6 Things to Know Before Starting PPC for A B2B Company

Are you new to PPC and looking to start your own B2B paid search strategy? PPC is always changing and evolving so it can be helpful to get a few tips before even starting this venture. Here are just a few things I wish I knew before starting PPC for B2B companies.

1. Stay Up to Date with Learning Opportunities

Today’s most common PPC platforms offer certification programs that help you dive deeper into not only understanding the platform but learning about how to optimize your campaign for your goals. These platforms can give you a great start at what you can do in your campaigns, but another great option is to sign up for insightful PPC related newsletters and webinars from leaders in the industry. These have definitely helped my understanding of PPC campaign strategy.

2. It’s OK to Make Mistakes

Mistakes happen, and they happen to everyone. In PPC, mistakes can hurt a campaign and might make it hard to get back on track. When you want to learn about what goes into PPC and how to start a PPC marketing campaign, it’s important to learn about how things can go wrong and how to fix it. You can learn from other’s mistakes from PPC articles, podcasts, webinars, and more to help guide decisions in a B2B paid search strategy. Here are a few things to know before starting that can help avoid mistakes:

1. Make sure budget and bid settings are set up correctly for your goals
2. Review account structure before pushing live, your structure should also align with your goals of the campaign
3. Pick the right keywords that are highly relevant and use proper match types
4. Ensure your target audiences make sense for your business

3. Educate Yourself and Others on PPC

Today, many businesses have a better sense of what PPC is compared to previous years but still may have trouble explaining the numbers and metrics available. Before starting your PPC campaign strategy, it’s great to learn about what metrics are common in the industry. Understanding what the terminology and metrics mean can create more confidence in your campaigns and make it easier to explain changes or exciting news to upper management.

4. The PPC Platforms Are Always Changing

Before starting PPC, I wish someone would have mentioned that the work and learning are never done. PPC campaigns are not meant to be set up, pushed to run, and left alone. The platforms are often coming up with new updates, rules, and features that can improve our campaigns for the better. It is the PPC campaign manager’s job to make sure to stay on top of these. B2B paid search strategy is ever-changing because competitors and industry friends are also trying to push the boundaries of what is possible and driving what is working in paid advertising.

5. Keep User Behavior Top of Mind

The way people search on the internet is always changing and that’s due to advancements in online search engines but also the devices we use and more. It’s the trends that are changing outside the actual PPC platform that are also important to consider that you may not necessarily know as a newcomer to B2B paid search strategy. Here are some interesting things that have happened that a certification or platform may not predict.

1. Platform shifts: Facebook to TikTok
2. Search habits: more “near me” searches
3. Devices: more wearables
4. Political trends: elections, court cases may impact search result page and general search queries

6. Get Involved in the PPC Community

The last piece of advice for a newcomer in the PPC industry is to get involved in the community. Learning from others and sharing experiences has been extremely helpful in my personal experience. When starting to think about how to start a PPC marketing campaign, it’s recommended to reach out to those that have the experience for advice. Specifically, for B2B paid search strategy, it’s important to know that campaigns can vary a lot from business to business especially if the service or offering is niche. So, getting a lot of different perspectives and guidance can help decide what is going to work best for any business goals.

In conclusion, these 6 things to know before starting PPC for businesses are a great starting point to think about what it’s going to take to be successful. I wish I knew a few of these things when starting in B2B paid search strategy. Top Floor provides a great introduction to the industry and can make it easier to understand the needs and impact of a great PPC campaign strategy. We have a great sense of the PPC arena in the B2B market. Let us chat about your thoughts on starting a new PPC campaign!

Also, if you have a current PPC campaign, is there something you wish you knew before starting a PPC campaign strategy? Let us know!