Where do you look when you want to know something? Whether you are looking for a recipe or a new supplier for your company, there is no way around using a search engine. Your potential customers also use Google and other search engines sooner or later in their purchasing decision process.
However, the results that are displayed to them are by no means compiled purely by chance. Rather, they are the result of a search algorithm that you as a B2B company can cleverly use through search engine marketing (SEM).
The crucial question, however, is how to use your B2B search engine marketing in such a way that interested parties are directed to your website and not to your competition. In this guide, we will therefore explain the special features of business-to-business search engine marketing and give you valuable tips for implementation.
What is B2B SEM & How Does it Work?
B2B SEM stands for B2B Search Engine Marketing. The term describes all activities that are carried out with the aim of increasing the visibility of your company website in the search results of a search engine.
SEM = SEA + SEO
SEM includes various measures. These include, for example:
- Placing ads on search engines (Search Engine Advertising or SEA) that appear before the organic search results & deliver short-term results with ongoing, but transparent costs
- Optimizing your website for the organic results of search engines (Search Engine Optimization or SEO) as a long-term strategy with an initial investment without ongoing costs
SEM thus works on two levels and combines advertising on search engines with the organic search for products and services.
B2B SEA vs B2B SEO vs B2B SEM: Utilizing Synergies!
B2B search engine marketing offers you the chance to optimize your company's profile in the search results on two levels simultaneously. So it's not a question of whether you should only focus on SEA or SEO, but of using both measures in combination to optimally exploit the potential of B2B search engine marketing.
Why is B2B Search Engine Marketing Worthwhile?
Many B2B companies still focus on the classic formula for customer acquisition: field sales and trade fairs. After all, these are usually complex products that are best explained in a personal conversation. However, the reality is that the customer journey in the B2B sector is also becoming increasingly differentiated and takes place online.
91 percent of B2B decision-makers search the internet before contacting a new business partner. This gives you the opportunity to accompany potential customers in their purchasing decision process with B2B search engine marketing – and to set the right course at critical points.
You also benefit from many other advantages of B2B Search Engine Marketing:
- Positioning as an expert & industry leader: With the help of B2B search engine marketing, you can create content that is specifically tailored to the search queries of your potential customers. In this way, you not only provide interested parties with the information they are looking for, but are also perceived as an expert compared to your competition.
- Narrowly defined target group & targeted approach: The B2B market is characterized by narrowly defined target groups that require a targeted approach. SEM offers you the opportunity to control your ads and content in such a way that they precisely meet the needs of your target group.
- Greater visibility & more qualified leads: Whether it's ads or a better position in organic search – with B2B SEM you increase your visibility in the search engines. Since your content exactly matches the search query, interested parties click on your website, actively approach you and you benefit from more qualified leads.
- Transparent costs & flexible budget: The costs for targeted B2B search engine marketing are transparent and can be calculated flexibly. Depending on the industry and objective, you can design your SEM measures in such a way that even as an SME or start-up you can invest clearly and benefit from the results in the short and long term.
- Effective campaigns & constant optimization: Through close-meshed monitoring with the help of special tools, you can always check how effective your B2B search engine marketing campaigns are. While SEO measures tend to have a long-term effect, you can react flexibly to new developments at any time, especially with SEA, and optimize your campaign.
In addition, many other industry-specific advantages can arise for you through professional B2B search engine marketing. As a B2B marketing agency, Leadeffect specializes in supporting you in scaling your complex B2B solutions and products.
We would be happy to explain to you in a personal conversation how your company can benefit sustainably from SEM for B2B.
9 SEM B2B Tricks: Better visibility & more qualified leads
In order to successfully implement B2B search engine marketing, a strategic approach and an understanding of how the B2B market works online is required. Three typical challenges that we encounter again and again with our customers are:
- Online strategies learned “in the classic way” for the B2C market cannot be transferred to the B2B sector
- B2B search engine marketing requires special know-how that is lacking in the company or at the lead agency
- There is a lack of time or resources to deal with the necessary measures in depth
However, our experience shows that you can switch your online success from zero to hero even in special areas such as B2B SaaS marketing if you follow our nine tips for successful B2B search engine marketing.
1. B2B SEM Strategy: Know the starting point & proceed strategically
Before you start with B2B search engine marketing, you should be clear about what you expect from the campaign and what goals you are pursuing. For this purpose, it usually makes sense to carry out a status quo analysis before the start.
If you know where you stand and where you want to go, you can identify and plan the most efficient measures to achieve your goals. In addition, a clear definition of goals is also important for measuring the results of your B2B SEM.
However, a good SEM strategy in the B2B sector includes not only your company, but also a detailed target group analysis. Tools such as creating buyer personas can help you to identify the relevant decision-makers.
2. Website as a starting point: Explain complex solutions
Your website is the central starting point for any B2B search engine marketing measures. Regardless of whether it is Google Ads for B2B or organic search results – after the click, visitors land on a subpage or landing page of your site.
For this reason, you should optimize the content on your website in such a way that the search query of your potential customer is optimally answered. If you can explain your complex B2B solution in a meaningful way, you will stand out from your competition and convert interested parties into qualified leads.
Every measure in B2B search engine marketing revolves around the topics that your potential customers are searching for. The keywords or search terms that users enter into the search engine to find products or services are decisive for this.
A keyword analysis helps you identify search terms that are relevant to your offerings. However, beyond simply selecting keywords, you should also understand the search intent behind each term and whether it aligns with your objectives.
For example, in IT marketing, a search for “Data Analytics Tools” might indicate that the user is looking for free online tools rather than professional software. In general:
3. Keyword analysis: Understand the search intention of the target group
- Keywords, search intent, and your objective should align.
- Focus on targeted, specific keywords instead of general terms.
- Address keywords individually and specifically, rather than overloading ads or texts with various topics.
4. Search Engine Advertising: Short-Term Implementation & Results
Paid ads are an essential part of B2B search engine marketing because they appear before the organic search results. If your company isn't represented there, potential customers looking for a solution will likely end up with your competition.
The costs in SEA are incurred per click on your ad. Therefore, it is important to carefully select the keywords you bid on in order to avoid “misclicks”. However, it is just as crucial to optimize the content and design of the landing page to which the user is directed after clicking.
A clear call to action (CTA) that matches the search intent of the prospect is important for this. This could be, for example, requesting a consultation or further information – the key is that the CTA guides the user to the desired action at the crucial moment of their customer journey.
5. Website Optimization: Implementing Technical SEO Measures
In addition to SEA, SEO is also an important component of B2B search engine marketing. Your basic toolkit includes the technical optimization of your website for search engine crawlers – an algorithm that searches the web for content and indexes it for search engines. You should pay particular attention to these aspects for technical SEO optimization:
- Structured content & fast loading times
- Optimal usability & responsive design
- Security standards & SSL encryption
6. Content Optimization: SEO Content for Users & Search Engines
Especially in the B2B environment, the idea that everything has been done in terms of SEO with the technical optimization of the company website is still widespread. In fact, the actual search engine optimization only begins when the technical foundations have been implemented.
The role of SEO in B2B search engine marketing includes the following areas:
- Understand the search intent of your prospects precisely
- Conceive & optimize corresponding content
When it comes to SEO for B2B, focus entirely on your potential customer and whether their expectations are met by your website or their questions are answered. Therefore, beyond the technical requirements, you should create content that explains your B2B solution in an understandable way, interests users, and is positively evaluated by search engines:
- Direct & friendly communication
- Technically correct, but not too complicated
- Unique texts without clichés
- Structure content with bullet points & lists
- Use meaningful images & graphics
7. Off-Page SEO: Promotion & Link Building as B2B SEM Services
However, B2B search engine marketing does not only take place via ads or on your website itself. With off-page SEO, for example, you cover another important area of search engine optimization without making changes to your own website or publishing content there.
Examples of off-page SEO measures are:
- Link building: Backlinks from high-quality websites to your website
- Content marketing: Guest or blog articles, podcasts, white papers, etc.
- Social media: Presence in social networks, such as LinkedIn
Although off-page SEO does not appear to have a direct connection to B2B search engine marketing at first glance, it still fulfills an important function: all measures help to underpin the "authority" of your brand with search engines compared to your competition. In turn, these signals ensure that the algorithm ranks your page better.
8. Monitoring & Optimization: Remain successful in the long term
In contrast to many traditional marketing measures, B2B search engine marketing offers you the great advantage that you can closely monitor your campaign and optimize it at any time. In order to measure success, regular monitoring using meaningful key figures is important.
Which key figures are the right ones for your project depends on your individual goals. Common examples of key figures are:
- Click-through rate (CTR): Number of clicks on a search engine ad or a search result
- Conversion rate: Ratio between the number of all clicks to the clicks that led to a desired interaction
We recommend that you define how many leads you want to generate with your campaign during the strategy phase. An agency can support you in determining whether the desired figures are realistic for your industry and the scope of the campaign or whether they should be adjusted.
Another important tool, especially for B2B SEA, is the implementation of split tests to find out which landing page supports your campaign most effectively. As soon as it becomes apparent that certain content or keywords no longer meet the requirements, you have the option of adjusting them promptly.
9. B2B SEM Agency: Working with an agency
In order to set up B2B search engine marketing for long-term success, an individual mix of complex measures is necessary. If your campaigns are not running as desired, you lack the resources or the necessary know-how, we recommend that you work with a professional B2B marketing agency. You should pay particular attention to two criteria:
- B2B specialists: The agency should know the special challenges in B2B search engine marketing and be prepared to delve deeply into your complex topic.
- Comprehensive range of services: Only an agency that masters all disciplines of B2B search engine marketing can provide you with comprehensive advice and offer you the desired services in a full-service model.
In addition, the agency should provide you with strategic advice for your B2B search engine marketing campaign and calculate the costs transparently and flexibly. For example, Leadeffect relies on a remuneration model that is economically profitable for us when your project is successful. We would be happy to explain further details in a non-binding consultation.
Better than the competition: Avoid mistakes in Search Engine Marketing for B2B
B2B search engine marketing is a promising acquisition channel, but it also presents you with a number of challenges. From the analysis of numerous customer projects, we have identified three errors that can be typical pitfalls for your SEM success.
Resources not planned: Invest enough time & budget in your SEM
B2B search engine marketing is a complex process that requires a lot of time and a sufficient budget to be successful. Depending on the measure, different resources are necessary:
- SEA brings you timely results, but you have to plan ongoing costs for running the ads, which can vary depending on the industry
- SEO, on the other hand, is a long-term project in which resources are primarily invested in the creation of content before you can expect results in the organic search results
If you are not willing to invest sufficiently in B2B SEM, you will not see any results.
If you lack sufficient in-house capacities, you can rely on the support of a professional agency such as Leadeffect. We not only advise you strategically, but also help you to calculate the budget transparently, tailored to your needs and possibilities.
Search intent not understood: Targeted approach instead of the 'shotgun principle'.
In addition to a detailed keyword analysis and the identification of your target group, it is also important to understand the search intent behind the search terms. While the 'shotgun principle' is often applied in the B2C environment, i.e., optimizing for all possible keywords in the search environment, a differentiated approach is necessary in the B2B market to avoid scattering losses.
We often see that abbreviations for solutions in specific areas such as industrial marketing can have different meanings that do not always correspond to the actual product. In such cases, it is important to precisely define the search intent.
If you do not ensure this, you may generate a lot of clicks and traffic for your website, but visitors will immediately leave without converting into qualified leads. The increased bounce rate can also negatively affect your ranking in the search engines because the signal is sent that the content is not relevant to the users.
No follow-through after the click: Offer attractive & solution-oriented content
Every marketer knows that the attractive design is one of the most important features of eye-catching ads. In B2B search engine marketing, however, you have to think one step further. Because the actual persuasion work is not done on the search results page, but after the user clicks on the result or the ad.
If your prospects do not find the right information on the clicked page that they are looking for or that solves their problem, they will leave the page and look to the competition - while your bounce rate increases as a negative signal to the search engines. For this reason, the design of the blog articles or landing pages is just as important as the conception of the ads.
The 'secret' of successful inbound marketing online is: Whether text or graphics - every piece of content should offer your potential customer a real added value and convert them into a qualified lead with cleverly placed calls to action.
Successful B2B search engine marketing with Leadeffect
B2B search engine marketing is an effective method for building a successful online acquisition channel for your company and scaling your B2B solution. As a B2B agency from Hamburg, we support you in taking your SEM to a new level by selecting the right communication channels and providing them with relevant content.
We have accompanied many B2B companies on their way from zero to hero, because we proceed differently than 'classic' agencies. We understand the complexity and need for explanation of B2B solutions and understand how to present your products and services online in a clear and understandable way.
Subsequently, we focus on individual B2B search engine marketing measures so that you can fully exploit the potential of your online customer acquisition.
For example: Abel Systems relied primarily on cold calling for lead generation. After working with Leadeffect, the Swiss company recorded 52 percent more leads and a doubling of new customers.
IT & SOFTWARE
Abel Systems: Quality & Event Management Software
"Amazingly good quality of leads. (...) and significantly more enquiries. I would definitely recommend working with them."
Use the potential of B2B search engine marketing & scale your B2B solution
An attention-grabbing positioning on the results page of a search engine can make the difference between success and failure for B2B companies. Although the competitive situation varies depending on the industry and product, all B2B purchasing decision processes have one thing in common:
The relevant decision-makers are increasingly gathering information online before making a purchase!
Your answer to this trend should be a strategically efficient and cleanly executed B2B search engine marketing strategy. Although there is no panacea for successful SEM in B2B, your company can start from zero to hero and build a successful online acquisition if you follow a few basic rules.
Our experience shows that effective B2B Search Engine Marketing is based on two pillars: the optimal presentation of your products or services on your website and the building of online visibility through precisely fitting SEA and SEO measures.
What challenges are preventing you from efficiently acquiring new customers online and scaling your B2B solution? Contact us and we will discuss together which B2B search engine marketing measures make sense for your company.
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