At Level, we know the timeline for a B2B clients’ sale or conversion is much longer than our Ecommerce and Education focused clients. Depending on the audiences we’re targeting, this could be as short as three months, but also as lengthy as 18 months, or longer. Another major difference in the B2B world is the number of hands that need to touch, edit, review, and approve campaigns.
So, what does all this mean?
The way we define success looks different. In a recent podcast interview with Laura Greenawalt and TJ Bruno, our B2B Team Leads, we dove deep into this topic. Listen to the full conversation here:
Start with “Who”
Once we know exactly who we are targeting, it becomes easier to devise the proper messaging and advertising strategies. We’re able to look for people that our B2B clients want to get in front of and then serve them messages which fit within the context of their business offerings with messages that align with their aspirations and goals.
Now that we have their attention, our focus can turn to supplying value in exchange for contact information. This often takes the form of a white paper download, case study access, or webinar invite. Based on the type of content someone engages with, and how often they engage with it, we can further adjust the message to meet their needs. By the time these leads are handed off to a sales or business development team, they are better educated and properly qualified – saving both parties time and reducing any friction in the way of a sale.
Always Be Testing
Long sales cycle funnels can be easy to “set and forget.” Especially since it can be months before enough data is gathered to gauge the effectiveness of an experiment.
But no test is too small!
We launch almost everything with at least one “B” variable. Whether it’s creative, copy, targeting, audience type, landing pages, etc. – you name it, we’re always running tests. We are regularly analyzing the results of these said tests day over day, week over week, and month over month depending on the circumstances surrounding the effort at a macro and micro level.
For example, one of our B2B teams recently ran a test on domain names for landing pages. For one of our clients, we realized that one of the newer landing pages we were driving traffic to was not having as much success as one of this client’s much older landing pages. After researching and making some data driven decisions, this team started working to add more rich keywords into the URLs. The result has been an increase in quality scores and impression share.
What’s in store for the future?
With continued privacy changes rolling out in many of our most used platforms, how we target and report on certain platforms will continue to evolve. We expect to see a rise in importance of using first party vs. third party data for targeting, and prospecting will become increasingly difficult as platforms and the internet at large continue to offer more privacy to their users. As these entrenched platforms adjust their offerings, newer names continue to enter the digital advertising ecosystem. TikTok advertising will become more common as the popular social media app continues to grow exponentially and expand their audience targeting capabilities.
Need a fresh eye on your marketing strategy? Contact us and let’s see if our companies would be a fit to work together.
