Last year was another busy one in the world of digital advertising, with lots of exciting changes on the horizon.
For me, one of the highlights was speaking at the SMX Advanced conference in Berlin in September. I relished the opportunity to meet and converse with other like-minded paid search marketing professionals from around the world.
In fact, I enjoyed the conference so much, I’ve agreed to speak at the SMX conference in Munich in March. (Use discount code HEARMESPEAK15 for 15% off your ticket.)
Last year was also a time of change. After five years of writing a monthly column for Search Engine Journal, I decided to let it go. (Before that, I wrote a monthly column for Search Engine Land for three years.)
Instead, I wanted to use the time to refocus my energy on what my team and I do best: serving B2B clients. You’ll see this renewed focus on our blog, newsletter, and social channels as I cover topics critical to B2B advertisers on LinkedIn Ads and Google Ads.
In the meantime, I invite you to check out some of our top content from 2022, just in case you missed any:
1. How to use Google Ads for your product launch
If you’re going to launch your new product successfully, it MUST have a presence on Google. Otherwise, you could waste your marketing and advertising efforts on every other platform.
Think about it: We don’t live in a one-click world. People aren’t going to see one social media post or receive one newsletter about your new product and decide to buy—especially in B2B!
Instead, prospects will likely go away, reflect, encounter additional messaging, and THEN circle back to learn more about your new product.
When they do, how will they re-engage? Most prospects will search for your product online.
You want to make sure they can find it.
2. How to use video ads for B2B lead generation
As a B2B marketer, you know customers won’t convert on the basis of a single text ad.
This is especially true of life science clients who sell complex lab equipment in the five- to six-figures.
We worked with two teams for one of these clients: lead generation and e-commerce.
Recently, their B2B lead generation team asked us to help them educate and build awareness of a complex lab product they had recently updated.
Here’s how we incorporated video ads into our B2B advertising for this product.
3. Why your B2B Google Ads program doesn’t have to be perfect (to start)
I’ve been helping B2B businesses advertise with Google Ads for so long, I’m always a little surprised when I discover that not every B2B is already doing it.
Once upon a time, B2Bs hesitated to advertise with Google because they didn’t see the value. But today, that objection has fallen by the wayside. Study after study confirms the role that independent research—including Google searches—plays in B2B buying decisions.
So then what’s holding these B2Bs back from starting a Google Ads program? Often, it’s because they want everything perfect before they start.
But Google advertising doesn’t work that way.
4. Breaking news! It’s not always about leads
Senior managers and directors—marketing experts in their own right—often have a difficult time explaining to their executives the work that has to come BEFORE you get to the lead stage with new products.
Because the challenge with new products is that… they’re new.
People don’t know about them, so they aren’t searching for your branded terms. New products have low search volumes. Just because you’re bidding on your product name doesn’t mean your ad will impression.
It’s a concept almost everyone can agree on in theory.
But things often fall apart in the application.
5. Bonus (from 2021): How to use PPC at every stage of the B2B conversion funnel
A common misconception about B2B paid search marketing is that it’s only valuable at the end of the buyer’s journey.
In other words, it’s only useful when the prospect is primed to convert, whether that’s signing up for a demo or becoming a lead.
Naturally, advertisers want to maximize conversions (and so do we, of course!), so that part of the buyer’s journey gets the most attention.
But that’s only a narrow slice of what PPC can do.
In fact, PPC can be used at every stage of the B2B buyer’s journey. It’s not just for bottom of funnel!
Thank you for reading!
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Best wishes for 2023!
