3 Effective Tactics for B2B Advertising

As account-based marketing and content marketing continue to be the hot trends in B2B, the number of advertising tactics to support these marketing efforts has increased. Here are three easy-to-implement tactics that can complement your current media plan.

1. Paid Social Advertising
Paid advertising via social media channels offers some very specific targeting options that are a great fit for account-based advertising programs. Our clients often start with LinkedIn because of its ability to target by company, industry, skill and title. It is also a channel for promoting high-quality content. With its cost-per-click (CPC) pricing and no minimum monthly spend, LinkedIn Sponsored Posts easily fit most budgets. Also, it is simple to change campaign specifics like content, creative, target audience, bids and budget in real-time to allow for constant improvement. Paid advertising is a great way to start some preliminary testing for an account-based marketing program.



2. Account-based Display Advertising
IP address targeting has been used in B2C advertising for quite some time. However, the start of account-based marketing is what really brought IP targeting to the forefront in B2B advertising. Many ad networks now offer IP address targeting so that ads only appear to people at specific companies. At the IP level, the ad network can reach anyone currently using the Internet on that IP address. Some account-based advertising networks even offer additional targeting criteria like title and job. There are several networks and management platforms that really focus on B2B and account-based marketing platforms. Most display programs are going to run on cost per thousand impressions (CPM), so it is more about awareness than clicks or leads. These programs may require a larger budget than a Sponsored Post program on LinkedIn, but they often deliver more ad impressions and reach more people. Also, some ad networks may have minimum spend requirements, so that will factor into the budget as well.

3. Native Advertising
Native advertising mimics the appearance of a site’s content. Native ads work best when you have strong content with a compelling call to action. This is a great way to promote content and support a content marketing strategy. Usually, ads are text- and image-based within an e-newsletter or on a website. In B2B, it’s more common that these native advertising placements are found within trade publications. However, you may find networks that will run native advertising – just be aware the target audience is often a little broader, so be sure to take that into consideration when it comes to pricing and budget.

In the end, knowing your goals and your target audience are the most important things when finding the right tactics for your company. Once the program is launched, take time to measure the effectiveness of the campaign and use the data gathered to optimize and ensure continued growth for your program.