How To Get Your Ad Budget Approved In 2024
Looking to ask your boss or client for more ad budget?Â
This can feel really uncomfortable the first time but I promise it gets easier.Â
With a simple shift in mindset and some solid tactics youâll be securing budget in no time.Â
Here are 3 simple but effective steps for you to implement before having that budget conversation.
â
TABLE OF CONTENTS
â
Step 1: Pull the numbers
Your client or boss wants to be successful.Â
They want to surpass their goals (just like you).Â
If you can show them how your increased budget will make this happen, they will gladly give it to you.Â
Remembering this will help you release the anxiety associated with asking for more budget.Â
The key is you need to sell your stakeholders on WHY they should invest more and the way you'll do that is by building a case that makes them as certain as possible.
Donât assume your clients or managers will be able to realize this on their own.Â
Build a no-brainer case that makes saying anything but yes sound illogical.Â
â
This starts with pulling the numbers đÂ
Answer your critical questionsÂ
Put your investor hat on and answer critical questions such as:
- Which channels are performing best?
Ex: Google Ads driving the most opps at the lowest cost
- What's the overall blended trend? (paid + organic)
Ex: Opps are increasing QoQ at a 25% lower cost
- What's the current return on investment?
Ex: $6 pipe-to-spend and 150% ROI
â
Depending on your company, goals, and what youâre asking budget for this will vary.Â
Brainstorm all of the key questions youâll need to pull data to answer.Â
The difficulty of this step will vary on your current level of reporting.Â
If you donât already I HIGHLY recommend building a Paid Media dashboard that connects your ad spend to pipeline and revenue performance reported in your CRM.Â
Hereâs an example of our Paid Media Dashboard Template in our Building a Paid Media Program course:Â
You can get free access to this template and learn how to set it up in Module 3, Lesson 3 of the course. Â
Itâs going to be hard to ask for more ad budget if you canât prove that your current campaigns are actually contributing to the bottom line.Â
â
Donât have any data?Â
If youâre reading this and saying, Silvio how can I pull numbers if I donât have any?Â
Maybe youâre trying to secure budget for a new channel.Â
â
If this is the case I have two recommendations:Â â
1. Run a pilot campaign for $100Â
Letâs say youâre trying to secure budget to test X (Twitter) Ads.Â
Put together $100 (most companies can afford this) and launch a pilot campaign.Â
The only goal of this campaign is to understand what are your real costs (ex: CPM, CPC).Â
Once you have this information you can work backwards from your goals to create a starting budget.Â
For example:
- $3 CPC at a 5% landing page conversion rate = $60 cost per leadÂ
- $60 cost per lead at a 3% lead to opportunity ratio = $1,980 cost per opportunity
- $1,980 cost per opportunity at a 20% win rate = $9,900 cost per closed won dealÂ
If you need help running the numbers, check out our Google Ads budget calculator.Â
From here youâll have a good idea of what a starting budget would look like.Â
Youâll also have a sense of whatâs possible on this channel.Â
ââ
2. Do some research
Ask around or search for benchmarks associated with the channel youâre looking to invest in.Â
Even just collecting anecdotal evidence (ex: screenshots of others) talking about how much success theyâve had with this specific channel, tactic, etc can go a long way.Â
LinkedIn polls are a great way to collect this feedback:
You can DM the respondents asking for more information.Â
The TL;DR here is donât let lack of data be an excuse to show up empty handed.Â
Once youâve pulled all the necessary information itâs time to find the story.Â
â
Step 2: Find the story
Behind the data there is a story being told, it's your job to find it and tell it.
Here's some key questions to answer to help find it:
- What went well? (the highlights)
- What went bad? (the lowlights)
- Where are we today vs before? (the journey)
- What were the biggest blockers? (the obstacle)
- Where do we go from here? (the opportunities)
Data alone won't persuade, and stories without data are subject to suspicion.       Â
A combination of both is required in order to effectively present your case.Â
Image above is Module 6, Lesson 1 of our Building a Paid Media Program course
â
For example, perhaps Iâm trying to secure more budget for Google Ads:Â
- What went well? (the highlights)Â some text
- Google Ads contributed 25% more opportunities at a $7 pipe-to-spend ratio.Â
- What went bad? (the lowlights)some text
- We missed out on 57% more volume due to budget limitations. Â
- Where are we today vs before? (the journey)Â some text
- Weâve optimized our pipe-to-spend efficiency from $3 to $7.Â
- What were the biggest blockers? (the obstacle)some text
- High search lost to budget for our top contributing campaigns.Â
- No landing page testing due to limited development resources.Â
- Where do we go from here? (the opportunities)some text
- With an additional $25,000 in budget we can scale our top contributing campaigns and yield up to 35% more demo requests at a $15 CPC and 5% landing page conversion rate.Â
â
Hereâs a simple presentation template you can use to present your case and answer each key question:
Once you've found the story and pulled the numbers you're ready to present.Â
â
Step 3: Present your case
After steps 1-2 the majority of the prep work is done.Â
Now itâs time to get the meeting scheduled with your boss or client.Â
You could have the most beautiful slides and compelling case but if you canât effectively communicate the significance of what youâre asking it wonât matter.Â
Thankfully, like any skill, communication is something you can improve on with practice.Â
â
5 unconventional tips to implement in your budget presentation:
â
1. Remember you both want the same thing.Â
Ultimately, your stakeholders want you to be right. If you can drive more pipeline/revenue they'd happily give you the budget (assuming financial availability).
The challenge though is like an investor they are analyzing the potential upside and downside of your plan, and don't believe the promises you're making.Â
You need to addresses their concerns with a combination of data and storytelling that makes them as certain as possible.Â
Just remembering this simple truth will help you show up differently.Â
â
2. Itâs a conversation, not a lecture.Â
Youâll want to keep this discussion conversational.Â
Make sure to check-in frequently with your boss or client and ask things like:
- Is this making sense?Â
- Did you have any questions?Â
- Are there any concerns you have that I havenât addressed?Â
The last thing you want to do is to speak to them for 30-minutes and then ask:
âsoooooo did you have any questionsâŚ..? đ â
â
3. Replace âI thinkâ with âthe data suggestsâÂ
Youâve pulled the data and done the homework.Â
Donât water down your points by saying âI thinkâ get in the habit of replacing this with âthe data suggestsâ and then calling out the data point that comes to mind.Â
This will make your perspectives and points of view far more compelling.
Which ultimately lead to more certainty from the decision maker.Â
Greater certainty = greater chance of budget approvalÂ
ââ
4. Donât forget to smile.Â
This might sound silly đ but itâs really easy to forget to smile.Â
This conversation is about new opportunities, and thatâs exciting. Â
Instead of telling yourself Iâm nervous, reframe it as Iâm excited.Â
This is called anxiety reappraisal and Alison Wood a psychologist at the Harvard Business School found evidence to support.Â
Hereâs a quick excerpt from her abstract:Â âAcross several studies involving karaoke singing, public speaking, and math performance, I investigate an alternative strategy: reappraising anxiety as excitement. Compared to those who attempt to calm down, individuals who reappraise their anxious arousal as excitement feel more excited and perform betterâ â Alison Wood Brooks
Donât knock it until you try it!Â
â
5. Turn your weakness into a strength
Maybe youâre reading this article and saying to yourself:
- Iâm not a good presenter because Iâm an introvertÂ
- Iâm not a good presenter because English isnât my first language.Â
Whatever your weaknesses are, turn them into strengths with humor.Â
When you start budget approval call begin by addressing your big weakness with humor.Â
Hereâs what this might look like for the weaknesses above:Â
- Hey {First Name} thanks for the time today. As you might have noticed Iâm not going to be giving a Ted talk anytime soon with my English so if youâre having trouble understanding just stop me at any point.Â
- Hey {First Name} thanks for the time today. I just wanted to start off by saying Iâd rather chug a bottle of hot sauce then give a presentation but I believe so much in what Iâm going cover today that I had to do this â so I appreciate you baring with any mishaps I might have.Â
Whatever your weaknesses are donât run from them.
Embrace it and transform it into a strength.
â
Additional Resources
If you want to learn more about securing budget checkout Module 6 - Lesson 1 of our Building a Paid Media Program course, itâs 100% free and takes < 90 seconds to sign up.Â
If you want to dive deeper into B2B advertising check out some of our other top articles:
- B2B Advertising in 2024: The Definitive Guide
- How to Build a Multichannel B2B Retargeting Strategy (Step-By-Step)
â
Thanks for reading, good luck on getting your budget approved!
(you got this) đ
People Also Ask
How can I address concerns about the risks associated with increasing the ad budget?
Acknowledge potential risks by presenting a risk mitigation plan. This could include strategies like phased budget increases, continuous performance monitoring, and predefined criteria for scaling back if certain KPIs arenât met. Demonstrating proactive risk management can build stakeholder confidence.
â
What if my initial pilot campaign doesnât yield strong results?
If a pilot campaign underperforms, analyze the data to identify areas for improvement. Adjust variables such as targeting, ad creatives, or bidding strategies, and consider running a second pilot. Use these learnings to refine your approach before requesting a larger budget.
â
How do I align my ad budget request with broader company objectives?
Ensure your proposal clearly connects the ad spend to company goals like revenue growth, market expansion, or brand awareness. Illustrate how the investment will contribute to these objectives, using data and projections to support your case.
â
What are some common pitfalls to avoid when presenting a budget proposal?
Avoid using jargon that stakeholders may not understand, overloading the presentation with excessive data, or failing to anticipate potential objections. Practice your presentation to ensure clarity and conciseness, and be prepared to address questions confidently.
â
How can I demonstrate the potential ROI of the proposed ad budget?
Utilize tools like the Google Ads Budget Calculator to forecast potential returns based on different budget scenarios. Present these projections along
â
Heading 1
Heading 2
Heading 3
Heading 4
Heading 5
Heading 6
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur.
Block quote
Ordered list
- Item 1
- Item 2
- Item 3
Unordered list
- Item A
- Item B
- Item C
Bold text
Emphasis
Superscript
Subscript
Heading
Heading 1
Heading 2
Heading 3
Heading 4
Heading 5
Heading 6
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur.
Block quote
Ordered list
- Item 1
- Item 2
- Item 3
Unordered list
- Item A
- Item B
- Item C
Bold text
Emphasis
Superscript
Subscript
Heading
Heading 1
Heading 2
Heading 3
Heading 4
Heading 5
Heading 6
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur.
Block quote
Ordered list
- Item 1
- Item 2
- Item 3
Unordered list
- Item A
- Item B
- Item C
Bold text
Emphasis
Superscript
Subscript
Heading
Heading 1
Heading 2
Heading 3
Heading 4
Heading 5
Heading 6
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur.
Block quote
Ordered list
- Item 1
- Item 2
- Item 3
Unordered list
- Item A
- Item B
- Item C
Bold text
Emphasis
Superscript
Subscript
Heading
Heading 1
Heading 2
Heading 3
Heading 4
Heading 5
Heading 6
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur.
Block quote
Ordered list
- Item 1
- Item 2
- Item 3
Unordered list
- Item A
- Item B
- Item C
Bold text
Emphasis
Superscript
Subscript
Heading
Heading 1
Heading 2
Heading 3
Heading 4
Heading 5
Heading 6
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur.
Block quote
Ordered list
- Item 1
- Item 2
- Item 3
Unordered list
- Item A
- Item B
- Item C
Bold text
Emphasis
Superscript
Subscript
Heading
Heading 1
Heading 2
Heading 3
Heading 4
Heading 5
Heading 6
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur.
Block quote
Ordered list
- Item 1
- Item 2
- Item 3
Unordered list
- Item A
- Item B
- Item C
Bold text
Emphasis
Superscript
Subscript
Heading
Heading 1
Heading 2
Heading 3
Heading 4
Heading 5
Heading 6
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur.
Block quote
Ordered list
- Item 1
- Item 2
- Item 3
Unordered list
- Item A
- Item B
- Item C
Bold text
Emphasis
Superscript
Subscript
Heading
Heading 1
Heading 2
Heading 3
Heading 4
Heading 5
Heading 6
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur.
Block quote
Ordered list
- Item 1
- Item 2
- Item 3
Unordered list
- Item A
- Item B
- Item C
Bold text
Emphasis
Superscript
Subscript
Heading
Heading 1
Heading 2
Heading 3
Heading 4
Heading 5
Heading 6
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur.
Block quote
Ordered list
- Item 1
- Item 2
- Item 3
Unordered list
- Item A
- Item B
- Item C
Bold text
Emphasis
Superscript
Subscript
Heading
Heading 1
Heading 2
Heading 3
Heading 4
Heading 5
Heading 6
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur.
Block quote
Ordered list
- Item 1
- Item 2
- Item 3
Unordered list
- Item A
- Item B
- Item C
Bold text
Emphasis
Superscript
Subscript
Heading
Heading 1
Heading 2
Heading 3
Heading 4
Heading 5
Heading 6
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur.
Block quote
Ordered list
- Item 1
- Item 2
- Item 3
Unordered list
- Item A
- Item B
- Item C
Bold text
Emphasis
Superscript
Subscript
Heading
Heading 1
Heading 2
Heading 3
Heading 4
Heading 5
Heading 6
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur.
Block quote
Ordered list
- Item 1
- Item 2
- Item 3
Unordered list
- Item A
- Item B
- Item C
Bold text
Emphasis
Superscript
Subscript
Heading
Heading 1
Heading 2
Heading 3
Heading 4
Heading 5
Heading 6
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur.
Block quote
Ordered list
- Item 1
- Item 2
- Item 3
Unordered list
- Item A
- Item B
- Item C
Bold text
Emphasis
Superscript
Subscript
Heading
Heading 1
Heading 2
Heading 3
Heading 4
Heading 5
Heading 6
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur.
Block quote
Ordered list
- Item 1
- Item 2
- Item 3
Unordered list
- Item A
- Item B
- Item C
Bold text
Emphasis
Superscript
Subscript
Heading
Heading 1
Heading 2
Heading 3
Heading 4
Heading 5
Heading 6
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur.
Block quote
Ordered list
- Item 1
- Item 2
- Item 3
Unordered list
- Item A
- Item B
- Item C
Bold text
Emphasis
Superscript
Subscript
Heading
Heading 1
Heading 2
Heading 3
Heading 4
Heading 5
Heading 6
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur.
Block quote
Ordered list
- Item 1
- Item 2
- Item 3
Unordered list
- Item A
- Item B
- Item C
Bold text
Emphasis
Superscript
Subscript
Heading
Heading 1
Heading 2
Heading 3
Heading 4
Heading 5
Heading 6
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur.
Block quote
Ordered list
- Item 1
- Item 2
- Item 3
Unordered list
- Item A
- Item B
- Item C
Bold text
Emphasis
Superscript
Subscript
Heading
Heading 1
Heading 2
Heading 3
Heading 4
Heading 5
Heading 6
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur.
Block quote
Ordered list
- Item 1
- Item 2
- Item 3
Unordered list
- Item A
- Item B
- Item C
Bold text
Emphasis
Superscript
Subscript
Heading
Heading 1
Heading 2
Heading 3
Heading 4
Heading 5
Heading 6
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur.
Block quote
Ordered list
- Item 1
- Item 2
- Item 3
Unordered list
- Item A
- Item B
- Item C
Bold text
Emphasis
Superscript
Subscript
Heading
Other Articles You May Enjoy.
SEO for B2B SaaS: 10 Tips to Drive Pipeline and Revenue
Over the past five years, Iâve helped B2B SaaS companies like Clickhouse, WildSparq and EventsAir drive millions in pipeline and revenue through SEO.Â
â
My lesser-known strategies have been featured by CXL, Ahrefs, The Marketing Millennials and more.
â
Along the way, Iâve developed an SEO playbook that B2B SaaS companies can follow (step by step) to start seeing high quality inbound leads in a matter of months.Â
â
Iâll be breaking down my entire process below đ
â
TABLEÂ OFÂ CONTENTS
- Tip #1: Define Your Money Keywords
- Tip #2: Understand What's Already Ranking
- Tip #3: Build a Best-in-Class Page
- Tip #4: Nail the basics
- Tip #5: Build Quality Backlinks for $0
- Tip #6: Publish At Scale
- Tip #7: Design Pages That Convert
- Tip #8: Leverage sales calls, customer success calls, and customer research
- Tip #9: Keep Improving
- Tip #10: Scale as you grow
Tip #1: Define Your Money Keywords
â
Most B2B SaaS companies see SEO as a checkbox on their to-do list.Â
â
The CMO or CRO says, âCompetitors are outranking us, we need to do some SEO.â
â
And marketers, who are already juggling a million different tasks, simply go to Semrush or Ahrefs, find some keywords with low difficulty and high search volume, throw them into ChatGPT, and publish a few articles.Â
â
Unsurprisingly, this doesnât yield inbound leads and has minimal impact on revenue.Â
â
For SEO to actually drive results, you need to focus on the keywords that your dream clients are searching, or what I like to call âmoney keywords.â
â
Hereâs a matrix that you can use to identify them:Â
â
â
Column 1: Make a list of your main offers (ie calendar scheduling)
ââ
Column 2: Make a list of the industries you serve best (ie sales, HR, marketing, etc.)
â
âColumn 3: Make a list of your main competitors (ie Chili Piper, Calendly, HubSpot)
â
Column 4: Make a list of the problems you solve, or jobs to be done (ie struggling to route leads efficiently)
â
Now, you can use these columns to create high-intent long-tail keywords. For example:Â
â
1. Best calendar scheduling software
â
2. Calendar scheduling for sales teams
â
3. Chili Piper alternatives
â
4. How to route leads more efficiently
â
Keep in mind, these âmoney keywordsâ will probably have a low search volume, and thatâs okay. At the end of the day, you want traffic that will convert into pipeline, not a large number of visitors outside of your ICP.Â
â
When youâre doing this exercise, make sure to involve your founder (if youâre a smaller founder-led company) or your sales team (if youâre a larger sales-led organization) â theyâll likely have great insights related to the problems you solve.Â
Tip #2: Understand Whatâs Already RankingÂ
â
Now that youâve identified those money keywords, type them into Google to see what type of content is already ranking organically.Â
â
For example, if you type in âChili Piper alternativesâ youâll find that the top organic search results are something along the lines of âTop 10 Chili Piper alternatives to considerâ, or what is commonly referred to as a product listicle.Â
Look through these existing articles and think about what your company can do even better. Can you include a comparative table or social proof, and clearly demonstrate why youâre the best without sounding overly biased?
â
Or, if youâre creating an article on how to speed up the lead routing process, look at the guides at the top of the SERP and think:Â
â
How can I create similar articles that are even more helpful? How can I demonstrate greater experience, expertise, authority, and trustworthiness?
Maybe itâs by going much more in-depth, or weaving in relevant videos, or highlighting screenshots of your product.Â
â
Pro tip: Donât be afraid of highlighting your product throughout your articles. As marketers, we often worry about sounding too promotional, but the truth is, you need to show that your product is the obvious solution to a problem in order to drive revenue.Â
Tip #3: Build a Best-in-Class PageÂ
â
Once youâve researched what top-ranking pages are doing, itâs time to figure out how to blow them out of the water.Â
â
If youâre creating a listicle, can you add better visuals, weave in your product more, or add relevant CTAs?Â
â
If itâs a how-to article, can you link to a lead magnet or a YouTube video with more helpful context?Â
â
If itâs a landing page, can you add a more comprehensive FAQ section that answers all of your prospectâs questions?
â
Pro tip: Always consider where your prospect might be in their journey based on their search query. For a more top of funnel how-to article, you can include more subtle CTAs and connections to your product, while for a competitor comparison article, it makes more sense to include a clear demo request CTA.Â
Tip #4: Nail the basics
â
Technical SEO is important for e-commerce sites with thousands of pages, but most B2B SaaS websites (which are often 50 pages or less) donât need a ton of technical SEO to win.Â
â
Sure, you still need the basics.Â
â
For example, letâs say you write an article related to the keyword âBest calendar scheduling software.â
â
Youâd want your slug to be âbest-calendar-scheduling-softwareâ; youâd want to include your keyword in your H1, meta title, and meta description; and youâd want to incorporate the keyword naturally throughout your article.
Youâd also want good UX, a clear menu nav, solid design and UI on both mobile and PC, some internal links to relevant topics throughout your website, and some other pages linking back to your article.Â
â
Thatâs really all you need.Â
â
After you have these basics in place, focus on producing a high volume of content thatâs relevant to your prospects, and donât lose sleep over technical optimizations.Â
Tip #5: Build Quality Backlinks for $0
â
Even if you have the best content, ranking for your dream keywords isnât easy, especially if your competitors have been around for decades and have extremely high domain authorities.Â
â
To compete against the giants and set yourself up for success, you need high quality backlinks to your website.Â
â
Hereâs one of my favorite ways to get them:
â
1. Go to Semrush or Ahrefs, whichever keyword research tool you prefer, and paste the LinkedIn profile URLs of your thought leaders (Founder or other execs) into the backlinks tab.Â
2. In the results, youâll find a list of all the articles featuring your thought leaders and linking out to their LinkedIn profiles.Â
3. Message these companies and see if they can update the articles to link to your website, not just to the LinkedIn profile URL. Even better if you can get a backlink to one of your high-intent pages.Â
â
After doing this, you can go a step further and visit the podcast search engine Listen Notes, type in your niche (ie B2B ads, recruitment, sales enablement), filter by top podcasts in your space, and make a list on a Google sheet.Â
Next, have your thought leaders reach out to the podcast hosts via LinkedIn.Â
â
The message can be short and simple, such as: Hey Sam, enjoyed your recent episode on X, had an unusual idea for your show. Are you against a conversation?
â
From my experience, around 20% of hosts will respond, and your thought leaders will start getting featured on amazing podcasts, which will eventually lead to more backlinks to the company website.Â
â
Pro Tip: To start seeing results quickly, aim to send 5-10 messages per week to podcast hosts in your space.Â
Tip #6: Publish At Scale
â
With SEO, quality matters, but quantity is a massive competitive advantage.Â
â
Larger companies are spending a lot of money on ads, content marketing, and events, but they typically have a ton of red tape.Â
â
They may take two weeks to approve a topic, a month to plan out the content, a month for design, a month for web development, a month to publish⌠Which is to say, by the time theyâve published 2 or 3 pages, you could have published 30, 40, or 50 quality articles, and started stealing some of the market share.Â
â
To start seeing results, publish as much content as possible focused on your money keywords (occasionally weaving in more top of funnel content).Â
â
Also, remember, unless youâre a super authoritative company, itâll usually take 2-3 months for Google to crawl your pages, so the content you publish today is setting you up for success 90 days from now.Â
Tip #7: Design Pages That Convert
â
If youâre investing a lot of money in content, make sure you also invest in great design. The better the user experience, the more likely you are to drive conversions.Â
â
Here are some questions to ask yourself:
â
- Are your pages aesthetically pleasing?
- Is your content skimmable on both mobile and PC?
- Are you including screenshots, videos, or aha moments that relate to your product?
- Can you add more social proof (customer quotes, guides, walkthroughs) to increase trust?
- Are you sprinkling relevant CTAs throughout your content?Â
- Can you add sticky CTAs that are aligned with the funnel stage of each article (ie subscribe to newsletter for more top of funnel articles, request a demo for more bottom of funnel content)?
These changes, which might seem small, can lead to massive improvements in performance.Â
Tip #8: Leverage sales calls, customer success calls, and customer research
â
You can rank pages using generic AI-generated content that says things like âturbocharge your revenueâ or â10X your productivity,â but prospects will immediately bounce.Â
â
If you want them to stay on your page â and possibly even schedule a demo â you need to write in-depth content that resonates with their exact pain points.Â
â
Looking at customer research and listening to calls is a great starting point. Even better if you can take your sales and CS teams out to lunch, walk them through the topics youâre tackling in your content, ask for additional insights, and weave these insights into your articles.Â
â
This way, all the content you create will be amazing for sales enablement in addition to SEO.Â
Tip #9: Keep Improving
â
As I mentioned previously, to win with SEO, you need to publish content quickly â when itâs ready, not when itâs perfect.Â
â
That being said, you should always be looking for ways to improve the content youâve already published.Â
â
About 2 or 3 months after publication, check how your article is ranking.Â
â
For example, letâs say you write an article, and after a few months it settles at position number 7. You could look at this article more closely, and think of ways to get it closer to number 1.Â
â
Could you add a more comprehensive FAQ section, embed a relevant YouTube video, add nicer images of your product, include more customer quotes, or earn a few high quality backlinks?Â
â
These consistent optimizations can go a long way if you want to move up in the rankings.Â
Tip #10: Scale as you grow
â
SEO isnât something you can set and forget â even if youâre an established company, thereâs always room for improvement.Â
â
Once youâve implemented tips 1-9, think of ways you can scale your efforts even further.Â
â
Can you increase your article production by hiring more team members or working with freelancers? Or create incredible resources (such as custom tools) that will be highly valuable to your ICP?
â
Also, donât just think about SEO â after all, SEO is only a piece of the marketing ecosystem â think of ways to improve your ads, your YouTube channel, your podcast, your LinkedIn page, etc.Â
â
Improvements in all these areas will lead to greater brand awareness and trust, which will lead to more successful SEO.Â
â
Hope you found this article helpful!
â
Feel free to reach out on LinkedIn with any questions, or check out the Breaking B2B website or Breaking B2B podcast for more unusual B2B/SaaS SEO insights. Â
â
Resources for mastering B2B advertising
If youâre serious about mastering B2B advertising then you definitely need to join 1,000+ B2B marketers leveling up their paid advertising skill sets in AdConversion.Â
âHereâs 4 reasons why you should consider joining. Every one of our on-demand courses are:
â Â 100% free access.
â Â Taught by vetted industry experts.
â Â Have workbooks, resources, and templates.
â Â Less than 10 minutes per lesson.
We believe every marketer should know how to scale paid ads so they can:
- Scale their ideas
- Level up their careers
- Make a positive impact
Click Here to Join 1,000+ B2B Marketers Today and start leveling up your advertising skill set.
Takes < 90 seconds to sign up (seriously we timed it đ)
â
People Also Ask
â
How can I effectively measure the ROI of my SEO efforts in a B2B SaaS context?
Utilize key performance indicators (KPIs) such as organic traffic growth, conversion rates, and customer acquisition costs. Implement tools like Google Analytics and CRM systems to track the journey from organic search to lead conversion and revenue generation.
â
What are the best practices for conducting keyword research tailored to B2B SaaS audiences?
Focus on identifying high-intent keywords that align with your productâs solutions to specific business challenges. Consider the different stages of the buyerâs journey and develop content that addresses each phase, from awareness to decision-making.
â
How can I optimize my websiteâs technical SEO to support scalable growth for a B2B SaaS company?
Ensure your website has a clean architecture with logical URL structures, fast load times, and is mobile-friendly. Regularly audit for issues like broken links or duplicate content, and implement structured data to enhance search engine understanding.
â
What role does content marketing play in enhancing SEO for B2B SaaS, and how can I develop an effective content strategy?
Content marketing is pivotal in attracting and engaging your target audience. Develop a strategy that includes creating valuable, informative content such as blog posts, whitepapers, and case studies that address your audienceâs pain points and demonstrate your expertise.
â
How can I build high-quality backlinks to improve my B2B SaaS websiteâs domain authority and search rankings?
Engage in thought leadership by contributing guest posts to reputable industry publications. Develop shareable content assets like original research or infographics, and foster relationships with industry influencers to encourage natural backlinking.
â
10 Tips to Create Winning LinkedIn Thought Leader Ads
Since their introduction in 2023, Iâve run hundreds of LinkedIn thought leader ads, for my demand gen agency, Omni Lab, and for my clients in B2B SaaS.Â
â
Through my experimentation with this format, Iâve developed a list of best practices to maximize the chances of success.Â
â
Iâll be sharing all my insights below đ
â
TABLEÂ OFÂ CONTENTS
- Tip #1: Remember that thought leader ads are just sponsored posts
- Tip #2: Make sure your ads connect to your product
- Tip #3: Create content people would pay for
- Tip #4: Add Premium CTAs to your LinkedIn profile
- Tip #5: Test Non-Employee Influencer Campaigns
- Tip #6: Optimize your LinkedIn profile as if it were a landing page
- Tip #7: Look at the right metrics
- Tip #8: Give yourself a reality check
- Tip #9: Put yourself in your buyerâs shoes
- Tip #10: Focus on Awareness, Not Conversions
âTip #1: Remember that thought leader ads are just sponsored posts
â
First of all, remember that thought leader ads are not a silver bullet that will save your marketing program â theyâre simply sponsored organic posts that can fit into your larger content strategy.Â
â
This isnât to downplay the power of this format; targeting your ICP with content from your thought leaders is one of the most effective approaches to build brand awareness and mental availability.Â
â
That being said, your thought leader ads wonât be successful if you donât have great positioning, messaging, content, or targeting.Â
â
The standard rules of marketing still apply.Â
âTip #2: Make sure your ads connect to your productÂ
â
If youâre putting ad dollars behind organic posts, make sure they connect back to your product in some capacity.Â
â
I donât mean adding a demo request CTA to every post, but the content you promote should have a core dotted line back to your product.Â
â
For example, at Omni Lab, I could promote a post highlighting our unique POV and approach to Google Ads, which is one of the services we offer. If this POV resonates with my audience, theyâll most likely think of me when theyâre looking for support with their Google Ad campaigns.Â
â
Personal posts, such as occasional pictures of food or selfies on the beach, are okay, but they donât deserve to be promoted.Â
â
At best, they wonât generate significant awareness for your product, and at worst, theyâll end up confusing your audience.Â
â
If your ICP loves you but they have no idea what you do, you probably wonât be in business for long đŹ
Tip #3: Create content people would pay for
â
No matter how great your targeting or technical setup, you wonât get very far if you donât have amazing content that people would be willing to pay for â this is true for ads in general, and especially true for thought leader ads.Â
â
Take some time to reflect on your offer. Are you just providing generic tips that people have heard many times? Or are you offering something unique and valuable that will pique the interest of your audience?Â
â
To give an example, for Omni Lab, I could run thought leader ads highlighting Google Ads bidding strategies. But it would be more effective to share in-depth campaign recommendations for my target accounts.Â
â
Or, if youâre a company like Navattic, you could run ads talking about interactive demos, but it would be more powerful to build out personalized interactive demos for your dream companies.Â
â
Next time you run a thought leader ad campaign, focus on increasing the perceived value of your offer, and youâll see a massive improvement in performance.Â
âTip #4: Add Premium CTAs to your LinkedIn profile
â
If youâre looking to funnel people into an owned audience, such as your newsletter, consider adding a Premium CTA to your thought leader ads. This is something I do at Omni Lab, and itâs helped me generate hundreds of high quality email subscribers.Â
This CTA option is only available to LinkedIn Premium users:Â you can add CTAs such as View my newsletter, Visit my website, View my blog, etc., depending on the action youâd like your audience to take.Â
â
If you donât have LinkedIn Premium, consider editing your post once the organic reach has died down (usually within 72 hours), adding a CTA with a link to your website.Â
â
Even though the primary goal of thought leader ads should not be to drive direct clicks and conversions, adding a CTA allows people to learn more about your company without having to go on a scavenger hunt.Â
Tip #5: Test Non-Employee Influencer Campaigns
â
After running hundreds of thought leader ads, both for Omni Lab and for my clients, Iâve found that thought leader ads from non-employees consistently outperform promoted posts from employees.Â
â
For example, at Omni Lab, we built out a media plan and campaign strategy for Navattic, and their Head of Growth and Operations (Natalie Marcotullio) made a post related to this.Â
â
We boosted this post to our target audience, and it was one of our top performing ads of all time, significantly outperforming all the thought leaders ads from me and my cofounder.Â
Clay is another great example of non-employee thought leadership. Members of their creator program post about how they use the software, and Clay promotes these posts to increase awareness for their company, while simultaneously expanding the reach of their creators â theyâve created a symbiotic relationship where everybody wins.
If youâre working with well-known people in your industry, consider how you might be able to partner with them: this could look like an audit, a strategy, a discount, access to exclusive features, etc. in exchange for promotion on LinkedIn.Â
Tip #6: Optimize your LinkedIn profile as if it were a landing page
â
When youâre running thought leader ads, your LinkedIn profile turns into your landing page â itâs the place where people go for more information about you and your company.Â
â
Here are a few tips to optimize your profile that I always share with my clients:
â
1. Make sure you have a banner image explaining what you do at a high level.Â
â
â
2. Make sure your profile photo is up to date, and use your primary brand color as the background.Â
â
â
3. Add what you do + the category you play in to your headline
â
4. Use the About section to explain why your company exists and how you approach things differently (bonus if you can also add a few testimonials)
â
â
5. Use the featured section to highlight your core CTA + top performing posts demonstrating your expertise
â
âTip #7: Look at the right metrics
â
Letâs say you have all the fundamentals in place: an optimized profile, great content, solid targeting, etc.Â
â
Now, the next step is to ask yourself: What metrics should we look at to understand if our content is working?
â
Hereâs what I recommend to my clients:Â
â
1. First of all, check your LinkedIn demographics report to make sure that youâre actually reaching your ICP.Â
â
2. Check in-platform metrics such as impressions, engagement, and CTR. If these metrics look healthy, youâll know that your audience is finding value in your content.Â
â
3. Look at smaller microconversions, such as engaged visits on your website. Are the people reading your thought leader ads eventually navigating to your site to learn more?Â
â
4. Look at the self-reported attribution field on your demo request form. Are more people mentioning your thought leaders? If the answer is yes, youâll know that your content is building trust with the right people.Â
â
5. Finally, you can look at more bottom of funnel metrics, such as sign ups or meetings booked, but ultimately, DO NOT obsess over these metrics. Prioritize numbers 1-4 to understand if your content is resonating â it might take a while to see a significant impact on pipeline and revenue.Â
â
Pro Tip: If youâre not sure what content to promote as thought leader ads, look for posts that had a 2-3% CTR organically. In my experience, these posts with a higher organic CTR are also the top performing ads. â
Tip #8: Give yourself a reality check
â
Most people â and B2B buyers especially â arenât making impulse decisions and canât be pushed through a funnel.Â
â
As the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute has highlighted, if you look at how often prospects make a purchase in your category, youâll quickly realize how few of the people youâre targeting are actually in-market.Â
â
Even if you run the greatest ads in the world, you canât expect people to schedule a demo if they arenât actively looking for a solution.Â
â
And even if they do book a demo, if you have a higher ACV, youâll probably have an extremely long sales cycle.Â
â
My point is, you canât expect hundreds of demos or millions in revenue right away. â
Tip #9: Put yourself in your buyerâs shoes
â
This is a fun exercise I like to do with my clients.Â
â
I ask: âWhen you see posts on LinkedIn, what actions do you usually take?â
â
Usually, the response is something along the lines of:Â
â
âI read and keep scrollingâŚâ or âIf I like something, I might react or leave a commentâŚâ
â
Then I ask the follow-up question: âIf you see a post you like from a company youâve never heard of before, would you immediately book a demo?â
â
And typically the answer is âNo, of course I wouldnât.â
â
Our prospects arenât that different than we are; if we wouldnât buy immediately, they probably wonât either.Â
â
If youâre getting good engagement and starting to see other signs of life (such as engaged website visits), youâre headed in the right direction, even if youâre not seeing more demos and sign ups right away. â
Tip #10: Focus on Awareness, Not Conversions
â
Think of thought leader ads as a brand awareness play, not a direct response tactic.Â
â
Like any good brand marketing, your thought leader ads should relate to key buying situations, or category entry points.Â
â
For example, if I promote posts about how we help our clients improve their lead quality, prospects may think of Omni Lab if they ever run into lead quality issues.Â
â
Or maybe I talk about how we use paid media to increase brand awareness, and prospects may think of us if theyâre having a brand awareness problem.Â
â
The key to succeeding with thought leader ads is putting the right messages in front of the right people. If you do this over a long enough period of time, the pipeline and revenue will follow.
â
Hope you found this article helpful!
â
Feel free to reach out on LinkedIn or Omni Lab with any questions about demand gen or paid media.Â
â
Master B2B LinkedIn Ads with these 3 Free Courses:
â
If you want to become a LinkedIn Ads pro, check out our free B2B LinkedIn Ads courses, where you'll learn how to launch, optimize, and scale your campaigns to drive pipeline and revenue.
â
â
Here's what you'll learn in each course:
â
âď¸ B2B LinkedIn Ads 101 - The Ultimate Crash Course for New LinkedIn Advertisers
- Foundations For LinkedIn Ads Success
- Measurement: Tracking & Key Principles
- Targeting: Reaching Your Dream Buyers
- Ads: Mastering The 9 Ad Formats
â
đŻ B2B LinkedIn Ads 102 - The Blueprint for LinkedIn Ads Optimization
- Monitoring: How To Spot Performance Trends
- Auditing: How To Find The Darlings You Need To Kill
- Reporting: How To Transform Data Into Insights
- Optimization: How To Make Your LinkedIn Ads Profitable
â
đ B2B LinkedIn Ads 103 - Advanced Scaling Strategies From $25M In Ad Spend
- Concepts of Scaling
- Divide and Conquer
- Learnings From $25M+ In LinkedIn Ad Spend
â
Click Here to Join 1,000+ B2B Marketers Today and start leveling up your advertising skill set.
Takes < 90 seconds to sign up (seriously we timed it đ)
â
People Also Ask
â
What are LinkedIn Thought Leader Ads?
LinkedIn Thought Leader Ads are sponsored posts that promote content from personal profiles, allowing companies to leverage the personal brand and credibility of their thought leaders to engage target audiences authentically. ďżź
â
How can I ensure my Thought Leader Ads align with my product?
Ensure that the content in your Thought Leader Ads connects back to your product or service, even subtly. While not every post needs a direct call-to-action, there should be a clear link between the content and what your company offers to maintain relevance and drive interest. ďżź
â
What type of content works best for Thought Leader Ads?
Content that offers unique, valuable insights or information that your target audience would find beneficial tends to perform well. Aim to create posts that people would be willing to pay for, as this indicates high value and relevance. ďżź
â
How should I optimize my LinkedIn profile for Thought Leader Ads?
Treat your LinkedIn profile like a landing page: use a banner image that explains your role, ensure your profile photo is professional, craft a headline that clearly states what you do, and utilize the âAboutâ section to detail your companyâs mission and unique approach. ďżź
â
What metrics are important to track for Thought Leader Ads?
Monitor metrics such as impressions, engagement rates, click-through rates (CTR), and audience demographics to assess whether your content resonates with your target audience. Additionally, track website visits and self-reported attribution to understand the broader impact on your marketing funnel.
â
â
How To Create a B2B Google Ads Optimization Workflow [+Free Template]
Hey there, B2B Marketer. If you donât have a well-structured optimization workflow, managing just a handful of Google Ads accounts can be a struggle (been there, done that đ )
â
In this article, Iâll walk you through the Google Ads Optimization Workflow template, the exact process I used to go from barely managing five Google Ads accounts to easily managing 30+Â đ
â
TABLEÂ OFÂ CONTENTS
- Google Ads Optimization Workflow Process
- Daily Google Ads Optimizations
- Weekly Google Ads Optimizations
- Monthly Google Ads Optimizations
- Quarterly Google Ads Optimizations
- Free Resources to Master B2B Ads đĽ
â
Why You Need a Google Ads Optimization Workflow Process
Without a consistent approach, managing Google Ads can feel chaotic. You may get lost in metrics that donât matter or, worse, miss out on key optimizations that could boost your profitability.
â
I developed the Google Ads Optimization Workflow Template to help me stay organized and focus on impactful daily, weekly, monthly, and quarterly optimization tasks.
â
đ Grab your free copy of the template in Module 2, Lesson 1 from the B2B Google Ads 102 - How To Convert Clicks Into Profit course.
â
If you follow this approach, youâll find yourself in control of your accounts, not the other way around.
â
Now letâs dive deep into the tasks by timeframes â°
â
Daily Google Ads Optimizations
Daily optimizations are essential for ensuring that your accounts are running smoothly. Itâs your first line of defense against overspending and wasted ad spending.
â
Each day, you should:
â
1. Review your budget pacing
â
This way, youâll ensure that you are not overspending or underspending.
2. Check for irrelevant search terms in the Search Terms Report
â
You want to add any irrelevant negative keywords. So every single day, you should review your search terms report and compare your search terms to your keywords to find the irrelevant ones and add them to your negative list.
â
3. Adjust bids as needed
â
If youâre using manual bidding, make sure to adjust your bids accordingly to get visibility.
â
If youâre using something like maximize clicks with a bid cap, make sure that you take a look at your average cost per click in relation to your bid cap. If you notice that your average cost per click is really close to your bid cap, you could be throttling yourself.
â
If youâre using Target CPA bidding, ensure that the CPA amount you set is large enough to get enough deliverability. I recommend increasing it by 20% if you notice youâre not spending your budget.
Pro Tip: Setting up Google Calendar reminders can be helpful, and something that I always tell my team that manages client accounts internally at our agency is to block an hour on their calendars every single day to go through their accounts and optimize them. We call it âoptimization power hourâ. âĄď¸
â
By doing that, you will be proactive, and youâre going to catch things much sooner before they become potential fires.
â
Weekly Google Ads Optimizations
Weekly optimizations allow you to step back and review broader trends instead of getting caught up in the day-to-day fluctuations.
â
Instead of getting caught up in the day-to-day fluctuations, here you should:
â
1. Review weekly performance trends (visibility, cost, volume)
â
Every week you should look at search impression share, search lost to rank, search lost to budget, and search top impression share.
â
You also want to look at how much you have spent, your cost per conversion, your cost per custom conversion, meaning the cost per SQL, converted user, or whatever that KPI is that youâre measured against.
â
You will also want to look at volume. How many conversions are you getting? Is it trending up? Is it trending down? These are the things to keep an eye on every week.
â
Another thing you can do is check the charts in Google Ads to map different metrics and quickly see the trend of search impression share with this graph đ
â
đ¨Important: When youâre optimizing and looking at things weekly, donât freak out if you see changes like 25% down search impression share. But if you see it happen consistently for two or three weeks in a row, then thereâs definitely something that you need to make a decision about.
â
Lastly, breaking down your campaigns by themes like brand, non-brand, and competitive will help you to quickly identify underperforming segments and reallocate your budget where it will be most effective.
â
This will make the optimization process much more manageable.
â
2. Pause underperforming keywords
â
Pausing underperforming keywords is an opportunity to give more budget to the keywords with good performance.
â
You can quickly go to the keyword section in your account and filter by conversions to see which keywords have no conversions. Then, you can sort by cost and understand which ones are hemorrhaging the most budget and can be paused.
â
3. Add new relevant keywords
â
When you check the Search Terms report, there are certain search terms that can make sense to add to your campaign as keywords.
â
You can also go to the Google Ads Keyword Planner and find net new keywords that you might not be covering. This is an opportunity to expand your scope and reach, and itâs a good best practice to get into the habit.
â
4. Pause underperforming ads and add new ads to replace underperformers (<5% CTR)
â
Pausing underperforming ads is as simple as going to the ad section in your account and then pausing any ads that are not performing anymore.
â
So if you notice you have some underperformers, ideally anything less than a 5% click-through rate (but always compare it with your average performance), itâs time to shut off the underperforming ad and add a new ad into the mix.
â
This way you can continually improve your overall click-through rate performance to help boost your expected click-through rate and improve your quality score.
â
Monthly & Quarterly Google Ads Optimizations
â
Monthly and quarterly tasks focus on more strategic, higher-level adjustments.
â
Monthly Optimizations
Itâs crucial to ensure that your campaign settings, quality score, and budget allocation align with your overall goals and havenât been altered unintentionally.Â
â
This is also the time to assess the impact of your Google Ads efforts on your sales pipeline and to make necessary changes.
â
So at the end of each month, you should:
â
đ Audit campaign settings (networks, bidding, location options)
â
This step is crucial if you manage multiple campaigns or accounts.Â
â
Itâs important to double-check if youâre targeting the right network and donât have display and search combined together.
â
You want to make sure your bids havenât been updated by accident, or God forbid, you have the auto recommendations still turned on, and theyâre automatically updating your bids without your consent. đ
â
You also want to ensure that your location options are set to âpresenceâ and that people are actually in your target location or regularly in, not people who are potentially in other areas and are interested in that location.
â
đ Review month-over-month pipeline impact from Google Ads
â
Weâre running ads to generate revenue, and revenue comes from initially having pipeline.
â
So you need a dashboard to track the performance month-over-month and connect your activity to revenue.
â
It can be as simple as having a report on a spreadsheet where you can see the evolution of your KPIs every month. You can create one from scratch or search for a template on the internet.
â
Pro tip: Check out our free Building a Paid Media Program course (Module 3, Lesson 2) to learn how to build an automated dashboard for less than $200/month using Google Sheets + a connector like Dataslayer or Supermetrics.
â
đ Review performance by campaign theme (visibility, cost, volume)
â
The same analysis we discussed in the weekly optimizations above should be done on a monthly basis too.
â
How much are you spending per theme? What is your cost per conversion? What is your conversion rate? And what are the volumes?
â
Are you driving more volume in a certain theme versus another? Should you move the budget around?
â
These are the questions you should answer here.
â
đ Review quality score (ad relevance, landing page experience, expected CTR)
â
How is your quality score by campaign theme? Is it increasing or decreasing month-over-month?Â
â
Ideally, you should aim for a quality score of 7 or above. If itâs lower than that, optimizing your ad relevance, expected CTR and landing page experience will improve things.
â
Check out this Quality Score Guide to learn the 80/20 of what you need to know about quality score to improve it.
đ Review geographic performance and budget allocation
â
Here you want to go ahead and see how the campaigns youâre targeting in each region are performing so you can make the necessary adjustments.
â
I also recommend checking the Locations report to have a granular view of how each country grouped into a region is performing.Â
â
By doing this, you can find opportunities for new campaigns targeting a single country if it has a good performance and the campaign is limited by budget, or excluding low-performing countries to free up some budget for the top performers.Â
â
đ Review device performance and budget allocation
â
In B2B, desktop usually performs better than mobile and tablet, so if youâre targeting all devices you can find opportunities to maximize conversions by breaking out the campaigns into different devices.
â
đ Review keyword/match type performance and budget allocation
â
Are there certain keywords that are doing better for you than others? Certain match types? All of these are insights that will help you optimize your Google Ads campaigns.Â
â
đ Review landing page performance and experiments
â
How are your landing pages performing? Are you running experiments? If you're not, that's definitely an opportunity.Â
â
đ Implement new campaign experiments
â
If youâre not testing new experiments, this is a massive opportunity to improve performance, and you can run experiments easily in Google Ads with their campaign experiments tool.Â
â
Quarterly Optimizations
Every quarter, take time to conduct a competitor analysis and review your goals. Itâs a great practice to see what new ads and keywords your competitors are using, giving you inspiration and helping you stay ahead in the market.Â
â
Pro tip: The channel ad libraries are great resources for competitor research. Check out these 10 tips for free competitor research using them.
â
This periodic check-in will ensure that your optimizations are aligned with your business objectives, providing a clear path for growth đ
â
Stay organized with the Google Ads Optimization Workflow template
â
If you get your free copy of our Google Ads Optimization Template, youâll notice that we have daily, weekly, monthly, and quarterly tasks discussed above on the template.Â
â
The way this template works is very simple. We have our tasks on the left, the task title, and the different timeframes. Thereâs also a space for you to take notes while optimizing your account.
â
Then you can change the status of each task, so you and your team will know if a task is done or if itâs in progress, as well as define the task owner.
â
There are also some formulas where, based on the timeframe, the due date will automatically update. So for example, if you set the Last Complete date of a daily task as 2/2/24, itâll automatically say the due date for that task is 2/3/2024.
â
In addition, if you do the same thing for a weekly task, it will add seven days to the due date, and now it will say 2/9/2024.
â
Lastly, youâll also find all the different tutorials covered in this guide linked to each task. The goal of these tutorials is to show you how to do each step so you can use this as a reference.Â
By implementing these daily, weekly, and monthly optimizations, youâll stay ahead of potential issues and make data-driven adjustments that boost your account performance.
â
I hope this guide helps you to manage your accounts efficiently đ
â
If you have any questions, feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn.Â
â
From Clicks to Conversions: Master Google Ads for B2B đĽ
If you want to become a Google Ads pro, check out our free B2B Google Ads courses, where you'll learn how to launch, optimize, and scale your campaigns to drive pipeline and revenue.
â
Here's what you'll learn in each course:Â
â
âď¸ B2B Google Ads 101 - How to Launch Dangerously Effective Campaigns for Beginners
- The Googleverse: The Game You're Playing & How To Win
- Measurement: How to Make Sure You're Profitable
- Targeting: How to Show Up For the Right Searcher
- Planning: Putting It All Together
â
đŻ Google Ads 102 - How to Clicks Into Profit
- Visibility: How To Find the Hole Sucking Profits
- Workflows: How to Optimize On a Daily, Weekly, Monthly & Quarterly Basis
- Experimentation: How to Test & Automate Profitability
- Troubleshooting: How To Solve Inevitable Problems
â
đ Google Ads 103 - How to Scale Google Ads For Advanced Advertisers
- Methodology: How to Vertically Scale Google Ads From A-Z
- Campaigns: Scaling Horizontally Through Campaign Themes
- Channels: Scaling Outside of Paid Search
â
Click Here to Join 1,000+ B2B Marketers Today and start leveling up your advertising skill set.
Takes < 90 seconds to sign up (seriously we timed it đ)
â
People Also Ask
â
How can I effectively prioritize optimization tasks within my Google Ads workflow?
Assess tasks based on their potential impact on key performance indicators (KPIs) like conversion rates and return on ad spend (ROAS). Focus on high-impact areas first, such as budget pacing and search term relevance, to ensure efficient use of resources.
â
What tools or templates can assist in organizing and tracking my Google Ads optimization activities?
Utilize the Google Ads Optimization Workflow Template provided in Module 2, Lesson 1 of the B2B Google Ads 102 course. This template helps structure daily, weekly, monthly, and quarterly tasks, ensuring a systematic approach to campaign management. ďżź
â
How can I ensure that my optimization efforts align with my overall B2B marketing objectives?
Regularly review your marketing goals and ensure that your Google Ads strategies support these objectives. Align optimization tasks with broader business aims, such as lead generation or brand awareness, to maintain strategic coherence.
â
What are the common pitfalls to avoid when implementing a Google Ads optimization workflow?
Avoid neglecting regular reviews of budget pacing and search term reports, as this can lead to overspending or irrelevant traffic. Ensure that optimization tasks are performed consistently to maintain campaign effectiveness.
â
How can I adapt my optimization workflow to accommodate changes in campaign performance or market conditions?
Stay agile by regularly analyzing performance data and being prepared to adjust your workflow in response to trends or shifts in the market. Flexibility allows for timely optimizations that keep campaigns aligned with business goals.
â
â
Using the Jobs To Be Done Framework to Maximize Revenue in B2B Ads [+Free Template]
Understanding the Jobs To Be Done framework developed by Tony Ulwick can be confusing and overwhelming because most of the information youâll find is focused on product development.
â
In this article, Iâm going to unpack the Jobs To Be Done framework from a B2B advertising perspective.
â
Why? Because identifying what job your customers are truly âhiringâ your product or service to do will be the secret to launching a powerful ad campaign.
â
This article is part of our B2B learning track so if youâre serious about learning B2B advertising youâre in the right place!Â
â
Letâs dive into it đ
â
TABLE OF CONTENTS:Â
- Understand Why Customers Choose Your Product
- Using the Jobs to Be Done Interview Matrix Template
- Customize Your Messaging with Personality Insights
- Real Use Case of the JBTBÂ Matrix Template
- Free Resources to Jumpstart Your B2B Marketing Career
â
Understand Why Customers Choose Your Product
â
In any industry, people donât buy products, they invest in solutions to get a job done. Itâs not just to buy another thing like your cat-hoarding grandmother. đ đ
â
â
For B2B marketers, Tony Ulwickâs Jobs to Be Done framework should be focused on why your customers âhireâ your product or service, so you can put them and their needs at the heart of your advertising story.Â
â
This will help you to identify what pain points youâre helping your customers solve to get to the root of what motivates them because your advertising campaign should be about them â not you.
â
But how can you do that?
â
You can use the Jobs To Be Done framework when you're launching a new advertising campaign or when you want to improve the conversion rates of your existing advertising campaigns (aka your ads that arenât converting)Â
â
The most impactful way to start is by identifying three to five recent customers who fit your target market (or Ideal Customer Profile - ICP).
â
If you need help identifying your ideal customer profile, check out this article: âHow to Craft B2B Buyer Personas for Ad Targetingâ
â
Select customers who either recently purchased or have the potential to represent your ideal buyer. These interviews will reveal why they chose your service and what specific pain points you helped them solve.
â
To make your life easier, I developed a free template called Jobs to Be Done Interview Matrix đ
â
You can find it in Module 2, Lesson 3 of my free B2B Advertising Foundations course, and itâs your roadmap for collecting insights during interviews.
Using the Jobs to Be Done Interview Matrix Template to Gather Actionable Insights
â
â
In this JTBD Interview Matrix Template, youâll be looking for five key points that highlight your customerâs journey with your brand:
- Situation and Pain Points - What challenges are they facing?
- Motivation - Why did they start looking for a solution?
- Trigger - What prompted them to move forward with your service?
- Ideal Outcome - What result are they seeking?
- Competitor Evaluation - What other options were they considering?
â
The matrix helps you organize answers by each customerâs profile and offers a side-by-side comparison of their unique characteristics.
â
It also offers 8 helpful interview questions you can use to uncover the right golden nuggets that will make your campaign shine. â¨
Customize Your Messaging with Personality Insights
â
Finally, understanding your customerâs personality type is like having the key to crafting messaging that lands with confidence.Â
â
Resources like Crystal can help you determine each customerâs DISC personality type (Dominance, Influence, Steadiness, Compliance) by scraping their LinkedIn profiles, labelling how they like and prefer to be communicated with, and their style and tone because this will ultimately influence the messaging that you can create for each of your advertising personas.
â
Hereâs a real use case for you to understand each step of the JTBD Interview Matrix
â
Letâs take Spotify as an example. I love Spotify, so if I were doing an interview with a Spotify customer, it would look like this:
â
â
Situation & Pain Points
I get tired of hearing the same songs on the radio. I canât easily listen to the exact song I want to hear.
â
Motivation
I want to listen to specific songs when I want
â
Trigger
Iâm in the gym, and I need a song to pump me up
â
Ideal Outcome
I want to listen to the music I choose, everywhere
â
Other Solutions/ Products Evaluated â Competitors
Radio, XM Radio, Pandora, Apple Music, Silence
â
Personality characteristics (DiSC type, DiSC archetype, etc)
Trailblazer - ID. Confident style, with a mix of informality and formality gets their attention.
- Pace: Speak slightly fast. Sounds like a âgets shit doneâ person.
- Tone: Do not sound too eager, as if you have met a friend suddenly after a long time. Keep the tone calm but confident.
- Tactics To Win: Strong words, focus on results, respectful confidence
â
Based on the JBT Interview Matrix, here are some Spotify ad examples:Â
â
â
The main takeaway is that you can make your ad campaigns even stronger when you really know what âjobâ your customers are âhiringâ your product or service to take care of.
â
Use the Jobs To Be Done matrix to dig deep into what matters most to them and adjust your messaging to connect on a personal level. đ
â
I hope you found this article helpful!
â
Connect with me on LinkedIn, and letâs keep the conversation going.
You can also visit my website here for more valuable content.
Jumpstart Your B2B Marketing Career
â
If youâre serious about mastering B2B advertising, then you definitely need to check out my free course that will teach you the foundational knowledge to becoming a high-performing B2B marketer who knows how to use advertising to drive legit business and revenue impact without the fluff or wasting your time and money learning the ropes the hard way.
â
- Module 1: youâll get a crash course in the B2Bverse and master terminology, sales processes, and working across teams.
- Module 2: youâll learn how to become your customer's psychologist and understand them deeply with buyer personas that allow you to craft effective messaging.
- Module 3: youâll master the B2B funnel and learn how to think like a CEO to identify performance bottlenecks and convert more leads into revenue.
- Module 4: youâll learn how to put it all together and build your go-to-market strategy that gets your ad in front of your dream buyers and converts attention.
â
This course was designed with absolute beginners in mind.
â
Accelerate your learning curve and start the course today for free.
â
People Also Ask
â
How can I effectively identify the âjobsâ my B2B customers are trying to accomplish with our product or service?
Conduct in-depth customer interviews and surveys to uncover the underlying tasks and objectives your clients aim to achieve. Focus on understanding their pain points and the desired outcomes they seek. ďżź
â
What are the best practices for integrating the JTBD framework into our existing B2B advertising strategy?
Align your marketing messages with the specific jobs your customers need to be done. Develop content and campaigns that address these needs directly, demonstrating how your solution effectively fulfills their objectives. ďżź
â
How can the JTBD framework assist in differentiating our B2B offerings from competitors in the market?
By focusing on the unique jobs your product addresses, you can highlight distinct value propositions that set you apart. This approach shifts the conversation from features to the specific benefits and outcomes your customers can expect. ďżź
â
What role does customer feedback play in refining our understanding of their jobs to be done?
Regularly gathering and analyzing customer feedback helps in accurately identifying and prioritizing the jobs that need to be done. This ongoing process ensures your offerings remain relevant and effectively meet customer expectations. ďżź
â
How can we measure the impact of applying the JTBD framework on our B2B advertising ROI?
Track key performance indicators such as conversion rates, customer acquisition costs, and customer satisfaction levels before and after implementing JTBD-informed strategies. Analyzing these metrics will provide insights into the frameworkâs effectiveness in enhancing your advertising efforts.
â
How to Create Tracking Templates in Google Ads
Hey there, Digital Marketer. Do you cringe a little when you hear the words âsetting up tracking in an ad channelâ? đ
â
Tracking may be the unsexy side of marketing, but I promise that Google Ads Tracking Templates are simpler than they sound.Â
â
In this article, Iâll show you how to set up tracking right, capture accurate data, and see whatâs really driving your conversions and revenue.Â
â
Letâs dive in! đ
â
TABLE OF CONTENTS:Â
- What is a Google Ads Tracking Template?
- How to install Tracking Templates in Google Ads
- Benefits of adding Tracking Templates to your campaigns
- From clicks to conversions:Â Master Google Ads for B2B
â
What is a Google Ads Tracking Template?
â
Tracking templates allow you to streamline your link tagging process and pass static and dynamic values.Â
â
I created this little cheat sheet for you here to give you an understanding of a tracking template.
â
Hereâs what each parameter means:
â
- {lpurl}: This is your landing page URL. So whatever the URL is in your ad, the template will automatically inherit it and then automatically append these different static and dynamic values based on these parameters.
- UTMs: These are your standard UTMs, like UTM source, UTM medium, campaign, term, and content.
âCheck out our Free UTM Tagger Tool to easily create them in bulk and for more info about each parameter. - Static Values: Static means itâs always the same, itâll remain consistent. So a static value will always be a text.
So in the image example above, we always want the UTM Source to be google, the UTM Medium to be cpc, and the UTM Campaign to be trial. - Dynamic Values: Dynamic means it changes. The values here usually have squiggly brackets like {keyword} or {matchtype}, which tell Google Ads to populate that field dynamically.
For example, with {keyword}, the UTM Term will automatically insert the keyword that drove the click, giving you granular detail on the search behavior driving each visit. - Custom Parameters: These are parameters you can create that are not part of the UTM parameters, which are your standard ones.
Youâll probably want to use custom UTM parameters if you have some sort of advanced tracking setup.
Anything that is available in the URL, you can then set up with JavaScript the ability to pass the data from those parameters into hidden fields in your form, to then be able to route and track and do all sorts of things in your backend.
In the cheat sheet above, the ad_name parameter will give you details about which ad drove the visit.
â
So this is a tracking template, and itâs really important as this is going to allow you to get a lot better data and ultimately, better insights from your activities.Â
How to Install a Tracking Template in Google Ads
â
You can install a tracking template at the campaign, ad group, or ad level. You could even do it at the account level with the tracking script, but I recommend that you start off at the campaign level.
â
Here are the steps you need to follow in your Google Ads account đ
â
- Open your account, then open the campaigns tab and choose one campaign. Now go into the settings by clicking on this little gear.
- âScroll down to additional settings.
- Go to the Campaign URL options and paste your tracking template in the âTracking Templateâ field.
Here youâll want to follow the format from the cheat sheet I shared at the beginning of this article because that is the syntax of the tracking template.
â
To be easier, you can copy this tracking template below and just add your static values in the highlighted fields:
{lpurl}?utm_source=entersource&utm_medium=entermedium&utm_campaign=entercampaign&utm_term={keyword}_{matchtype}&ad_name=enteradname
- UTM Source: People usually use Google or AdWords.
- UTM Medium: People usually put CPC or paid search. This 100% depends on you and your business, your company, and how you want to track things.
- UTM Campaign: You can put the name of your campaign. The downside is that you have to do this for each campaign.
- UTM Term: This will dynamically push the keyword that drove the click and the match type.
- Ad_Name (custom parameter): This is 100% optional, and most of the clients from our agency donât really need custom parameters, but I just want you to be aware of it.
Once youâve mastered basic tracking, custom parameters can add another layer of insights by capturing non-standard data. For instance, if you want to differentiate ad variations, you could set a custom parameter like ad_name=RSA1.
â
You can also find all the Value Track Parameters Google supports here:
I usually like to set my tracking templates at the campaign level, which suffices. So, in this case, each campaign must have a unique tracking template.
â
Another cool thing about the tracking template is once you create the tracking template at the campaign level, you no longer have to worry about tagging your ads with UTM parameters at the ad level.Â
â
It'll automatically inherit the campaign URL tracking template and tag your links appropriately.
â
If you're just putting all of the tagged URLs at the ad level, it can be really problematic sometimes and time-consuming to make changes and miss things. This helps streamline things and push those dynamic parameters.Â
Benefits of Adding Tracking Templates to Your Campaigns
â
Setting up tracking templates in Google Ads is a powerful way to automate link tagging and capture high-quality data.
â
The better data we pass through our tracking template, the more insights we can receive.Â
â
With standard UTMs, dynamic parameters, and custom fields, youâll get a clear view of whatâs driving performance and find better ways to allocate budget, optimize campaigns, and ultimately boost results. đ
â
Why deny yourself incredible insights such as âwhich keywords drive the most revenue?..â when you can capture that information at no additional cost?Â
â
Thatâs it about tracking templates! đ
â
Now go build your first one and let the data guide your ad strategies! đ¤
â
I hope you found this article useful!
From Clicks to Conversions: Master Google Ads for B2B đĽ
â
If you want to become a Google Ads pro, check out our free B2B Google Ads courses, where you'll learn how to launch, optimize, and scale your campaigns to drive pipeline and revenue.
â
â
Here's what you'll learn in each course:Â
â
âď¸ B2B Google Ads 101 - How to Launch Dangerously Effective Campaigns for Beginners
- The Googleverse: The Game You're Playing & How To Win
- Measurement: How to Make Sure You're Profitable
- Targeting: How to Show Up For the Right Searcher
- Planning: Putting It All Together
â
đŻ Google Ads 102 - How to Clicks Into Profit
- Visibility: How To Find the Hole Sucking Profits
- Workflows: How to Optimize On a Daily, Weekly, Monthly & Quarterly Basis
- Experimentation: How to Test & Automate Profitability
- Troubleshooting: How To Solve Inevitable Problems
â
đ Google Ads 103 - How to Scale Google Ads For Advanced Advertisers
- Methodology: How to Vertically Scale Google Ads From A-Z
- Campaigns: Scaling Horizontally Through Campaign Themes
- Channels: Scaling Outside of Paid Search
â
Click Here to Join 1,000+ B2B Marketers Today and start leveling up your advertising skill set.
Takes < 90 seconds to sign up (seriously we timed it đ)
â
People Also Ask
â
What is a tracking template in Google Ads?
A tracking template is a URL parameter setup in Google Ads that appends tracking information to your landing page URLs. This allows you to monitor specific details about ad clicks, such as the campaign, ad group, keyword, and device involved. ďżź
â
Why should I use tracking templates in my campaigns?
Implementing tracking templates automates link tagging, ensuring consistent and accurate data collection across your campaigns. This leads to better insights into performance metrics, enabling more informed optimization decisions. ďżź
â
How do I set up a tracking template in Google Ads?
To set up a tracking template:
- Log in to your Google Ads account.
- Navigate to the desired account, campaign, ad group, or ad level.
- Click on âSettingsâ and then âAdditional settings.â
- Under âTracking,â enter your tracking template URL, incorporating the necessary ValueTrack parameters.
- Save your changes.
This setup enables dynamic tracking of various metrics. ďżź
â
What are ValueTrack parameters, and how do they work in tracking templates?
ValueTrack parameters are dynamic URL components that capture specific information about each ad click, such as the device used ({device}), the keyword that triggered the ad ({keyword}), and the campaign ID ({campaignid}). When a user clicks your ad, these placeholders are replaced with actual data, allowing for detailed performance analysis. ďżź
â
How can I test if my tracking template is working correctly?
After setting up your tracking template, use the âTestâ button in the âTrackingâ section of your Google Ads account settings. This function combines your final URL with the tracking parameters to ensure it directs to the correct landing page and that all parameters are functioning as intended.
â
â
B2B Google Ads: How To Know If Google Is The Right Channel For Your SaaS
Hey there B2B SaaS marketer! Are you getting FOMO around Google Ads?Â
â
Every day thousands of SaaS businesses are converting clicks into profitable pipeline on Google Ads, and conversely thousands are burning clicks into wasted ad budgets.Â
â
After $10M in Google Ads spend management for incredible SaaS companies like ActiveCampaign, Mixpanel, and others, Iâve developed a criteria for Google Ads success.
â
I call it the Google Ads Sweet Spot. If you want Google to be a significant driver in your pipeline generation you need to make sure your SaaS company checks these 3 criteria.Â
â
After reviewing, itâll be clear if Google is right for you, letâs dive into it đ
â
TABLE OF CONTENTS:Â
â
Proven Concept
â
The first criteria in the Google Ads Sweet Spot is a Proven Concept.Â
â
You see, in order to succeed with Google Ads your product has to be built on a time-tested and proven concept.Â
â
Imagine running Google ads for a generative AI product before the invention of ChatGPT.Â
â
Because AI products still hadnât gained popularity, you probably would have struggled to generate sufficient searches and clicks on your ads.Â
â
If you create an innovative product in a new category that no one understands, you likely wonât see a great return on effort from Google.
â
In this case, itâd make more sense to focus on educating the market about the problem you solve via demand gen channels such as paid and organic social.Â
Existing Demand
â
The second criteria of the Google Ads Sweet Spot is Existing Demand.Â
â
This is directly connected to the first criteria: you wonât generate pipeline or revenue if people arenât actively looking for your solution.Â
â
If you only have, for example, 100 people searching for your product every month, itâs going to be impossible to generate significant results from Google.Â
â
For example, assuming the industry average conversion rate of 3%, and 5% clickthrough rate (CTR) youâre looking at 5 clicks from the 100 impressions, and you need a minimum of 33 clicks to generate a single lead. At 100 impressions/month it will take you six and a half months to generate ONE lead đ¤Żâ extreme example but I hope you get the point.Â
â
You need enough search volume, so you have enough clicks, and ultimately conversions.Â
â
To verify that you have sufficient search volume, you can use the Google Ads keyword planner.Â
â
Letâs say you want to bid on the term Google Ads courses within the United States. You can see that there are approximately 2,900 searches every month for this specific term, which validates that thereâs sufficient search volume to have a chance at success.Â
â
â
Keep in mind monthly searches in the keyword planner are just an average and always changing â use them to inform your estimates but take them with a grain of salt.Â
Sufficient Margin
â
The third criteria of the Google Ads Sweet Spot is Sufficient Margin.
â
You SHOULD NOT run Google Ads if you donât have enough margin, or in other words, a high enough lifetime value (LTV) to offset acquisition costs. Without a high enough LTV, Google will never become a profitable channel for your company.Â
â
Hereâs an example:Â
â
Letâs say you have an LTV of $100 per user, and your average cost per click is $10. In this case, the likelihood of running profitable campaigns is slim â youâd have to convert 10% of your total traffic just to break even đ (when the industry average conv rate is 3-5%).Â
â
If youâre selling a variety of products and you have a small budget (<$10K/month), I recommend running ads for the products with the highest lifetime value to maximize your chances of profitability.Â
â
If your campaigns arenât profitable right away, thatâs okay, as long as you know youâll recoup your investment 3-6 months down the line.Â
â
If you want to see if the math adds up to run Google Ads profitably for your company, check out our free Google Ads Budget calculator.Â
â
I hope you found this article helpful!
â
Google Ads definitely is not for everyone but if your SaaS meets these three criteria your chances of success are far greater than not based on my experience.Â
â
If you have any questions, feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn.Â
âFrom Clicks to Conversions: Master Google Ads for B2B đĽ
â
If you want to become a Google Ads pro, check out our free B2B Google Ads courses, where you'll learn how to launch, optimize, and scale your campaigns to drive pipeline and revenue.
â
â
Here's what you'll learn in each course:Â
âď¸ B2B Google Ads 101 - How to Launch Dangerously Effective Campaigns for Beginners
- The Googleverse: The Game You're Playing & How To Win
- Measurement: How to Make Sure You're Profitable
- Targeting: How to Show Up For the Right Searcher
- Planning: Putting It All Together
â
đŻ Google Ads 102 - How to Clicks Into Profit
- Visibility: How To Find the Hole Sucking Profits
- Workflows: How to Optimize On a Daily, Weekly, Monthly & Quarterly Basis
- Experimentation: How to Test & Automate Profitability
- Troubleshooting: How To Solve Inevitable Problems
â
đ Google Ads 103 - How to Scale Google Ads For Advanced Advertisers
- Methodology: How to Vertically Scale Google Ads From A-Z
- Campaigns: Scaling Horizontally Through Campaign Themes
- Channels: Scaling Outside of Paid Search
â
Click Here to Join 1,000+ B2B Marketers Today and start leveling up your advertising skill set.
Takes < 90 seconds to sign up (seriously we timed it đ)
â
People Also Ask
â
What are some advanced targeting techniques for B2B SaaS Google Ads campaigns?
Utilize features like custom intent audiences to target users actively searching for solutions similar to your SaaS product. Combine these with demographic and location filters for precise audience targeting.
â
How can I effectively allocate my budget across different Google Ads campaign types for B2B SaaS?
Consider allocating your budget to a mix of search campaigns for high-intent keywords, display campaigns for brand awareness, and remarketing campaigns to re-engage potential leads.
â
How do I choose the right bidding strategy for my B2B SaaS Google Ads?
Select bidding strategies based on your campaign goals. Use target CPA (cost per acquisition) for lead generation or maximize clicks to drive traffic. Test different strategies to determine what works best for your objectives.
â
What are the common mistakes to avoid in B2B SaaS Google Ads campaigns?
Avoid broad targeting that wastes budget, neglecting negative keywords, and under-optimizing ad creatives. Regularly review and refine your campaigns based on performance metrics.
â
How can I use ad extensions effectively in B2B SaaS Google Ads?
Include ad extensions like callouts, sitelinks, and structured snippets to provide additional information, improve click-through rates, and enhance ad visibility. Highlight key features, testimonials, or unique offerings.
â
â
â