Track your 5 steps to better performing B2B branding campaigns

"Focus on the problem you are solving and not on your product or service."

Step 1: Who is your suspect?

First, the most important one: who is your target audience? Because that's all-important. This is where you align your message, channels and KPIs. While this step is not easily overlooked, I clearly see a positive difference with advertisers who have their target audience very clearly in mind. The better you define your target audience, the easier the next steps will be.

Next, where and how does your prospect search for your solution? Get into their skin and make a list: what websites they browse on, what keywords they use and what their interests are. Possibly ask your existing customers how they found you and what they searched for.

Step 2: define strategy and allocate budget

Ok, you can put your own skin back on, because in step 2 you are just yourself again, the marketing expert. And with your knowledge, you will now set up your strategy: what story do you tell on which channel? Because omnichannel is a must. And then both push (display, social, video) and pull channels (SEA) of course.

Next, what budget do you have available and how will you deploy it? The easiest way is to figure out how much margin 1 deal generates on average and how many leads you need for 1 deal. Then use that to calculate how much a lead should cost. And you adjust your KPIs accordingly.

"If your KPIs don't match your marketing strategy, you're still in the dark."

Step 3: When is it a success?

KPIs are different for each company and each campaign. They depend on the budget per lead determined in step 2. And they vary by channel. Check: is the channel demand-driven or not?

On pull channels (search) you use different objectives than on push channels (display and social). Logically, your conversion rate on search is on average higher than on social, for example. Because if someone is actively searching for something, he is more likely to convert than if he is passively scrolling on social media.

Your KPIs measure the success of your entire campaign, so really pay attention to this. If your KPIs don't align with your marketing strategy, you'll miss important info and still be in the dark.

Step 4: the right targeting

Targeting is your best friend to get the most results from your budget. Obviously, you want your brand to be visible to the people who have the most interest in your solution. We're talking about being hyper-relevant. Because showing impressions to people who won't buy your product anyway is a wasted budget.

"Don't waste impressions on people who won't buy your product anyway, that's wasted budget."

There are many different targeting options, but when it comes to branding, these are our favorites:

• Lookalike audiences of people who have previously made a purchase.
• Retargeting on website visitors who have not yet made a purchase.
• A data collaboration solution to connect business third-party data with first-party data to create hyper-relevant audiences. Think SBI codes or information about office buildings.
• Specific to display:
  • Highly relevant third-party audiences that you can purchase on DV360 for a small additional CPM fee
  • Or Googles Custom Intent audiences, where you create a target audience based on what people have searched for (keywords) and visited (apps/URLs).

With the right targeting, you make sure you shoot with focus.

Technology can support you in this. Want to make AI work for you to reach the most relevant audience? Then read here how to Get more conversion with AI advertising in B2B..

Step 5: continuous optimization

Remember to always count your evidence. You established your KPIs in Step 2, but it's also important to keep monitoring them.

Keep track of how you are doing against your KPIs and answer at least the following questions:

• Are you getting the number of leads you envisioned?
• How is the conversion rate on the various channels?
• Which keywords score well and which do not?
• Which ads perform best?

Always optimize on the ads that score well. In display, exclude less performing placements and in search, the underperforming search terms. In this way, like a detective who constantly reanalyzes his clues and excludes peripherals, you will make your branding campaign ever more targeted and efficient.

Patience is a virtue

This roadmap will help you launch and optimize your B2B branding campaign. Remember: this is a continuous process. Make sure you monitor your KPIs regularly - at least once a week - and optimize where necessary. But also plan at least 1x per year a moment to review from step 1 whether your current strategy still matches the business objectives and the behavior of your target audience.

So are you done? Definitely not! The most important thing is patience. B2B buying processes can take months. Keep the goal in mind and update your content regularly so you stay relevant.

Tip: install a tool that identifies your website visitors so you can directly target prospects who show interest. I like to work with Leadinfo.com: user-friendly and affordable.

Tips for filling your B2B funnel with leads

With such a short 5-step plan, B2B branding does sound very simple. But in reality, ad platforms offer more targeting options than there are stars in the Milky Way. That's too much to comprehend, so want to know what works best for you? Then sign up for our B2B branding event No leads without branding on Wednesday, September 20. Then we'll help you get started with best practices and concrete tips for filling your funnel with leads. Click here for more info and registration. Do this quickly, because there are only a few spots left.