B2B Digital Advertising: How to Use it Strategically for Online Marketing Success

Attracting B2B buyers is notoriously challenging because the process can be more complex compared to targeting B2C customers.

In the B2B space there are usually various players who each have opinions and purchasing power, they are often diverse and there is considerable competition to contend with.

The secret to success is creating unique and individualised B2B digital advertising campaigns that touch on key pain points, highlight your organisation’s solutions, boost brand awareness, and deliver maximum ROI from each campaign.

When integrated into an overall digital marketing strategy, B2B digital advertising can help leverage the power of these channels and help businesses and organisations reach their marketing goals.

In this article, we’d like to explain what B2B digital advertising is, the advantages it offers and how it can be used strategically in both short-term and long-term digital marketing efforts.

What is B2B digital advertising?

As the name suggests, B2B (business to business) digital advertising is advertising to businesses and organisations, not to individuals or consumers (B2C).

You can use it to promote your brand, product or services to other businesses, organisations and those who can make purchasing decisions and boost your revenue.

Usually, B2B digital advertising is more informative and fact-focused with return on investment (ROI) being a key consideration for corporate decision makers.

Why is digital advertising now essential for B2B businesses?

Digital advertising is a highly effective tactic that can be used as part of a wider digital marketing strategy to engage a target audience, boost brand awareness, and drive greater conversions and ROI.

Targeted reach

With digital advertising, B2B businesses can precisely reach their specific target audience, narrowing down their focus based on factors such as demographics, industry, and job title. This means that your digital advertising will only be shown to relevant prospects which means they’re more likely to convert to leads and sales.

Increased visibility

The B2B space is becoming increasingly crowded and it’s becoming harder to reach your target audience organically. Using digital advertising gives you the competitive edge you need to boost brand awareness, capture attention of potential customers and convert more potential customers.

Highly measurable

Digital advertising provides quick and measurable results for B2B businesses. Because it’s easy to track key metrics in real time, you can better make data-driven decisions, better allocate your marketing budget, optimise your digital marketing campaigns, and maximise your ROI.

Brand awareness and visibility

Using strategic messaging and creative visuals in digital advertising campaigns can help B2B businesses build their brand presence and showcase their products. This also helps position you as a trusted and authoritative organisation and lays the foundations for a successful long-term digital marketing strategy.

Lead generation

Generating high quality leads is easier with B2B digital advertising. By using different ad formats and platforms, businesses can create effective campaigns, drive traffic to their website, capture leads and convert them into paying customers.

Flexibility and scalability

Digital advertising allows you greater flexibility with your B2B digital marketing budget so you can optimise your campaigns.

With options to adjust budgets, customise targeting parameters and test different approaches to find what resonates best, businesses can ensure their investment provides the best possible returns. This can also be easily scaled up to adapt to your businesses changing objectives or if you are launching new products or services.

What are the different types of B2B digital advertising campaigns and strategies?

There are three main types of B2B digital advertising strategies. These include PPC, Display Ads and Social Media advertising. Let’s explain each of these in turn.

Pay Per Click (PPC) Search Ads

Pay Per Click (PPC) is static advertising that includes Google ads, Bing ads and Yahoo ads and is the most common form of paid advertising.

Instead of paying a standard fee per ad, the business bids on a specific keyword so their ad appears predominantly in the search results or on a website, social media platform or app.

As the name suggests, the business pays a small fee every time someone clicks on the ad. This helps capture the attention of potential customers who are actively searching for a relevant product or service and is more likely to convert them into paying customers.

PPC can be a highly effective short-term tactic to drive targeted traffic to your website because it can be targeted precisely, provides measurable results, and takes visitors directly to your site. It can also be used long-term to underpin your wider digital marketing efforts.

Display Ads

Display ads are those traditional static adverts such as banners, videos and pop-ups that appear at the top, side and middle of websites and platforms.

With eye-catching visuals, compelling messages, and strategic placement, they can engage your target audience effectively, drive traffic to your website, raise brand awareness and promote offers or new products, even if these people are not actively searching for a product or solution.

For this reason, they can be an effective short-term tactic to help you achieve your marketing goals whilst helping you to reinforce your brand presence and support your long-term digital marketing strategy.

Social Ads

Social ads on platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube are quick and highly effective ways to engage your target audience, generate leads and build brand awareness.

They’re also easy to use, highly effective at reaching the target audience and offer a high click rate, especially when businesses use LinkedIn (the best overall platform for B2B).

By using paid media in creative forms such as images, videos and text, businesses can use these ads strategically in short-term campaigns to launch new products, run promotions and increase event registrations. When used long-term as part of a digital marketing strategy, they can also help nurture leads, build trust, and enhance brand loyalty.

How can businesses use B2B digital advertising as part of a digital marketing strategy?

B2B digital advertising forms a key part of any business’s overall marketing strategy because it is focused on both short-term and long-term goals, provides measurable objectives and is both campaign and action orientated.

To use it most effectively, B2B businesses should consider the following:

• Who are they targeting with their digital advertising message?
• Where do these businesses and their representatives spend their time online?
• What problems or pain points do these businesses face?
• What solution can your organisation offer?
• What is your marketing budget?
• What are your current digital marketing goals?

Using this information, businesses can leverage the power of PPC search ads, display ads and social ads to drive more traffic to their website, boost brand recognition, and drive conversions.

Any messaging should be consistent, engaging, relevant to their target audience across whatever platforms or channels they choose and align with long-term digital marketing goals.

By considering their long-term digital marketing strategy, businesses can use digital advertising as a key tactic alongside SEO, email marketing, content marketing and similar for optimal online success.

Summary: B2B digital advertising

B2B digital advertising plays a crucial role in the success of your digital marketing efforts.

By adding PPC search ads, display ads and social ads into your overall digital marketing strategy, you can unlock its power to better target your prospects, boost engagement and boost brand recognition for short or long term results.

Want to use digital advertising to enhance your B2B marketing strategy? We’d love to help.

Contact us today to find out what we can do for your business.