When it comes to advertising in B2B, the choice of a platform can be a really important factor in whether you reach your potential customers or not and finally meet your marketing goals. With the abundance of options available, finding out which platforms can work for you may be challenging. This blog is about the 5 B2B advertising platforms that are great for small businesses and marketing specialists to convey their products and services effectively. Additionally, we have enumerated the actionable tips for selecting a marketing platform that is right for you.
What is B2B Advertising?
B2B advertising refers to techniques and methods that organizations use to communicate their offers to other companies. B2C is directed to individuals, while B2B is directed to decision-makers. Such campaigns are intended to initiate the brand first, then lure prospects, and eventually generate sales.
Thanks to the rapid technological revolution, B2B advertising is now mostly digital. Organizations can utilize various online channels to market their products and reach the desired audience more efficiently and effectively.
B2B Marketing with Social Media Platforms
Social media platforms have moved beyond B2C marketing. These tools have become the essence of B2B marketers who are looking to connect with other businesses. Here are the top five B2B advertising platforms you should consider:
Google Search Network
Why Use It?
GSN is a tool that helps marketers attract the attention of people looking for particular services. The ads are placed on the first page of search results next to the relevant services or products, increasing your website’s traffic and visibility and, thus, generating qualified leads.
Key Features:
- High Intent: You tap into users actively expressing their needs.
- Extensive Reach: Billions of searches are made on Google all the time.
- Customizable Ads: Online advertising can be adjusted to specific keywords and demographics.
Best Practices:
- Target long-tail keywords to match very specific search queries.
- Make engaging ad copy that talks about your target audience’s problem.
- Include your ad extension to give more information and also boost your CTR.
Google Display Network
Why Use It?
The GDN platform shows ads on millions of websites, blogs, and applications, which is its great advantage. The website is great for promoting your brand and reaching a large number of people. GDN gives the privilege to identify a particular segment of the population based on demographic characteristics, analogies, and activities. Thus, it is a significant instrument for B2B advertisers.
Key Features:
- Wide Reach: Get access to a whopping 2 million plus sites and applications.
- Targeting Options: You can choose demographic, behavioral, and contextual targeting methods.
- Retargeting Capabilities: Bring back those who have previously engaged with your website.
Best Practices:
- Be cool and attract the eye of the viewers by using awesome imagery on your banners.
- Set up retargeting campaigns to remain in the memory of prior visitors you might have lost.
- Use Google’s Audience Insights to make it easier to target the right people.
LinkedIn Advertising
Why Use It?
LinkedIn is the perfect platform for targeting B2B marketers, as it offers excellent coverage of decision-makers and professionals. Its rich advertising options allow you to narrow down your target audience based on job titles, company sizes, industries, etc. Achieving these goals is particularly useful for lead generation and brand building.
Key Features:
- Professional Audience: Get over 700 million pro users visibility.
- Advanced Targeting: Job title, company, industries, or any combination thereof.
- Content-Driven Ads: The required types are sponsored content, InMail, and text ads.
Best Practices:
- Make use of Sponsored Content to impact the audience by providing meaningful content and building engagement.
- Leverage LinkedIn InMail to send tailored messages to targeted leads.
- Monitor and adjust your campaigns using LinkedIn information analytics.
Facebook Ads
Why Use It?
Despite the fact that Facebook’s primary target is the B2C market, which is mainly a fashion B2C advertising channel, it is useful for businesses to sell products and other purposes. The gigantic user base of the platform, which stands at 2.8 billion monthly active shadow accounts, will certainly make you believe in its global coverage and reach the right targeted audience. You can create a personalized audience based on many factors, such as demographics, interests, and behaviors, thus making sure that your ads reach the correct professionals.
Key Features:
- Massive User Base: More than 2.8 billion users were registered on Facebook each month in 2019.
- Advanced Targeting: Choose custom and lookalike audiences and a detailed targeting method.
- Diverse Ad Formats: Carousels, videos, and leads.
Best Practices:
- Lookalike Audiences is a great tool you can use for new clients who are similar to your current ones.
- Produce engaging video content that stands out and gets viewers’ attention to click.
- Through Facebook, you can directly get people’s contact information using lead generation ads.
Twitter Advertising
Why Use It?
Twitter is yet another effective channel for advertising B2B. Its main function is to build ties with the key players of the trade and the thought leaders in the sector. Such Tweets can be promoted to a specific audience along with accounts and trends. Due to its instantaneous communication, Twitter is a perfect channel for disseminating industry news and announcements or for engaging in discussions with professionals.
Key Features:
- Real-Time Engagement: Directly contact users via promoted tweets in real-time.
- Hashtag Targeting: You can easily discover a user who has a particular interest in a certain topic.
- Advanced Analytics: Track and improve your campaign with data.
Best Practices:
- Employ Twitter’s targeting solutions and find users based on keywords, interests, and demographics.
- Direct your most eye-catching tweets to the top of the feed to attract more visitors to your site.
- Twitter Analytics can be used to evaluate and fine-tune your campaigns.
Tips for Choosing an Advertising Platform
The selection of an appropriate B2B advertising platform is conditioned by factors related to business objectives, targeted audience, and budget. Here are some tips to help you make an informed decision:
Define Your Goals
Explain the point behind your B2B advertising campaign. Have you got the objective of creating a profit, developing the brand, or increasing web traffic? Your goals will dictate both the platform and the type of ads that you create.
Understand Your Audience
Establish the audience you want to reach and know their behavior when it comes to the web. Exactly which websites do they visit? Which platforms do they choose for job-related networking and information searching? Utilize this to choose the platforms your audience would be most inclined to use.
Consider Your Budget
Analyze the planned ad budget and select the platforms that will yield the most favorable ROI for your business. Some services like Google Search Network and LinkedIn will indeed set you back a bit with their rates, while others like Facebook Ads might come cheaper.
Test and Optimize
Send test runs of smaller campaigns to different channels to find out which ones yield the greatest success. Interpret the results obtained and regulate your campaigns according to the approaches that deliver. The process of constantly testing and adjusting your strategy will be instrumental in your advertising success.
Leverage Analytics
Use the analytical instruments provided by every platform to observe how well your ads are doing. Keep track of crucial indicators like CTR, conversion rates, and CPA. With time, you will be able to identify and rectify problems utilizing this information, and thus, your campaigns will flourish.
Final Thoughts
B2B advertising is one of the reasons small companies are growing and becoming prominent in the market these days. The perfect platforms allow you to communicate with the targeted audience and achieve your business goals. We suggest you check out the platforms in this article and let us know how they worked out for you, or ask any questions in the comments below.
Isn’t it the right time for you to move your B2B advertising to the advanced level? You can accelerate the process of your future with the help of these prime platforms.
