How to Make Advertising on Google Ads for B2B Companies

Google ADS can be the ace in the hole for those who want to do lead generation in the B2B sector. But first, you need to understand where to start, what to expect and how to make the most of the campaigns. In this article we will guide you to discover the potential of advertising campaigns and we will see how to achieve concrete results by exploiting this channel.

Tips for Lead Generation with Google ADS for B2B Companies

Google ADS is an advertising platform where every advertiser can publish their ad. Ads are usually paid per impression (number of times they are seen) or per click, not by chance when we talk about this type of ads we define them with the term PPC (pay-per-click).

How can Google ADS be useful to a B2B company?

Alongside organic traffic, that is, all visitors who reach our site after a search on search engines, there is paid traffic. When we refer to paid traffic that we get through search engines, we are talking about Google ADS.

With a Google ADS campaign (search campaigns), based on certain searches on Google (which we set based on the parameters of our campaign), we can make our ad appear at the top of the results (and therefore before the organic results).

It is important to know that Google ADS works with an auction system for which multiple advertisers compete for the same ad.

For the sake of simplicity in explaining how it works, we talk about search campaigns, but it is important to know that there are different types of campaigns:

• Search: these are ads that appear before organic results on search engine results pages (SERPs);
• Display: ads with images that can be placed on sites that are part of the Google Display Network;
• Video: video ads shown on YouTube;
• App: ads to promote app installations;
• Shopping: product ads, shown for example in the Google Shopping tab and have additional information including images and product prices.

In a few words, referring to search ads, the Google ADS mechanism can be summarized as follows:

• Advertisers choose which keywords to show their ads for and set a budget;
• When people do a search related to the keywords on which we have created the ads, our ad will appear. Keep in mind that the amount of clicks depends on several factors, but we will get to that later when talking about the ads;
• Google shows the ads based on the competition on that same key and the budget that has been allocated determines the position of the ads themselves. (It is therefore not a given that ours will be the first ad in the list).

Among PPC strategies, Google ADS is the main choice, in fact up to 85% of budget for PPC campaigns is allocated to this channel, furthermore Google ADS holds 69.04% of PPC market. (Source: Digitalsilk).

Having said that, where do you start to create a campaign with Google ADS? First of all: by defining a strategy.

Define a strategy

Before you can actually create a campaign, you need to follow a preliminary phase in which you define the goals and study the target to understand how to best intercept their searches and needs.

Define goals

We can use Google ADS to our advantage for various reasons, it is therefore important to define what we want to achieve from our campaigns.

Having clear and measurable goals is essential to be able to then analyze the results and correct the shot during the process. If we do not define the goals clearly, the risk is enormous: wasting resources and budget in an unsuccessful way.

Some examples of goals can be:

• Get more qualified leads;
• Increase the conversion rate of a landing page we define;
• Improve brand awareness.

To define a goal you can use the “SMART” scheme:

• Specific;
• Measurable;
• Achievable;
• Relevant;
• TIME-BASED.

You can use this HubSpot template to define your goals.

Know metrics

In addition to defining goals, it is important to know the metrics to track:

• CTR (Click-Through Rate), indicates the rate of clicks compared to the number of impressions. In the case of ADS it refers to the number of times the ad is clicked compared to how many times it is viewed.
  • Formula: Clicks / impressions = CTR
• CPL (cost per lead) or cost per lead, this metric is used to define how much we spent to acquire a single lead. It is then calculated as the ratio between the invested budget and the number of leads generated.
  • Formula: budget / leads number = CPL
• Conversion rate: in reference to a landing page it indicates the percentage of visitors who have performed an action, conversion. For example, in relation to lead generation it can refer to the percentage of people who have filled out a form leaving their data.
  • Formula: (conversions number / total visitors) x 100

To get a better idea of ​​what values ​​to expect from these metrics, you should know that these data are influenced by the reference industry.

On average (across all industries):

• Average CTR is 3.17% for search campaigns;
• Average CPC (cost per click) is $2.69 for search campaigns;
• Average conversion rate is 3.75% (search).

You can see average metrics by industry in this WordStream report updated to 2024.

Think about customer journey

If we want to create effective campaigns, we need to understand the purchasing path of our leads (a fundamental step to take also when choosing which lead generation tools to use).

In the B2B field we need to take into account that there are more decision makers and that the decision-making path is longer, on average it takes 2 months to close a sale, but often the period is even longer (For more information, read this research by Databox).

It may be useful to reflect on the different stages of the purchasing journey which can be divided into:

• Top of Funnel (TOFU): Initial research and awareness of the problem occurs in this phase;
• Middle of Funnel (MOFU): Different solutions are considered;
• Bottom of Funnel (BOFU): The final stage of the decision, where you are more ready to make a purchase.

In fact, today, we know very well that these phases are not linear because many external factors intervene in a purchase decision. A more precise picture of how a purchase decision actually occurs can be obtained with the representation of the messy middle that you can see in the following figure:

We are constantly exposed to stimuli, but a trigger event leads us to start the exploration phase (tofu). Subsequently, we can remain in the loop between exploration and evaluation of alternatives for a very long time. It is no coincidence that in the B2B field, things get even more complicated because there are more people involved in the decision-making phase and each one follows their flow independently. Only at the end, another event can lead out of the loop and lead to the purchase decision.

In any case, our task is to understand the search intent and be able to create effective ads and landing pages for the different stages, taking into account that the purchasing process is in any case blurred between the consideration and evaluation phases.

B2B Keyword Research

A key point in creating Google ADS campaigns for B2B is keyword research. With that in mind, there are some key factors to consider when researching campaigns.

Know the Search Intent

Search intents can be divided into:

• Informational;
• Navigational;
• Commercial and transactional.

Search intent is linked to customer journey phase in which our leads are located.

We could in fact summarize by saying that:

• Informational searches are those that are done during the exploration phase;
• Navigational searches, including branded ones, are done when there is already greater awareness. In this phase, alternatives are also searched for and comparisons are made (evaluation phase);
• Commercial or transactional searches are those most closely linked to the final phase of the purchase decision.

In reality, it must also be clarified that there is not always a clear distinction between the different intentions. For example:

• I can search for the brand name “HubSpot” because I want to see their products and prices to buy (purchase decision – commercial intent);
• But I can also search for the brand to make an evaluation, for example to find a comparison with a service of the same type (evaluation).

What intentions should we focus on for ADS campaigns? Let’s see some practical examples.

Consideration phase: People look for solutions to their problem.

Comparison and evaluation phase: in this phase leads are looking for detailed information to compare various solutions.

Purchase phase: people are looking for a specific solution and are ready to buy. In this stage they can, for example, search for the price of a specific service, as in the example I show you here:

In this example, those who search for the prices of the instrument, find themselves in front of an interesting ad that proposes an alternative solution.

Avoid generic keywords

If we want to invest our budget wisely, one mistake we shouldn’t make is this:

do not use generic keywords.

The more generic the keywords for which we position our ads, the less effective they will be. The ADS campaigns main goal must be concrete: attracting people who are not in the target will only increase our budget without obtaining concrete results.

For this reason, it can be useful to focus on long-tail keywords, the so-called long-tail keywords that can often be useful for identifying a clearer and more specific search intent.

Tip for finding long-tail keywords:

• Try using Google’s autocomplete feature to find more specific keywords;
• Use keyword research tools, such as Semrush’s “Keyword magic tool”.

What tools to use for keyword research

We can leverage the same keyword research tools we use for SEO.

For example:

• Google Keyword Planner: allows us to have estimates of search volumes;
• Paid tools such as Semrush and Ahrefs: also help us understand what competitors are doing.

Practical tip: Semrush has a dedicated Advertising reserarch section for ads. From here we can know which competitors are using ads and what keywords they are using.

Learn more about how to analyze your competitors’ ADS strategies with this Semrush guide.

Create optimized ads and landing pages

Ad Tips

Focusing specifically on search ads, there are two elements to focus on: Title and Description.

Both should be created to be as aligned as possible with the research and therefore with the intent.

In the B2B field we must also remember that decisions are made by multiple decision makers.

It is worth asking ourselves: who are we talking to? Who will read our ad?

It can be useful to create multiple versions of the same ad, trying different angles.

In the ad it is important to make the benefit clear and offer concrete data (when possible), for example Snitcher uses the ad description to indicate “save 72% and get 37% more leads”.

In this example, Monday emphasizes that his solution is easy to use, thus addressing a very specific pain point: many CRMs are difficult to adopt because they are complicated and have a steep learning curve.

Creating an effective landing page

A mistake that is often made when creating an ADS campaign is to concentrate all efforts on the ad and not optimize the landing page (the page where people will arrive after clicking on the ad).

To be more effective it is important to improve our landing pages so that they are consistent with the ad. If I clicked on a specific ad for example that talks about a free trial of the service, I expect to find myself in front of a consistent page.

Correct example:

• I click on the ad “try service X for free for 14 days”;
• The landing page highlights the form to fill out or the steps to follow to activate the free trial.

Ineffective example:

• I click on the ad “try service X for free for 14 days”;
• I am redirected to the home page of the site and I find no indication on how to activate a free trial.

For example, this Pipedrive ad invites you to activate a free trial:

By clicking on the ad we find ourselves in a landing page whose sole purpose is to activate the free trial. In fact we are not on the home page of the site, but on a page created specifically so that the only elements (CTA) lead the visitor to activate the trial (or at most to log in for those who are already registered).

Let’s see another effective example of how to create a landing page that is truly consistent with the ad.

I’m looking for an alternative to HubSpot, so I google “hubspot alternative” and see this ad:

“New CRM Alternative – That’s Actually Easy To Use” which sends me to Monday.com

On the landing page I find a comparison between HubSpot and Monday. This responds exactly to my search intent: to find an alternative to a solution that I already know or have already evaluated.

Using A/B Testing to Optimize

Creating an excellent campaign on Google ADS does not mean simply creating the campaign and waiting for the results. If we want our efforts to be truly rewarded, we need to roll up our sleeves and test.

A/B tests are ideal for testing and improving results.

What we can test:

• Different combinations of titles and descriptions for ads;
• Landing page titles;
• Landing page length;
• Elements within the landing page (text layout, adding images or videos);
• CTA (call-to-action).

Luckily we can take advantage of the integrated functions of Google ADS for our A/B tests and also tools like VWO (visual web optimizer) which are essential to improve the usability and conversions of a B2B website.

Automate and improve campaigns

In addition to improving landing pages and ads, we can take advantage of the Google ADS tool to have better budget management.

Leverage Smart Bidding Options

Google ADS allows us to select different ADS strategies with different goals:

• Conversions;
• Increased traffic;
• Visibility;
• Interactions.

Furthermore, with smart bidding strategies we can make the tool automatically adapt the ads based on the results, in order to maximize the yield. To do this, it is important to correctly select the goals we want to achieve, for this reason, as we said at the beginning, it is very important to define a clear strategy and goals before starting.

Using Negative Keywords to Our Advantage

When we set up a Google ADS campaign it allows us to choose the Negative Keywords: that is, all those keywords for which we do not want to appear. This step is very important because it helps us to correctly exclude all irrelevant traffic.

For a lead generation strategy it is essential to be able to reach qualified leads rather than non-target people.

Track results

Once we have the first campaigns underway, our work will not be finished, in fact, it is precisely at this stage that the work becomes more interesting.

The goal is to get the most out of our campaigns and save budget and to do this we need to:

• Track key metrics: as we said before these include CTR, conversion rate, cost per conversion and per lead in this case;
• Test: we can do A/B tests as suggested before to see how the key metrics vary;
• Analyze individual campaigns: we can adjust the budget so as to increase it on effective campaigns and decrease it on less profitable ones;
• Find new opportunities for new campaigns.

Visilay can help you create effective ADS campaigns

On several occasions, including those documented in our case studies, we have assisted our clients in developing Google ADS campaigns with local ads, search campaigns and Google Shopping.

Using advertising campaigns alongside collateral strategies including e-mail marketing and organic strategies is, in many cases, the key to obtaining qualified leads and improving conversions. We can help you with campaign structure, tracking tool setup and optimization to improve your lead generation strategy.