How To Create B2B Google Ads Campaigns That Nurture And Convert Customers

In the world of B2B multi-channel marketing, it takes time to narrow down a specific space where leads are generated.

Many B2B marketers are turning to Google Ads because of the potential for quick return on investment (ROI).

But for this scenario to happen, you need to have the right strategy and tactics.

Lucky for you, this article will take you from “I don’t know where to focus my time and budget” to “I manage my Google Ads budget and collect B2B clients like a boss.”

In fact, Google Ads is among the most effective paid channels because you can understand the level of “purchase intent” based on the type of keyword used.

So, when you target keywords across multiple intent stages within the sales funnel, creating B2B Google Ads campaigns enables you to efficiently nurture leads towards conversion.

With this in mind, mastering the art of B2B campaigns on Google Ads can increase your company’s growth and help you develop a long-term, bulletproof marketing strategy.

So, if you are thinking about the question:

“Does Google Ads work for B2B and how can I get the most out of my money?”

This article will answer this and set you up for sustainable success in the future.

Why use Google Ads campaigns for your B2B listing building efforts

Many ask, “Why do I have to pay when I can generate leads for free?”

Great question.

First, let’s start with the fact that there are no free leads. No matter if you do search engine optimization, social media marketing, or paid advertising, there is no such thing as a free lunch.

All marketing channels have their advantages and disadvantages, but Google Ads in particular is useful because it:

• It gives you the power to control the pace of your growth based on your ad spend and campaigns used.
• They are often faster to launch because you can start with a single landing page.
• It enables you to drive traffic to content based on “high purchase intent” keywords, i.e. search terms that describe the product or service you’re selling.

In fact, the average Google Ads B2B campaign conversion rate is 3.75%So if you target high intent keywords, you will get high quality leads that have a strong chance of becoming a customer.

Are you ready to jump on the Google Ads bandwagon with success?

Let’s go over how to run a Google Ads B2B campaign based on the intent stages of the sales funnel.

How to run successful B2B Google Ads campaigns based on sales funnel stages

The sales funnel typically consists of three main categories:

• Top of the funnel (TOFU)People who are in the awareness phase of the buying cycle, which means they have just realized they have a problem and need to find a solution.
• mid funnel (MOFU)People who are interested or considering a purchase, make comparisons and research more about the best solution for their specific needs.
• Bottom of the funnel (BOFU)People who are almost ready to make a purchase and have decided to start contacting companies that might be able to help them.

The idea is to create a B2B Google Ads campaign based on each selected category, using keywords that relate to those corresponding categories.

By doing this, you’ll be able to craft better audience-oriented copy at the ‘top of the funnel’ than the one at the ‘bottom of the funnel’, which will help your campaigns convert better.

Now that you get the idea, let’s dive into some concrete examples of keywords and campaigns at each stage of conversion.

top repression

In the TOFU stage, some keywords that may be relevant here are:

• “what is x.”
• “define x” – because they are just trying to understand the basics of a particular concept.

Since your audience is ready to absorb all the information, long-form informational content is of particular interest to them.

Your audience may be aware of your brand’s existence, but not all that you have to offer. They are novices when it comes to your solution, so there shouldn’t be any pushy sales copy here.

Your audience is just warming up to you and don’t want to be spammed.

When it comes to your bid strategy, you have two options:

• Option 1: Uses Enhanced CPC (Enhanced CPC)which isn’t fully automatic bidding, but it does give you more control over your budget.
• Option 2Impression share targeting works well if your goal is brand awareness and reach because you can set an impression share percentage against other bidders.

For your retargeting strategy, it’s a good idea to set up an audience on Google to collect visitor information to the page you send to users.

Depending on the amount of traffic (1000 or more visitors are needed before you can retarget) we can use this audience to retarget our MOFU campaign.

You also need to select the target type.

Your first campaign shouldn’t be a hard sell, here you need to focus on generating demand for your product or service.

Of course, there may be an influx of new users (but hardly any conversions), so you’ll want to make sure your campaign objective delivers a small, high-value, low-friction conversion, like getting someone to read a piece of informational content.

Depending on the size of your users, you should look into setting up a small page share conversion.

Below is an example file TOFU B2B Google Ads campaign is in progress Targeting the keyword “what is an AI chatbot”.

The ad introduces the brand and answers the respective keyword. By clicking through to the landing page, we don’t learn of a hard sell, but instead are given a “free guide” to learn more about this specific AI chatbot.

There is no mention of pricing or specific product here. Matches the user’s search intent by providing the user with exactly what they requested.

The bonus is that it also allows the company to collect email addresses, which can then be emailed to sponsorship campaigns at a later date.

middle of the funnel

MOFU audience members are those who know your product or service exists and have done some research on potential solutions.

They may already be thinking of you as an option, but they need to know exactly how you can help, and why you are better than your competition. It is also likely that their decision will be strongly influenced by third party opinions of your brand.

In this case, your Google Ads campaign can promote the following:

• Technical Guidelines.
• Item comparison.

Your audience likely has a basic understanding of the topic or industry, but is still looking to improve their knowledge and identify the best solutions for them.

View cue messages here! Prepare your employees for easy, information-based selling.

For your bid strategy, it would be a good idea to use the following:

• Enhanced CPC.
• Share target impression.
• or alternatively, Increase clicks.

Unlike Enhanced CPC, Maximize Clicks is an automated bidding strategy where Google sets bids for you, to get the most conversions for your campaign while spending your daily budget.

Once you’re ready to retarget, here’s a possible approach:

Take a look at your previous audience setup for users clicking on your TOFU campaign and your website visitors in general. It’s helpful to add this audience as a note about this campaign.

You can increase your bids for users who have already interacted with your brand, ensuring that your ads are in a higher position and keep brand awareness on top.

Again, using the audiences from this page and adding bid targeting to your BOFU campaign is a good idea.

For your MOFU goal type, you’ll need to provide more information to help your audience decide – but at this point, you’ll want to get into the nitty-gritty.

Even though users may be somewhat unaware of your brand, they have a pretty good idea of ​​the product or service they want, because they are now fully in the research phase to find the most suitable product or service to meet their needs.

The goal here could be to provide downloadable guides and product comparisons while still using small conversions, such as per-download conversion tracking.

To give you a better idea, let’s take a quick look at the Example of a MOFU B2B Campaign Google Ads targeting keyword “How to set up an AI chatbot.”

With this ad example, the user has probably done enough research to start looking for ways to install a chatbot, which ad answers exactly that question with ad copy.

Moreover, we can see that, similar to TOFU, there is no hard sell on this page, because the user’s intent has not yet purchased their product. Instead they offered a free ebook in exchange for contact details.

down the funnel

BOFU is where the magic happens: lead generation conversions. Your audience is ready to buy and needs another nudge to click that buy, book a demo, or contact us button.

Related keywords may be here:

• x service
• x tool
• x platform

At this point, you’ll want to take out your conversion- and sales-order-based landing pages for the following reasons:

• Your audience here is very familiar with your brand.
• They are considering making a purchase and have a good understanding of your solution.

For your bidding strategy, consider using “maximize conversions,” as users are closer to the end of the decision-making process and are more inclined to contact you.

When you’re ready to retarget, enable retargeting for all users who visit this page but don’t convert. You can also retarget users using display campaigns on Google or other similar platforms, such as AdRoll.

It might be worth considering setting up retargeting on other platforms, such as LinkedIn and Facebook, as well.

Since this campaign has the ultimate intent of users in the buying cycle, a high converting landing page that offers all the above information and more is recommended here.

This is your chance to submit lead and contact forms with calls to action (CTAs) at the top and in easy-to-access points throughout the page.

To give an example, check this out Bofu B2B Google Ads keyword campaign “ai chatbot for customer service.”

From the BOFU keyword above, we can now ensure that the user knows exactly what they need – it’s only now that they choose the perfect solution for them.

By understanding the specific use case, ads are tailored to each scenario, resulting in higher CTR. It also lists relevant site link assets (AKA extensions) that the user will also find useful, such as pricing and display.

Secondly, the landing page used here is a high converting page in that it offers relevant CTAs throughout the page, uses trust building messages, connects to CTAs, and most importantly highlights the value of the product.

Implement the right Google Ads strategy to generate high quality B2B leads

Overall, Google Ads is incredibly effective for B2B businesses because it’s a great springboard for long-term growth.

Not only can you retarget across other channels, but you also have the ability to target keywords based on leveled purchase intent within the sales funnel.

Now that you’re a B2B Ads campaign pro, you’ll be able to spend smart and optimize effectively!

Further research:

• 9 tips to help your Google Ads B2B campaigns shine
• Here’s your complete B2B multichannel strategy in 5 simple steps
• Winning at Retargeting: Tips for Reconnecting and Converting

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