How to Run Google Ads Campaigns for B2B Companies That Generate Qualified Leads

Google Ads can be the ace up your sleeve if you want to do B2B lead generation. First, though, you need to know where to start, what to expect and how to get the most out of your campaigns. In this article we look at what Google Ads campaigns can do for B2B companies and how to get concrete results from the channel.

Tips for B2B lead generation with Google Ads

Google Ads is an advertising platform where any advertiser can publish their own ads. Ads are usually paid for per impression (the number of times they are seen) or per click, which is why this type of advertising is often called PPC (pay-per-click).

How can Google Ads help a B2B company?

Alongside organic traffic, meaning all the visitors who reach our site after a search on a search engine, there is paid traffic. When we talk about paid traffic from search engines, we are talking about Google Ads.

With a Google Ads campaign (Search campaigns), for certain searches on Google (which we choose through the settings of our campaign), our ad can appear at the top of the results, above the organic listings.

Google Ads runs on an auction system, in which several advertisers compete for the same placement.

To keep the explanation simple we will talk about Search campaigns, but there are several campaign types:

• Search: ads shown above the organic results on search engine results pages (SERPs);
• Display: image ads that can appear on sites belonging to the Google Display Network;
• Video: video ads shown on YouTube;
• App: ads that promote app installs;
• Shopping: product ads, shown for example in the Google Shopping tab, with extra information such as product images and prices.

Put very simply, for Search ads the Google Ads mechanism works like this:

• advertisers choose the keywords their ads should appear for and set a budget;
• when people run a search related to the keywords we built the ads on, our ad appears. The number of clicks depends on several factors, which we will come to when we talk about the ads themselves.
• Google shows the ads according to the competition on that keyword, and the budget allocated determines where the ads are placed (so our ad will not necessarily be the first on the list).

Among PPC channels, Google Ads is the main choice: up to 85% of PPC budgets go to it, and Google Ads holds 69.04% of the PPC market (Source: Digital Silk).

So where do you start when building a Google Ads campaign? First: define a strategy.

Define a strategy

Before you can actually build a campaign, there is a preliminary phase in which you set the objectives and study the target audience to work out how best to match their searches and needs.

Set your objectives

Google Ads can work in our favour for different reasons, so we need to decide what we want from our campaigns.

Clear, measurable objectives are what let you analyse the results and adjust course along the way. Without them the risk is large: wasting resources and budget for nothing.

Some example objectives:

• get more qualified leads;
• increase the conversion rate of a specific landing page;
• improve brand awareness.

To define an objective you can use the "SMART" framework:

• Specific,
• Measurable,
• Achievable,
• Relevant,
• Time-based.

You can use this HubSpot template to set your objectives.

Know your metrics

As well as setting objectives, you need to know the metrics to track:

• CTR (click-through rate): the rate of clicks relative to impressions. For ads, it is the number of times the ad is clicked relative to the number of times it is seen.
  • Formula: clicks / impressions = CTR
• CPL (cost per lead): how much we spent to acquire a single lead. It is the ratio between the budget spent and the number of leads generated.
  • Formula: budget / number of leads = CPL
• Conversion rate: for a landing page, the percentage of visitors who completed an action, a conversion. In lead generation, for example, it can be the percentage of people who filled in a form with their details.
  • Formula: (number of conversions / total visitors) x 100

To get a better idea of what values to expect, bear in mind that these figures vary by industry.

On average (across all industries):

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

You can look up average metrics by industry in this WordStream report, updated in 2024.

Think about the customer journey

To build effective campaigns we need to understand how our leads buy (a step that also matters when choosing which lead generation tools to use).

In B2B there are several decision makers and the decision process is longer: on average it takes 2 months to close a sale, and often longer (for more detail, see this research by Databox).

It helps to think about the stages of the buying journey, which can be split into:

• Top of Funnel (TOFU): initial research, when awareness of the problem develops.
• Middle of Funnel (MOFU): the different solutions are considered.
• Bottom of Funnel (BOFU): the final decision stage, when people are closest to a purchase.

In practice these stages are not linear, because many outside factors feed into a buying decision. A more accurate picture of how purchase decisions really happen is Google's messy middle model, shown in the figure below:

We are constantly exposed to stimuli, but a trigger event starts the exploration phase (TOFU). After that we can stay in the loop between exploring and evaluating alternatives for a very long time. In B2B things get more complicated still, because more people are involved in the decision and each follows their own flow independently. Only at the end does another event take people out of the loop and lead to the purchase decision.

Either way, our job is to understand search intent and create ads and landing pages that work for each stage, bearing in mind that the buying process is blurred between consideration and evaluation.

B2B keyword research

A key part of building Google Ads campaigns for B2B is keyword research. Given what we have said so far, there are a few factors to consider when researching keywords for campaigns.

Understand search intent

Search intent can be split into:

• informational
• navigational
• commercial and transactional.

Search intent is linked to the stage of the customer journey our leads are in.

In short:

• informational searches happen during the exploration phase;
• navigational searches, including branded ones, happen when awareness is higher. At this stage people also look at alternatives and compare them (evaluation phase);
• commercial or transactional searches are most closely tied to the final stage of the buying decision.

Here too the line between intents is not always sharp. For example:

• I might search for the brand name "HubSpot" because I want to see their products and prices before buying (purchase decision, commercial intent);
• but I might also search for the brand to evaluate it, for example to find a comparison with a similar service (evaluation).

Which intents should ad campaigns focus on? Here are some practical examples.

Consideration stage: people are looking for the available solutions to their problem.

Comparison and evaluation stage: leads are looking for detailed information to compare different solutions.

Purchase stage: people are looking for a specific solution and are ready to buy. At this point they might search for the price of a specific service, as in this example:

Here, someone searching for the tool's prices is shown an ad offering an alternative solution.

Avoid generic keywords

If you want to spend your budget sensibly, this is a mistake to avoid:

using generic keywords.

The more generic the keywords our ads show for, the less effective they will be. Ad campaigns need a concrete goal: attracting people outside the target audience only drives up spend without producing results.

That is why it can pay to focus on long-tail keywords, which often point to a clearer, more specific search intent.

Tips for finding long-tail keywords:

• use Google's autocomplete to find more specific keywords;
• use keyword research tools, such as Semrush's "Keyword Magic Tool".

Which keyword research tools to use

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

For example:

• Google Keyword Planner: gives us search volume estimates.
• Paid tools such as Semrush and Ahrefs: these also show what competitors are doing.

A practical tip: Semrush has an Advertising Research section dedicated to ads. From there we can see which competitors are running ads and which keywords they bid on.

For more, read this Semrush guide on how to analyse competitors' ad strategies.

Create optimised ads and landing pages

Tips for your ads

Looking at Search ads in particular, there are two elements to focus on:

• the headline
• the description.

Both should be written to match the search as closely as possible, and therefore the intent.

In B2B we also need to remember that decisions are made by several decision makers.

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

It can help to create several versions of the same ad, trying different angles.

The ad should make the benefit clear and give concrete figures where possible. Snitcher, for example, uses its ad description to say "save 72% and get 37% more leads".

In this example, Monday stresses that its product is easy to use, addressing a very specific pain point: many CRMs are hard to adopt because they are complicated and have a steep learning curve.

Build an effective landing page

A common mistake when building an ad campaign is to put all the effort into the ad and not optimise the landing page (the page people reach after clicking the ad).

To get better results, landing pages should be improved so that:

• the landing page is consistent with the ad. If I clicked on an ad offering a free trial of a service, I expect to land on a page that matches it.

Good example:

• I click on the ad "try service X free for 14 days";
• the landing page puts the form, or the steps to activate the free trial, front and centre.

Weak example:

• I click on the ad "try service X free for 14 days";
• I am sent to the site's home page and find nothing about how to start a free trial.

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

Clicking the ad takes us to a landing page whose only goal is getting the free trial started. We are not on the home page but on a page built for the purpose, where the only elements (CTAs) lead the visitor to start the trial (or, at most, to log in if they already have an account).

Here is another good example of a landing page that really matches the ad.

I am looking for an alternative to HubSpot, so I search Google for "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 answers my search intent exactly: finding an alternative to a solution I already know or have already evaluated.

Use A/B tests to optimise

A good Google Ads campaign is not just a matter of setting it up and waiting for results. If you want the effort to pay off, you have to roll up your sleeves and test.

A/B tests are the ideal way to try things out and improve results.

What we can test:

• different combinations of ad headlines and descriptions;
• landing page headlines;
• landing page length;
• elements on the landing page (text layout, added images or video);
• CTAs.

Fortunately we can use Google's built-in features for A/B tests, as well as tools such as VWO (Visual Website Optimizer), which are essential for improving the usability and conversions of a B2B website.

Automate and improve your campaigns

As well as improving landing pages and ads, we can use Google Ads itself to manage the budget better.

Use Smart Bidding

Google Ads lets us choose bid strategies with different goals:

• conversions
• more traffic
• visibility
• interactions.

With Smart Bidding strategies, the platform adjusts bids automatically based on results to get the most out of the budget. For this to work, the goals must be set correctly, which is why, as we said at the start, a strategy and clear objectives need to be in place before you launch.

Use negative keywords to your advantage

When setting up a campaign, Google Ads lets us add negative keywords: all the keywords we do not want to appear for. This step helps us filter out irrelevant traffic.

In a lead generation strategy, it is what lets you reach qualified leads rather than people outside your target audience.

Monitor results

Once the first campaigns are live, the work is not over. This is where it gets more interesting.

The aim is to get the most from our campaigns while saving budget, and that means:

• Tracking the key metrics: as mentioned earlier, CTR, conversion rate, cost per conversion and, in this case, cost per lead.
• Testing: running A/B tests, as suggested above, to see how the key metrics change.
• Analysing each campaign: shifting budget towards the campaigns that work and away from the less profitable ones.
• Finding new opportunities for new campaigns.

Visilay can help you build effective ad campaigns

On several occasions, including those documented in our case studies, we have helped clients develop Google Ads campaigns with local ads, Search campaigns and Google Shopping.

Running advertising campaigns alongside other activity, such as email marketing and organic strategies, is often what brings in qualified leads and improves conversions. We can help you structure your campaigns, set up tracking and optimise them to improve your lead generation strategy.

Outside B2B the rules change: in the hotel sector, for example, there is a dedicated campaign type (Google Hotel Ads) and the auction on generic keywords is driven by the OTAs. We explain this with measured CPCs in Google Ads for hotels.

One sector where demand seasonality weighs more than in B2B is tourism: in the UK, the search "seaside holidays uk" went from 320 searches in November 2025 to 2,400 in July 2026 (DataForSEO, Google UK, September 2026). We explain how to adjust the budget in Google Ads for tourism.

If you sell online, campaigns take a different shape: Shopping and Performance Max on the catalogue, the Merchant Center feed and target ROAS based on margin. We cover this in Google Ads for ecommerce.

The rules change again in regulated sectors: for healthcare, between Google's healthcare policies and national advertising rules, we wrote Google Ads for medical practices and clinics.

For smaller businesses, where the budget is a few hundred pounds a month and the choice between Search and Performance Max matters more, we wrote a separate guide with the numbers: Google Ads for SMEs.