Lead generation is the key step in B2B marketing. There are many strategies that marketers can use to build strong lead generation strategies, such as search engine advertisements.
Sales will plummet if you don’t have any customers or prospects to market to. Drift conducted a survey and found that 53% of marketing leaders consider generating a pipeline their number one priority. It would help if you had leads to build a pipeline.
Many tips, webinars, and guides will help you generate more leads for your business. Most of the discussion is about lead magnets, which rely on traffic already arriving at your site.
Google Ads is a powerful and scalable tool for B2B lead generation.
Google Ads: Does it Work for B2B?
You don’t have to spend money to get leads. You’ll get higher quality leads if you pay to reach them. WebFX reports that Google Ads has a 75% conversion rate. What does this compare with your ebook or popup conversion rate?
Google Ads is a great way to get quality leads with high buyer intention. If you use the tools Google offers and target high-intent keywords, Google Ads will work beautifully.
B2B marketers tend to stick with the tried-and-true methods of generating leads. This includes offering content upgrades and hosting webinars. These strategies are effective but can also target leads further up the funnel, making them less valuable.
Google Ads can generate B2B leads by picking the right keywords and using the features that Google Ads offers.
Google Ads gives you access to both Google Search and Display ads. We recommend that you focus on search ads for lead generation. These appear in the SERPs and not on partner sites.
Google Ads: How to Target B2B Audiences
How do you find Goldilocks leads? Leads that aren’t too early in your funnel or too niche to convert. This is how I help B2B clients generate leads with Google Ads.
Search for the Right Keywords (High Intent).
It cannot be easy to target the right keywords. B2B marketers often start by targeting their core keywords like their brand name and then leave it at that. They may target broad, high-intent keywords such as “buy”.
“Rather than focusing on the most important keywords for your business, consider longer-tail keywords that indicate high buyer intention.
Instead of targeting “best CRM”, which is indicative that the lead is still comparing options and may not be able to choose, you might target phrases such as “best CRM subscription services” or even “[brand] GDPR compliant”. These terms indicate that the user is closer to conversion.
You can use tools like SEMRush’s keyword magic tool and Google’s Keyword Planner to help you plan your keyword strategy. These tools provide information about monthly search volume, trends and intent.
Do not forget to do keyword research. Check your data after a few weeks. Make sure you have conversion tracking working and that you are getting the results that you desire. You might need to adjust your keywords to find high-intent keywords relevant to your business.
Select a campaign objective
Once you have your keywords prepared, go to Google Ads. Sign in if you already have an account. Register if you don’t already have an account. They will walk through the process of setting up your account, connecting it to your site, and adding a payment source.
Next, create your campaign. Google will ask you, “What is your main goal in advertising?” This is because Google considers your business when deciding which campaigns are appropriate. Your options might vary. These are the most popular campaign goals:
Brand Awareness
Booking a demo
Leads
Traffic
Visits to a physical place
Reach YouTube viewers
Select the option that is most appropriate for your lead generation campaign. If the campaign is all about demos, then choose this option. The traffic option is best if you want to drive people to a webinar or lead magnet. You can choose any one of the traffic options and then test it. You can always run another to determine which campaign drives the highest conversions.
Select the right ad type
It’s now time to choose the ad type. Many ad types can be confusing if you are new to Google Ads.
These are the most efficient for B2B lead generation:
Responsive Search Ads: These ads adapt ad copy to users’ searches, making them more relevant. These ads offer more options for headlines, ad copy, and A/B testing. You won’t have weird ads if all variations don’t work together!
Dynamic Search Ads: Dynamic searches automatically populate your site by pulling data from it. Make sure you have a properly optimized website so Google can find what they need. However, it is not recommended for sites that are frequently updated.
Text ads These ads are the most popular. These ads are usually less expensive and do not have eye-catching images. They allow you to reach more intent buyers willing to buy right now.