Is PPC Right for My B2B Business?
B2B companies are fortunate to have a wide range of channels available for advertising and reaching their audiences. This is a benefit and a curse!
Increasingly, decision makers find themselves unsure of the most appropriate channel to invest in, often resulting in the dreaded ‘paralysis by analysis’, where nothing is actioned.
This article provides an informative list of reasons why paid search (Pay Per Click or PPC) could be ideal for meeting your B2B business growth requirements.
Pay Per Click scales with budget
Pay Per Click (PPC) search is simple in concept. With the right approach advertisers bid for specific keywords such as ‘marketing agencies near me’, with their ads appearing at the top of the search result whenever anybody conducts a search using the same (or a very similar) term.
This method has a distinct advantage that has established PPC as the desired channel for businesses large and small: it scales well.
Any B2B PPC provider will continually optimise their campaigns, using initial research and analysis of performance to improve the number of clicks and enquiries generated from every Pound spent.
While this leaves the simple fact that more is better in terms of budget, the small business can still see a large return on investment from running a modest campaign. This is the cornerstone of the value proposition for PPC: it will always result in a profit when well-managed.
PPC reaches & converts more mobile users
The tipping point of mobile users was passed several years ago. In 2017 and beyond, the clear majority of all internet searches are done on mobile devices; January of this year saw studies showing 61% of UK users searching on mobile. This provides its own challenges and opportunities to marketing.
PPC is ideally suited to powerfully target and engage with these users. Research indicates that the click-through rate (the percentage of those who click the ad upon seeing it) is significantly higher when they are using a mobile device.
This means more inbound enquiries, increased sales and traffic for your business compared to other channels.
Immediate & targeted results
Of all the alluring aspects of PPC, the ability to provide instant results is the most enticing. While marketing activities such as search engine optimisation provide organic interest over time, paid search brings results the instant a campaign is activated.
This is often critical for smaller B2B businesses where sales pipeline is vital to survival. With proper keyword research and analysis behind it (a subject best left to the experts!), a PPC campaign will deliver within hours and days instead of months and years.
Further to this benefit is the very nature of those who click the ads; they’re interested.
Other B2B marketing channels can drive traffic to websites, but there is less guarantee that the person visiting your page is truly there to buy or enquire. While there is potential for such traffic to generate business, it can prove inconsistent at times.
By its very nature, PPC is the opposite. Any individual who clicks on your ads is doing it because they are convinced of the value your service or product provides. This means you can be confident in the hard numbers presented to you in weekly and monthly reports; those people are there to do business.
Most B2B prospects search online
As far back as 2014, we knew that the clear majority (81%!) of buyers conduct some form of online research before buying. Since then this figure has increased. The numbers are similar for both B2B and B2C.
In a world where technology leads to an increasingly fragmented customer base, with many using different mobile and digital devices, PPC is unique in its ability to instantly and effectively target all areas.
Your business could benefit too. Contact QliQ to receive expert advice on how your very own paid search campaign could be researched, created and implemented. You’ll love the results – we guarantee it.
