B2B (business to business) – a company sells a service not to a private client, but to another organization. This creates some barriers to effective promotion. But most companies have been successfully using the world wide web as a source of customers for several years.
According to eMarketer’s survey of the US B2B market, digital ad spending has shown steady growth since 2017. You can see the percentage change in the chart below.
Social networks in most cases top the lists of digital promotion channels for this segment. However, some businesses still avoid promotion on Facebook, losing dozens, maybe hundreds of applications every month. Therefore, in this article, we will analyze the main pains of B2B when launching paid advertising on Facebook, and also find out how to increase the effectiveness of targeted ads.
Why B2Bs are afraid of promoting on Facebook
B2B involves doing business in a variety of niches. These can be companies that sell expensive equipment, real estate, offer legal, banking services, diagnose industrial equipment, etc. But what they all have in common is a set of constraints that are causing many firms to delay launching a Facebook ad campaign. These include:
- Lack of a qualified specialist. B2B advertising on social networks requires constant A/B testing, audience skills, proper budget allocation, and in-depth results analytics to avoid wasting allocated funds. This issue is solved by attracting an agency that will completely close the task of setting up targeted advertising on Facebook ;
- Content creation. The B2B segment is special in that it is necessary to generate original and interesting creatives while avoiding excessive officialdom and dryness. But here it is worth acting on the principle – not quantity, but the quality is important. Therefore, it is enough to make several creatives, but involve users in interaction with advertising. The most suitable will be educational or cognitive materials that provide an answer to one of the questions of the target audience;
- Audience quality. Large businesses are afraid of draining the budget, as they underestimate the audience on Facebook. But the majority of social network users are adults. So, according to the Plusone study, the platform is preferred by people over 28 years old;
- Targeting complexity – when working with private clients, the product is bought by the same person who will use it, but in B2B the product is aimed at a narrow specialist, while the decision is made by the manager. However, Facebook has the possibility of detailed targeting by age, profession, interests, region, and other parameters that allow you to most accurately describe the portrait of a client in this segment.
We hope we have debunked your top fears about running paid ads on Facebook. Indeed, in fact, the platform has a lot of advantages over others, more expensive and highly specialized. You just need to understand its features before drawing up a strategy for promoting B2B in a social network.
With an integrated approach to online business promotion, you can reduce the costs of the “outdated” method of attracting customers through cold calls and personal meetings, which complicate the path to a deal. After all, you must admit that it is much easier to qualitatively process the application of a person who is already interested in the service. And the process of collecting a database of potential customers becomes automated due to the selection of audiences and the ability to configure them in a few clicks.
How to Improve the Effectiveness of Your Facebook B2B Ads Campaigns
If you have decided to launch targeted advertising on Facebook, then it’s time to think about how to increase the effectiveness of the advertising campaign. We have prepared a number of recommendations so that your spending on lead generation through the social network pays off, turning into real applications.
Facebook B2B Ads Content Creation Rules
The optimal goal of the first Facebook advertising campaign, and the subsequent ones too, is to simply and as cheaply as possible attract an audience to the brand. In order to get quality leads, you should pay attention to the following points:
- Does the content fit the stages of the sales funnel? For the first touch, a highly specialized lead magnet is best. For example, a link to a free download of a useful guide or instruction. For the second stage, dedicated to working with the collected target audience, the focus should be shifted to demonstrating your product or service through a webinar or online conference. The main thing is not to rush things and let your audience make their own decision, delicately influencing this path;
- Would you like to advertise if you were a client? Skeptically analyze each element of your advertising campaign and the result will not keep you waiting. To build visibility, pay attention to your competitors’ ads on Facebook;
- A friendly tone in communication is the only acceptable option when working with professionals. No one will want to buy your products or services if you talk down to your audience;
- Is your tone of voice formed? Stick to the same communication style on different platforms to gradually increase brand awareness.
Content is a powerful tool for any advertising campaign. Read about how dynamic creatives brought +64% conversions in 1 month in our
IVR case.
If your AC is aimed at increasing conversions and you are working with an audience that already knows you, then your creatives can be more “aggressive”, that is, selling. You can safely talk about what benefits you will bring to customers. If your audience has a decision-maker, consider that fact too. For example, tell what kind of recognition or promotion your client can get if he convinces management to start cooperation.
Setting up Facebook advertising campaigns
When setting up a Facebook ad campaign for B2B, just like with content, you need to focus on its goal. If these are reach and brand awareness, then it is reasonable to exclude page subscribers and those who have previously interacted with it from the list of audiences. This way you reach the maximum number of new users. If the goal for marketers is to increase conversions, do the opposite. Run ads on those who already know you and have previously shown interest in the company’s products.
Advice! Facebook Ads has the ability to use custom audiences to reach people who know you but haven’t interacted with your Facebook page yet. After all, according to statistics, people use the same email address for different platforms.
To find Custom Audiences, go to Campaigns. The audience will be in the “Campaigns” section at the bottom. Once you click on the tab select Custom Audiences and select customer List. Upload your own list of email addresses there.
Audience segmentation is another key to a successful B2B Facebook ad campaign. Instead of using regular ads, you can tailor your messages to better meet the needs of your audience. That is, to make sure that part of the audience receives the first version, which suits it according to some parameters, and part – the second. For example, you are promoting a test version of the software that suits both small and large businesses. It makes sense to present two versions of the product in which you demonstrate the benefits for each category of customers.
Other recommendations for launching and setting up Facebook Advertising for B2B:
- Use live footage for content. Video content from experts and managers, customer reviews, real screenshots of the program, etc. work well;
- Do not write a canvas of text. One ad – one pain of the target audience and its solution with the help of your company’s services;
- Do not abuse emoji in the text, but format the list using bullet points;
- Use at least one input line on the landing page – this will help get rid of spam requests;
- Send automated emails to new leads;
- Process applications during business hours within 10-15 minutes. If there is no call for more than an hour, the client will leave with a probability of 70%.
And a little about lead magnets
The Ukrainian audience is very loyal to lead magnets and in most cases, she is willing to exchange her contacts for a valuable checklist or template. It’s still a live marketing tool that you can drive traffic to on Facebook with confidence. A simple manipulation will allow you to get new leads or reactivate the old database of e-mail addresses.
Popular lead magnet ideas:
- Checklist (step-by-step verification of the security system, creation of a website on the constructor, legal due diligence of franchising);
- Template (TOR for creating text content on the site, a brief for developing a landing page);
- PDF file (map of content distribution channels, 10 steps to increase conversion in pharma, etc.);
- Quiz (game, are you a good entrepreneur, etc.);
- Calculator (calculation of the cost of development, repair, installation);
- Book (tips on building a remote team, secrets of SEO promotion, etc.).
Important! Useless lead magnets are no longer needed. It is better to spend time and effort on creating really high-quality content that will bring you real applications. To do this, you need to attract the most experienced people in the company.
Findings
Effective Facebook advertising for B2B is the result of complex work, in which every stage from the moment you decide to launch an advertising campaign plays a role. It is necessary to take into account the competition in the niche, and the long journey of the client from getting to know the brand to making a decision on the deal. It also needs to be a clearly understood portrait of the client, to know his pains and at the same time competently present the benefits of your product or service.
