Best Practices in B2B Demand Generation - demandblog

10 Questions About Google Adwords for B2B

by Jason Stewart

I went to the recent SMX Advanced show in Seattle and attended a few of the paid search segments, but was disappointed by how B2C-focused the content was. There were a fair amount of B2B companies in attendance, and the organic search side was very informative and helpful, but for paid search there was a definite hole in the content when it came to B2B.

I met paid search consultant Terry Whalen recently, and thought it would be fun to ask him a few questions specifically related to paid search for B2B companies. Terry is a partner at CPC Search, a full-service PPC management firm that optimizes PPC campaigns on behalf of its clients. CPC Search is a Google AdWords Qualified Company. Prior to running CPC Search, Terry led marketing initiatives at Citrix’s GoToMyPC, and before that he received his MBA from UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business.

1. What are some of the key differences in running a B2B paid search campaign vs. a B2C campaign?
   B2B is typically less straightforward than managing PPC programs for consumer-focused companies. Part of the reason for this is because it is often more difficult to measure value for companies where the sale happens offline. To illustrate, picture an e-commerce company selling products via credit card on its website. It’s relatively easy to measure revenue via Google AdWords using a ‘purchase’ conversion tag that passes through dynamic revenue variables to AdWords reporting. But for B2B we are typically only measuring a lead submission via AdWords, and all leads are not created equal. The value of a lead can be all over the map, because some leads are high-quality and some are low-quality. To get at the true value of leads we need to access data beyond AdWords or analytics – we need to go into the CRM. And, while this can certainly be done, it is not without additional challenges. Another important difference between consumer and B2B is that typically the SEM manager has fewer data points on which to optimize and grow the account. This is because – all other things being equal – cost/conversion is generally higher with B2B campaigns, and thus there are few conversions in a given time period on which to optimize.
   
   
2. Google is obviously the 800 lb gorilla, but how do the other search engines stack up for B2B?
   The other search engines tend to do very poorly relative to Google when it comes to B2B. I know this after spending $100’s of thousands of dollars on Yahoo and MSN for b2b accounts. It becomes a return-on-effort problem. If you are lucky – for B2B – you might be able to spend $10 on Yahoo for every $90 you spend on Google. Again, that’s if you are very lucky with your particular vertical. We typically see that in terms of maximizing the overall ROI and total profit for our clients, our time is much better spent optimizing Google vs. spending time on the much smaller Yahoo campaigns. This is due not only to arithmetic, but also to the fact that Yahoo (and MSN) has a very poor advertiser interface relative to Google AdWords. MSN is rarely even a consideration for B2B accounts – although I actually like Bing, and adCenter could be a contender at some point if Bing continues to take market share.
   
   
3. What is typically the first thing you focus on in a new engagement with a B2B client? In other words, where can you usually find some quick wins?
   Great question. We’ve seen a lot of money being wasted on Content, and we often have some triage to do. Triage can consist of adding negative placements (such as youtube.com and myspace.com), turning off certain categories (parked domains, etc.), and writing ads that very clearly state the advertiser’s value proposition. We also check to see that the Search Partner Network is yielding good results. For some B2B clients, Search Partner inventory does not convert well, or it drives lower quality traffic. After all, the search partners include sites like aol.com, shopping.com and ask.com – not exactly strong with business-oriented audiences relative to Google. Another one of our top to-do’s is to make sure that ad-serving is set to ‘rotate.’ This is very important for proper ad testing. In order to evaluate 2 or more ads, you need to make sure the ads have been rotated equally during the timeframe you are analyzing. Yet the AdWords default is to rotate the ad with the highest CTR more often. Good for Google in terms of monetizing search engine results pages (SERPs), but bad for the advertiser. Especially with B2B, we want to test ads that might be less “click-friendly” but in actuality may provide greater value to the advertiser (both in terms of a higher conversion rate and also higher lead quality).
   
   
4. Are there any tips or tricks that you see your B2C clients do that could carry over to B2B?
   Not so much. For e-commerce clients we often use keyword-insertion (KWI) in our ad text. We can measure very easily if KWI is a good idea since we have actual revenue data flowing in at the ad level, and a conversion actually equals a purchase event. But for B2B we often shy away from using KWI, because there tend to be so many different user search queries that could be matched to our ad, and those queries might indicate very different user intents. If KWI is a bad idea, it will be much easier to see this with a B2C campaign – even within a day or two – right within the AdWords interface.
   
   
5. In a nutshell, when is it better to use exact match instead of phrase match?
   Almost never. I almost think it’s the wrong question. For keywords that are either important to your business or that have high levels of impressions, clicks, spend or conversions, always use both. And always use negatives – either broad, phrase or exact match.
   
   
6. Do many of your B2B clients use the content network? How has your use of the content network changed over the past year?
   Yes, they do. The Content network has become much more transparent, and the tools to move the levers up and down have gotten better. Due to better transparency and control, we use the Content network more than we did 12+ months ago. I think this will continue to be a trend. However, for B2B, if you can spend 20% of your AdWords budget on Content and have it perform to the same benchmark as your Search campaigns, you are doing very well.
   
   
7. How do you like the new Adwords interface, what are some of the pros and cons from a “power user” perspective?
   I think it sucks much less than I thought it did 45 days ago (heh). We are getting more used to it. I think the ideas around it are very solid, but certainly latency is a big issue. I expect the interface to get faster and faster over time, and I expect we will like it more and more. At the end of the day, most hardcore campaign management and optimization takes place within Google’s AdWords Editor, so the new web interface is less of an issue for many folks.
   
   
8. You have recommended using Google Analytics to help find keywords, and there is also the keyword tool right inside of AdWords. Are there any third party tools you can recommend for finding relevant keywords?
   I wouldn’t touch 3rd-party keyword tools with a 10-foot pole. Not because I think they do harm – it’s just because I don’t think they really do any good. Oftentimes in managing PPC campaigns, the trick is knowing where to focus your effort. I have never made money for myself or for clients using 3rd-party keyword tools (and yes – I have experimented a lot!). Google is actually pretty good at keyword relevancy (news flash!), and their keyword tool is powerful. If you are running a campaign on Google, why not rely on Google to help with keyword discovery? We also place a high importance on Google’s search query data to add keywords and negatives to our campaigns and ad groups. Google’s search query data is much, much better than it was (they announced a major improvement in search query granularity around April ’09), and it can yield a lot of great ideas *based on actual query data*. We also look at the organic query data within Google Analytics or whatever analytics package the client is using. Lastly, we do sometimes use compete.com or spyfu.com to look at competitive keyword data, but this rarely results in any action items for us since we are typically already testing or have tested any keywords that a competitor is running.
   
   
9. How do tools like Demandbase Professional, which allow you to analyze the “demographics” of the businesses visiting the landing pages associated with a particular ad group or keyword influence your decisions when monitoring a paid search campaign?
   I think this information can help a lot. If the client sells enterprise software into F1000 companies and we see that we are attracting lower-tier users to our pages, that can affect things both at the keyword level and at the ad level. The really fun part is when you can ‘watch’ this data in real time or near real time, make changes, and see if they made an impact.
   
   
10. Your top ten Adwords tips are great….can you take it to 11?
    You bet - I’m a big believer in taking it to 11! Start small, then go where the data takes you. Don’t start with 5 campaigns X 50 ad groups X 100 keywords in each ad group with 5 ads in rotation. Start smaller, and spend your time tweaking (or cutting your losses on) the poor performers and scaling and further optimizing the things that are working. We’ve achieved great results using this approach. I hope some of these tips help and thank you for listening!

Event Marketing 101: 4 More Things You Need to Do

by Jason Stewart

Has event marketing been on your mind, but with the expense of live events -- not to mention the time involved, travel commitments and questionable ROI -- has it been a hard sell? Then take a look at this post from Janine Popick at the Vertical Response blog, How to Work a Trade Show. Janine says:

"Recently I visited a marketing trade show here in the Bay Area. I always get excited to learn about new marketing technologies that help businesses grow so off the exhibit floor I went. What I found was kind of lame. It seemed like none of the companies exhibiting knew how to market their company and none of the people working at these booths knew the first thing about working a trade show. It's more than wearing a company shirt."

Wow, she really nailed it. I attended the (unnamed) show she is referring to and I need to say...it was one of the saddest exhibit floors I have ever seen. I went to one booth that had hundreds of "branded" stuffed toys all stacked up and on display. Having kids, I asked for one. The booth folks said "sure!" and handed me one...and then went back to talking with each other without asking me for anything in return. I was shocked. And I still don't know what that company does.

Booth after booth I stood and looked at the displays and collateral, more often than not trying to decipher the corporate gobbledygook to figure out what these companies actually did. Should I try to learn more? Can they help me? Booth after booth the personnel working it saw me -- and didn't approach me.

It was really sort of sad, as I couldn't help but imagine the subsequent conference debrief with sales and marketing management, where the booth staff complains about the poor results of the show -- when the reality was they just didn't want to be there so they didn't do their jobs properly.

I'm sorry if I sound harsh, but I have been to three events this quarter (two of them local, one of the perks of working in San Francisco) and time after time I found myself standing outside the booth looking in at the staff waiting for me to make the first move. They weren't talking to other prospects, they weren't running demos -- they were quite literally staring back at me waiting to see what I was going to do. Sad.

More often than not, I couldn't figure out what a company did so I moved on to the next booth.

So, with that in mind, Janine came up with 5 great recommendations on how to work a trade show. I've written four more:

1. Only send people who want to be there. If someone doesn't want to be there, it will show in their performance. Trade shows are too expensive to man the booth with people who are not going to do the job properly.
2. Don't ever assume your collateral clearly explains what you do. You're too close to it, and more often than not the "official" description that had to be approved by a committee of ten people is just generic enough that it doesn't actually say what your customers use your products to do. Don't leave it to chance, approach every last person who looks confused and make sure they leave understanding exactly what you do. They might not need you now, but when they do they will remember you.
3. Live in the present. Take turns being 100% dedicated to the show if you have to with the other people in the booth. This means no email, no cell phone, nothing but personally connecting with as many people as you possibly can. That is why you are there. If you cannot give the show 100% than you don't belong on the floor. It is too expensive an investment to screw around with this.
4. Understand the schedule. Breaks, meals, and cocktail receptions are when people cruise the floor. Make sure you are always fully staffed during these periods.

I can't help but wonder how much money has been wasted on trade shows by companies treating booth duty as a chore. If you man the booth with people who are afraid to approach prospects with a pre-loaded question, or who are afraid to scan a badge or ask for a business card, then you will never achieve a positive ROI on what can be the single biggest investment your marketing department makes this year. If you don't treat the trade show floor with respect, you will not get what you want out of the event.

19 Things I Learned at the Inbound Marketing Summit

by Jason Stewart

Wrapping up a thwirlwind (if you're on Twitter or saw Tim Ferriss's presentation, you'll get it) two days of the Inbound Marketing Summit. Holy cow! What a great conference! Chris Brogan, president of New Marketing Labs organized a breakneck-paced non-stop buffet of new marketing information and best practices and general "deep thoughts." Easily one of the most informative and exhilarating conferences ever. Even the sponsor presentations were worth watching! Here are some highlights, followed by today's best tweets and a list of really cool links I heard about at the show...

1. Build detailed buyer personas for your social marketing efforts, then decide on appropriate messaging for those personas.Speak to them in their language, not yours.
2. Nobody cares about your product except you. They care about their problems. Don't worry about what your product does, worry about how it can help your buyers solve those problems.
3. Don't be afraid to relinquish control of your content or message. Think about how it helped The Grateful Dead.
4. The overwhelming fear regarding starting a community is: if I build it, will they come?
5. When you are building a community, focus on small groups and then expand outward.
6. Anybody can complain, but if the complaint is backed by constructive suggestions on how to make things better don't you want to hear them?
7. Make sure the things you measure match the goals you set.
8. Regarding your website...how do people find it, and how do they find what they are looking for when they get there?
9. My landing pages have too much "friction"
10. Outbound Marketing is not dead, it just needs to be really, really, really targeted and specific.
11. TweetDeck is not all that different from my Outlook inbox, when you think about it.
12. If you "suck" then people tell everyone. If you don't they will tell two people. You need to be there and be aware of people who say you "suck."
13. Simple recipe for driving organic web traffic: create unique content, make sure it is valuable, create it often, and make it available to people for free
14. Listen to your customers and feature requests, but always keep a few product innovations up your sleeve to be a "surprise"
15. Chris Brogan enjoys beer, scotch and Canadian Club.He also knows a TON about inbound marketing.
16. Not the end of the world if a blogger or user posts something negative, it's an opportunity!
17. The first step in building a social marketing strategy is deciding who you are as a company. Businesses need to find their humanity if they want to do social media properly.
18. Social media is big on tactics, short on strategy.
19. Jeans and a jacket are the official uniform of inbound marketing.

Cool links, viral videos and more:

• Top Gobbledygook phrases used in 2008 and how to avoid them
• Backtweets
• Dabbleboard
• Web Worker Daily
• Steak Out in Franklin, MA
• Say No To Dirt
• ExecTweets
• TweetVolume
• Tim Walker from Hoovers summary of the event

Tweets:

RT @eperry: "We're not really addicted to Facebook or Twitter, we're addicted to our friends." (In reference to GenY) @timyoung

RT @ShaRayRay: RT @WineDiverGirl Twitter: "Even normal ppl use it now"

@dharmesh says Digg is feast or famine, StumbleUpon has a truer, more consistent rate of return...

@TimeTradeBlog, @michaelpearsun IMHO a mediocre blog - not updated at least 1 per week, more pitch than "share", no clear goal

I like to hear from the non-profits, because they are often forced to find very creative solutions to common business problems

a mediocre blog is more of a liability than no blog

if you have a community, give your community the chance to defend you against detractors before you step in.

people need to trust the messenger before they trust the message

your marketing is only as good as your measurement. so true, Mr. Ferriss!

RT @eperry: Social Media is long on tactics, short on strategy – no method to the madness (S. Rice-Lincoln)

RT @ssblog: Listening is not the first step in creating a social media strategy - understanding yourself/your company is.

RT @GreenSmith: You don't need a million people to have a powerful movement, just a few passionate people that can make things move

LOL! Great one! I wish I wasn't guilty of this one... RT @LucidContent: I vote for a new 'gobbledygook' term. "Driving" business.

so true of any campaign, not just "new mktg" ones RT @smc90: (panel ims09) most effective campaigns are integrated, especially content ones

all marketers now need to be publishers

if you build a RELATIONSHIP (an actual relationship) with the influencers BEFORE you need them it will pay dividends later

leads come from being there before they need you and building a relationship

@chrisbrogan, new lead gen turn marketing into business conversations, storytelling not ads.

Inbound Marketing Summit 2009, Part Two

Here's part two from the Inbound Marketing Summit in San Francisco. I've got a bit more time so have sorted through my "tweets" and I'm sharing only the best ones.

It is certainly a strange way to participate in an event. There are screens on either side of the room, "tuned in" to live feeds showing tweets about the Summit. You'll often see your own thoughts and comments (or pictures of you) floating by on the screen, and almost everyone has either a laptop open or their smart phone in their hand, and the sound of typing is almost as loud as the people speaking.

Tomorrow I'll pull together one more post, with just the highlight tweets and a few overriding themes and thoughts pulled from the content (which is king, by the way...)

Anyway, here you go...

conversation at #ims09 reminds me of something @southwestair said re hiring for social marketing .. hire for attitude, train 4 the job

"why would anyone pay you to do this?" true of many many businesses, no? not just "internet" and social networking ones ... #ims09

RT @rebekah_king: Moderator asks panelists "why would anyone pay you to do this?" elephant in the room *exposed* #ims091 minute ago from TweetDeck by the end of the year, we'll probably be monitoring 100 times more content than we are today... #ims0911

RT @alyce: like comment from radian6 - social media didn't invent negative comments, but gives us a way to engage #ims0913

RT @JGuthmann: "have to treat corporate website like it's a magazine. Consider editorial calendars, etc." from @jasonfalls #ims091 minute ago from TweetDeck @chrisbrogan talking about beers and drinking. again. Maybe I'm just sensitive because I'm thirsty. :-) #ims092

RT @CCSeed: "Is it recent? Is it relevant? That drives search" @jasonfalls #ims0914

Want traffic? Simple. Create unique content, make sure it is valuable, create it often, and make it available to people for free. #ims0920

@loic builds on Adobe AIR because AIR rocks. plain and simple. and I am not just saying that because of Demandbase Stream. :-) #ims0943

@loic best presentation at #ims09 so far. Can I get your slides, please? Love the thoughts on what people want (all for free, etc)4

Not the end of the world if a blogger or user posts something negative, it's an opportunity! Why do they feel that way? R they right? #ims0913

RT @marcusnelson: Ship as soon as you can, even if it is far from being perfect - @loic #ims0916

It's funny....Seesmic is like "seismic" (as in change) but said with @Loic's French accent. #ims0918

#sms09 seesmic presentation...by "community" does he mean social network? Or your online corproate community?20

ok. recurring theme #ims09. build a community. I get it. Am I so wrong to think I'm not there yet even though I should? Am I alone?21

@eperry something I tweeted earlier...isn't tweetdeck acting more like an inbox every day? #ims09 -funny b/c she is sitting right next to me24

inbound marketing not the end of outbound. It will just change the way we do it. we drive people to content now rather than to offers #ims0933

@dmscott if I received a message via carrier pigeon I'll tell you one thing...I would open it! #ims0936

RT @JoeMannaLive: many companies who write press releases write for their boss, not their audience. This has to change #ims0940

so odd...I find myself paying more attention to the tweets about the speakers than to the speakers themselves #ims091 minute ago from TweetDeck @mobomedia I'm using TweetDeck to take my notes...print them out later #ims092

in reply to mobomedia interesting point at #ims09 Is TweetDeck really all that different from my inbox? I use them in very similar ways -"interruption" marketing5

#ims09 money quote from @chrisbrogan - adult industry and Wall Street Journal have same problem right now!14

#ims09 lesson from adult industry marketing...in order to compete against free stuff, your value-add needs to be a personal relationship20

#ims09 topic I've been waiting for - applying "adult industry" marketing best practices to traditional business. Bummer no slides though.29

RT @JoeMannaLive: C = 4m + 3v + 2(i-f) - 2a -- Copyrighted to Marketing Experiments. Formula on conversions. Wow. #ims0943

#ims09 wow wow wow. Marketing experiments conversion index. so much in such a straightforward formula.43

Inbound Marketing Summit 2009, Part One

Today I am out of the office, sitting in a conference room at the Marriott San Francisco listening to a bunch of experts speak at the Inbound Marketing Summit.

I have never been in a room with more people "tweeting" in my entire life.

Getting in the spirit of things, I have been using Twitter to take notes...so here is my stream of "Tweets" for the morning session of the Inbound Marketing Summit, in reverse chronological order. Follow me on Twitter @jasondemandbase, follow the conference by searching on Twitter for #ims09...

RT @jfouts Every company owes it to their employees to define their social media policy #ims09 @charleneli11 minutes ago

RT @GreenSmith: Awesome preso by @charleneli Slides up later at slideshare.net/charleneli #ims0911 minutes ago

RT @davemorse: #IMS09 David Meerman Scott - Don't talk about your products... publish relevant & valuable content to specific buyer personas11 minutes ago

RT @fromechosign Sales 2.0 Ultimate Resource Guide http://bit.ly/BKm6C ConnectAndSell Demandbase EchoSign InsideView LucidEra Xactly ...14 minutes ago

#ims09 "giving up control" shouldn't be scary, too many people underestimate their prospects' bulls!@# detectors.17 minutes ago

#ims09 - multiple speakers stressing "giving up control" and letting people talk about you on their terms. Why is that so scary?18 minutes ago

# @aargenz1 you're right, demandbase focuses on b2b - we can ID ISPs, but value is identifying an IP when it is associated to a business.23 minutes ago in reply to aargenz1

#ims09 educating your curmudgeon about social media, identify their passion, show what social media has to offer related to that passion28 minutes ago

#ims09 do you work with a curmudgeon? "It's too risky" - "Unproven ROI" - "It's a fad, it's a waste of time"30 minutes ago

#ims09 twitter question - if they limit our number of characters, why make us put a # in front of terms we want to highlight?34 minutes ago

#ims09 the only way to understand social media is to actually use it36 minutes ago

#ims09 biggest hurdle these community vendors need to overcome - amount of work to create something that people are terrified will fail?37 minutes ago

RT @paulswansen: Retweeting @Genuine: Always love when someone brings up Cluetrain in a marketing conference Bravo @rossmayfield #ims0941 minutes ago

#ims09 yay! 90 minutes in, our first mention of swine flu44 minutes ago

hilarious! RT @CommunispaceCEO: @tamicasey Kinda like "5 white men in jeans talk about community". :) #ims0944 minutes ago

#ims09 LOL I am wearing the right uniform for the event, according to @dmscott ... jeans and a jacketabout 1 hour ago

#ims09 advice for life and work, don't criticize unless you have a suggestion on how to make things better, present in a constructive way.about 1 hour ago

#ims09 interesting question...impact of twitter on online communities? Are people tweeting about you rather than going to your community?about 1 hour ago

#ims09 - online community - empowering people to bitch and moan. In a good way!about 1 hour ago

#ims09 @chrisbrogan has mentioned beer 6 times, and it's not even 10:30. We know where his head is at!about 1 hour ago

#ims09 @chrisbrogan "hide the broccoli in the mashed potatoes" - inbound marketing content publishing advice?about 1 hour ago

#ims09 huge fear in building an online community for your company..."if you build it, they might not come"about 1 hour ago

@dmscott says: nobody cares about your products except for you. they care about their problems.about 2 hours ago

#ims09 @dmscott on the internet, you are what you publishabout 2 hours ago

#ims09 think of the different visitor or buyer "personas" of the people visiting your website. Do you have all your bases covered? DMSabout 2 hours ago

@JoeMannaLive free wifi at #ims09 is cool, power outlets in first two rows. But it doesn't allow VPN access! Bummer! I hate webmail.about 2 hours ago in reply to JoeMannaLive

monitoring the #ims09 stream waiting for it to start, surrounded by marketing peeps. Nice!about 3 hours ago

Sitting and checking email, waiting for #ims09 to startabout 3 hours ago

Twitter to the Left of Me, Twitter to the Right

by Jason Stewart

Twitter has been all over the place lately, and it is one of those things I think I understand the basics - build up a network of friends or like-minded individuals who will tolerate the occasional bit of self-promotion as long as you share other interesting stuff too, and you don't become that insufferable clod at the party who does nothing but talk about himself. That's the easy part. I've always been sort of a wallflower anyway...but I still honestly feel like I must be missing something.

I'm on Twitter (@jasondemandbase) and posting occasionally, and replying and re-tweeting things of interest which is half the battle in and of itself, but I'm concerned that I should have a personal Twitter in addition to a work Twitter...which I don't. Demandbase has a "corporate" twitter account (@demandbase) but we only just set it up and I am sure we are not monitoring it closely enough. Can I monitor more than one Twitter account on a client like TweetDeck or twhirl? Which is better? What's the best Twitter tool for BlackBerry? iPhone? Have I been too indescriminate in who I follow? Is there a better way to stay on top of what's interesting and weed out the "I just ate a delicious sandwich" tweets? Why don't I love this as much as everyone tells me I should? Why does it seem so labor intensive to keep on top of it all, even if you are using RSS feeds to monitor the topics you are interested in?

It's not that I don't "get" it, because I think I do. I just don't know that I am doing all that I can to capitalize on everything Twitter has to offer. So, in an effort to better myself I have been diligently collecting articles on Twitter that I have every intention of reading, but that I simply haven't yet. Feedback welcome! Or add to the list....

• How to Measure Engagement on Twitter—and Savor the Tweet Smell of Success - MarketingProfs
• 5 Steps to Going Viral on Twitter - Copyblogger
• SEOptimise has been chock full of Twitter goodness in their "Twitter Friday" series
• • 15 Tools Lists, Twitter Business & Social Life Resources
  • Twitter SEO News
  • Spectacular Growth, Tools Proliferation and the Ethics of Tweeting
  • Twitter Search Craze

I really need to read the SEOptimise stuff, looks really good. Help me prioritize, people!