Session Overview: Forget consumers. You want only the business-to-business audience! This session explores options and issues in targeting B2B.
Moderator: * Gordon Hotchkiss, President & CEO, Enquiro Search Solutions Inc.
Speakers: * Patricia Hursh, President, SmartSearch Marketing * Paul Slack, CEO, WebDex * Karen Breen Vogel, President and CEO, ClearGauge
Karen Karen is planning to cover some things that will give us the insights that support complex selling cycles, dealers and distributors.
Agenda - What's different from B2C - Making the case for SEO in B2B - Key Challenges and Solutions -- Who is the searcher -- Low sample sizes for testing -- Avoiding waste -- Qualifying visitors -- Measuring the value of a visit or a conversion B2B goals is more about starting or continuing a relationship. You are not closing the deal. If you are successful, it is likely you are not only using the major search engines - look at Business.com and specific verticals. Users will use different keywords depending where they are in the buying cycle. Given the long buying cycle, you cannot give just one offer in B2B. - Highlight one offer but provide other opportunities Track ROI through the pipeline - put a financial value to it.
The Case for SEO - 64% of users are searching related to business search. -- Odds are good if you are only doing PPC you are leaving money on the table. -- PPC costs are going up - Organic CTR is much higher - Can get a wider buying cycle through organic versus paid. - SEO cost is upfront and you don't pay over and over. - Need to know the value of the form completion on the site. -- If you don't know the math, you might be spending too much money. - Cons -- Algorithm shift -- Competition -- Lack of immediate results - Conclusion - Get it started. B2B Challenges - To whom is the messaging directed? You often don't know who the searcher is. -- Do you want the user to go through a Pain Point link, a Buy Cycle Link or Functional link? - Low Sample Sizes -- Perform A/B testing as it will get the job done. -- Multivariate testing is ok, but you need to limit your variables because of the lack of traffic. -- Vertster.com is good resource to check out your A/B testing or multivariable results. - Get Vertical -- Investigate the verticals - narrows the scope for your users. Google is more like a needle in a haystack. -- Must test and measure the vertical engines - sometimes the backfire. - Qualifying the leads through the cycle -- Specifically tailor the message to weed out users you do not want. -- Tag your form fields and use that data to optimize keywords. - Measure the entire buy cycle -- Don't just measure the final activity. -- Measure all of the smaller activities as they occur along the way. -- Award points for each step of the way. -- Tie it all back to a keyword or a form and award points to keep score. -- Map out the cost per point which keyword buy makes the most sense. -- Look at the entire funnel and assign appropriate credit. - The best thing you can do is to turn the points into dollars. - Calculate your threshold or breakeven CPA's
Paul Slack B2B Sales Cycle - Uncover the need on the client side - whatever the need they start by doing research and looking to solve the business problem. -- Research solution --- List of vendors --- Bid -- Make the decision Search Engine Buying Funnel - Awareness - Consideration or Research - Decision - Purchase When there is a long sales cycle group the users into buckets - Influencers and decision makers. If you intention is to generate leads, the web site needs to be an influencer/catcher. Influencers are not as inclined to follow a PPC trail because they are in the research mode.
Targeting the Decision Makers - Late cycle and are using the web find the right company. - Influencer recommends the finalists and the decision maker goes out to look. They may not even click, they just want to see. - Don't be fooled into thinking that the site needs to be tailored to the decision maker - (Speaking too fast…tough to keep up)
To target the Decision Maker use bulleted text and a strong call to action but the key is still the influencer.
It's about the user/influencer and how you can satisfy their need for knowledge. It's important to define the goals and measure against them to make improvements.
For each client compare and measure all of the clients marketing efforts and determine what the lead cost is. At that point, move on to determine the cost per acquisition. If you want this spreadsheet send him an email.
Run the breakeven analysis and see how many leads you need to generate. It creates a solid benchmark that it realistic to meet or exceed with SEO/SEM.
- Begin with the end in mind. - What do you want them to do? - How do you measure success? - Make sure they can find your content on either paid or organic.
Patricia Hursh Agenda 1. B2B Marketing Trends 2. Think beyond the click - post click marketing 3. Four ways to improve your results
B2B marketers are slow to embrace search - Search marketing was in 11th place among marketing practices - Good news is that in 2006 online tactics and search marketing were poised for growth. - Where does the money come from? -- These programs are being funded by taking money from traditional channels. -- Money shifting as results are promising Think beyond the click - Find - Drive - Convert - Measure
4 Tips 1. Map Visitors Needs to Solutions - Not every visitor is the same. 2. Offer Action Options - Offer options to different users. Not everyone wants a call or to fill out a form. 3. Simplify Registration Forms - Test your forms. Simplify. 4. Continuously Improve Landing Pages - Test and improve the landing pages.
Map Visitors Needs to Solutions - Needs are different by user and place in the buying cycle. - Turn their pain points into actions on the web site. Offer Action Options - Provide options - downloads, tours, webinars, etc. - Think in terms of primary and secondary conversion. Simplify Registration Forms - Long forms don't convert. - Don't make the form a wish list for the sales team - make it about the user. - Test the forms and use the data to make better business decisions. - Simplify the form and create a robust follow up process to get the additional data you need. Send follow up emails, engage the prospect. Continuously Improve Landing Pages - Test the look and feel, layout, images, messages, action triggers, names and descriptions of downloadable assets, registration forms. Summary - Search is a potential killer app (Forrester) for B2B customer acquisition - Marketers will follow their customers online - Missed this one - This trend will continue.
Verticals are becoming more and more important over time. The verticals are maturing and providing better results and information.
Think of information in terms of random access - quick information available for download. They want to assemble the information, process it, and move it through their organizations.
Q and A Q - How do I convince the decision makers that we need to reduce the form? A - Karen - Get them to do a test. Usually the data speaks for itself. Also, would ask what they are going to do with the information? Question the purpose of the data. Think of it as volleyball - just touch the ball back over to the prospect. A - Paul - Yes, please test. When we encounter that issue, we toss it back to sales. “If we don't need an address to deliver a white paper, why do we ask for it?” Test, test, test! A - Patricia - softly suggest a test. Be honest about what you're getting when the customer downloads a white paper - is it really a lead or is it an inquiry?
Q - Can you share link building strategies and link-baiting you will share? A - Karen - When we work on link building. Find the credible sites, but its research. Associations and academics are a great place to look. A - Patricia - It comes down to content. What is unique and valuable? Sometimes B2B companies miss the obvious - links from partners, suppliers and others. A - Paul - Block and tackling works well. Get a press release and article strategy in place. A - Gord - Anything you do with link building has to consider your end user.
Q - Is there any 3rd party tool to use with SalesForce to track the full circle? A - Karen - Integrate the leads into SalesForce then it comes down to commitment. Get the sales people to manage the data. If you do this, you should be able to follow it all the way through and report it back to the campaigns.
Provided by Steve Krull
