a business to run after all! That’s where we can help. 

Like Policrete, and countless other B2B clients that have partnered with us, we can also craft a customised strategy for your business.

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FAQs about B2B Google Ads campaigns

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Do B2B paid advertising campaigns work?

Yes, they work. In fact, 93% of the entire buying process for B2B starts with online search. On average, a prospective B2B lead will conduct around 12 searches before making their first click. 

B2B ads can be one of the best ROI drivers for your business. They work by lowering marketing spend, increasing brand awareness, capturing leads, and converting leads into sales.

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How is B2B marketing different from B2C marketing?

There are several differences between B2B and B2C marketing strategies in search engine marketing. 

• Buyer motivation: B2C customers are emotionally driven, while B2B customers are value-driven.
• Length of the buyer journey. B2B customers spend longer searching for long-term solutions.
• Complexity of the effort. B2B products are more complex than B2C, and need to be marketed as such.
• Tone and messaging. B2B marketing features more professional language.
• Relationship-building. B2B relationships are long-term, and require a great deal of attention.

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What are some of the main challenges of B2B paid advertising campaigns?

Businesses face several challenges when creating ad campaigns to target other companies. Here are some of the most prevalent:

• Costs. With dozens of companies competing for the same audience, B2B keywords can be costly.
• Volume. Low search volumes for niche search terms also drive up the competition, hence the ad space price.
• Conversions. Low conversion data has long plagued B2B advertising efforts, especially for scattershot campaigns.
• Timelines. B2B campaigns can sometimes take a while to start generating results compared to traditional marketing methods.

If you overcome these challenges with great ad portfolio practices, you can create better ROI for your business.

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What are some questions I should be asking about my holistic digital marketing strategies?

B2B ads work best in conjunction with a well-strategised digital marketing plan. Here are some questions to ask before undertaking a new digital marketing strategy.

• What are internet users searching for? A cohesive, effective SEO campaign can generate even more leads than PPC.
• Are they engaged on social media platforms? You can put landing pages and written content in front of business owners on LinkedIn.
• Do they respond well to video ads? Tutorials and presentations can work wonders in lead generation, capturing customers for life.

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Key takeaways

At EngineRoom, we’re all about untangling complexity. B2B search engine marketing can seem complex, but it doesn’t have to be. By following our tried and tested tips for success, you can create more leads for your business.

We recommend:

1. Understanding your audience and identifying both positive and negative search terms
2. Ensuring that your Google Ads account functions as a lead generation tool
3. Creating ads allows the audience to imagine their success with your offer.
4. Giving an incentive in exchange for a lead, if your offer is of equal value
5. Don’t set and forget; use data to constantly re-optimise your campaign

Our final tip is to work with EngineRoom. We are a full-service marketing agency that creates success for B2B businesses. We work with business owners to create marketing that we can align with business goals. We’ll work with you to increase your marketing ROI while creating new opportunities for your business to grow. You can get started with a free strategy session with one of our digital advisors. 

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• Get a better understanding of your industry
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• Understand your priorities and next steps

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