THE MAIN ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES
TO PPC FOR B2B
B2B Digital Advertising
PPC or Pay Per Click advertising works on a simple premise, that you pay a fee each time someone clicks on one of your ads. In other words, it is a way of buying visitors to your site to supplement visits that you earn organically through SEO. Set up properly, PPC for B2B can bring in great results but its success depends on informed and careful bidding for ad placements in a search engine’s sponsored links.
Developing a successful B2B PPC strategy depends on expertise in keyword research, keyword organisation and conversion optimised landing pages.
This is a marketing tool where knowledge and experience can pay dividends, not least because successful B2B PPC advertisers, who offer satisfactory user experiences are rewarded with lower fees. Pay per click advantages and disadvantages do exist and it makes sense to understand these before you invest in campaigns.
The Advantages Of B2B For PPC
Speedy Traffic Generation
If you are a B2B business owner, you will understand some of the frustrations associated with the length of time SEO can take to produce results. Adding PPC to your marketing strategy can provide a positive contrast to this.
Once an ad has gone live, you might be surprised by how fast you see the numbers of visitors to your landing pages rising. Not only does PPC speed up your positioning and traffic, it also allows you to extend your reach to audiences who are not yet on your customer or follower lists.
Pay Per Click Offers High-Level Performance Tracking
When you are balancing a B2B marketing budget, being able to directly link spending to results is of paramount importance. One of the main advantages of PPC for B2B is that, by running PPC advertising through Google Ads, you will be giving yourself access to some of the best monitoring tools out there.
All you need to do is combine the Google Ads tool with Google Analytics and you will have access to direct link, business goal based statistics on impressions, clicks and conversions. With this performance information at your fingertips, budget allocation immediately becomes more effective.
PPC Can Be Set Up To Target Your B2B Business Goals
Marketing objectives can vary, whether you want to build brand awareness, grow your market share or enhance customer relationships, it is important to have this goal in mind when you make marketing decisions.
PPC offers huge advantages here; display ads appearing on industry-relevant websites will build brand awareness, the targeted use of high performing keywords will increase market share and your B2B customer journey experiences are improved through customer insight and PPC ad targeting.
With PPC For B2B, You Can Stay In Control
From control over keywords and placements to the allocation of spending, one of the most popular advantages of PPC for B2B is the level of control and budget flexibility that it gives.
PPC allows you to set your own budget and gives you options to test the ground when you first start out, and, for those who require budget flexibility throughout the year, it is far easier to take a break from ad spending with PPC advertising than it is with alternative marketing campaigns.
The Disadvantages Of PPC For B2B
PPC Success Is Not Always Guaranteed
In order to experience success with PPC, you will need to master multiple skills. One disadvantage of PPC for B2B is that ultimately, it will be the Google Ads auction and algorithms that decide on your ad positioning.
However, your keyword selection and the level of alignment you provide between your keywords, your ad copy and your landing pages will have a huge impact on the returns you see for your investment.
PPC Costs Can Soar Without Experienced Campaign Management
Although PPC for B2B is often a very cost effective way of generating exposure and gaining conversions, budget overspends can occur if a campaign is not carefully managed. For example, keyword fixations and their resulting bidding wars can often be a cause of overspend but the expert use of less costly keywords, that are more closely aligned with your marketing goals can and drive results up.
PPC Requires Close Monitoring
For the B2B business owner, one disadvantage of PPC campaigns can be the level of monitoring they require in order to provide optimal return for investment. For example, a high level of clicks will increase expenses no matter who is doing the clicking or what happens once they reach your site.
It isn’t unknown for competitors to click on ads to increase the marketing spend of rivals, which is why it is important to use analytical tools to understand how well campaigns are performing and what happens once they have led through to your website.
Whether you are a small business owner or a marketing manager juggling multiple accounts, setting up your PPC (pay per click) advertising can be time consuming and sometimes bewildering. Executed precisely and with expertise, PPC for B2B can bring speedy and impressive results but, if you don’t have the necessary know-how, time, or digital insight, results can be disappointing. This is where an experienced Google Ads PPC provider can make all the difference.
If you want traffic that is both heavy and relevant landing on your site from multiple platforms, we have the PPC services that can help. Call us now for a free B2B website audit and get your marketing moving in the right direction today.
Shane McEvoy is a seasoned SEO and inbound marketing expert with nearly 30 years of experience in advertising. He established Flycast Media, a specialist B2B digital agency, and is a published author of two well-received guides while contributing to several industry publications - read his complete profile here.
