Because costs per click in B2B search campaigns can often be extremely high when companies compete the for same keywords, Search Engine Marketing (SEM) for B2B advertisers offers its own very unique challenges. Add in the fact that B2B sales cycles are typically long and complex (meaning that advertisers may not see ROI for weeks or months), and it becomes clear that thriving in today’s SEM landscape requires getting a lot of things right.
Here are the five most common “fails” we see in B2B search campaigns:
Not Bidding on the Correct Keywords.
The most obvious keywords in any B2B campaign are those with higher search volumes and higher-than-average costs per click, particularly in competitive niches. However, it’s not always, or even often, that those highly coveted keywords will be the most effective in the long run.
When beginning a new B2B paid search campaign, it’s impossible to tell which keywords will ultimately convert the best over time and generate the lowest cost per conversion. Because of this, in the early stages, campaigns should contain a mix of higher search volume/higher cost terms along with mid- and long-tail terms, i.e. those with a lower search volume and lower cost per click.
Over time, the keyword list can be refined to maximize budget share and impression share based on the search queries that are driving the most conversions. Failure to do this often results in wasted ad budget and spending valuable ad dollars on terms that generate expensive clicks but don’t convert at the same high rate.
Failure to Understand How Much You Can Pay to Acquire a Customer.
B2B clicks can be very expensive, but – depending on your product category and the cost of your solution – a high cost per click can actually be a bargain compared to the potential revenue that a new customer generates. The key to determining at what point an expensive click becomes TOO expensive is understanding a few key data points:
* Maximum Allowable Cost Per Lead (MACPL)
* Customer Lifetime Value (LTV)
* Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)
If you’re optimizing your campaign based simply on Cost Per Conversion (Cost Per Acquisition), or worse yet, Cost Per Click, you’ll never really know whether or not the campaign is truly profitable. Yet, many B2B companies don’t take the time to compute these numbers, or even basic funnel metrics. However, these kinds of data points enable much more informed and intelligent bidding decisions versus the simple CPA numbers that many advertisers use.
Here are the five most common “fails” we see in B2B search campaigns:
Not Bidding on the Correct Keywords.
The most obvious keywords in any B2B campaign are those with higher search volumes and higher-than-average costs per click, particularly in competitive niches. However, it’s not always, or even often, that those highly coveted keywords will be the most effective in the long run.
When beginning a new B2B paid search campaign, it’s impossible to tell which keywords will ultimately convert the best over time and generate the lowest cost per conversion. Because of this, in the early stages, campaigns should contain a mix of higher search volume/higher cost terms along with mid- and long-tail terms, i.e. those with a lower search volume and lower cost per click.
Over time, the keyword list can be refined to maximize budget share and impression share based on the search queries that are driving the most conversions. Failure to do this often results in wasted ad budget and spending valuable ad dollars on terms that generate expensive clicks but don’t convert at the same high rate.
Failure to Understand How Much You Can Pay to Acquire a Customer.
B2B clicks can be very expensive, but – depending on your product category and the cost of your solution – a high cost per click can actually be a bargain compared to the potential revenue that a new customer generates. The key to determining at what point an expensive click becomes TOO expensive is understanding a few key data points:
* Maximum Allowable Cost Per Lead (MACPL)
* Customer Lifetime Value (LTV)
* Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)
If you’re optimizing your campaign based simply on Cost Per Conversion (Cost Per Acquisition), or worse yet, Cost Per Click, you’ll never really know whether or not the campaign is truly profitable. Yet, many B2B companies don’t take the time to compute these numbers, or even basic funnel metrics. However, these kinds of data points enable much more informed and intelligent bidding decisions versus the simple CPA numbers that many advertisers use.
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