B2B marketing is tough, whatever the platform. High competition levels, long purchase cycles, expensive service offerings & a narrow set of potential keywords makes generating conversions much more difficult than lower funnel B2C campaigns targeted directly at individuals.
Paid Search best practices still apply, but there’s a very different way of thinking and performing optimisation that needs to be understood in order to drive the best possible results from a B2B focused account. Taking a patient, long term approach will lead to long term success but, in the meantime, there’s an effective tactic that can be used to boost performance and ensure ads are shown to relevant, highly engaged users.
Microsoft has made significant progress in the past few years with heavy investment in Microsoft Ads (formerly Bing Ads) starting to pay off. Previously seen as a clone of Google Ads and a Paid Search afterthought, Microsoft Ads now leverages information from other Microsoft owned platforms to improve campaign targeting and efficiency. One of the most exciting developments first emerged in 2018 and has since been improved on to make it one of the best tactics to use for B2B Paid Search - leveraging LinkedIn’s targeting for Microsoft Ads campaigns.
When setting up a campaign in Microsoft Ads, or optimising an existing campaign, advertisers have the ability to create audiences based on a specific company, industry or job function. Just like any other audience, this can then ben added to a campaign or ad group to generate specific data to assist with optimisation. Building out audiences based on the specific job function of your target user means that keywords and messaging can be continually optimised based on actual performance data to ensure that results continue to improve and campaigns are reaching the most relevant users possible.
To find this targeting option, navigate to the Settings tab of a specific Campaign or Ad Group. Once there, you’ll find Company, Industry & Job Function as options in the Campaign Targets section. Selecting any or all of these options will create a new targeting block at the bottom of the section where specific information can be entered for each category. The usual rules of audience research apply here - look at other data sources to determine the most relevant targeting options and apply them to your search campaigns for the best chance of success.
As with all Paid Search tactics, there are a few things to look out for. Most importantly, this targeting option works as an audience signal, rather than as a specific audience by itself. That means that ads may still show to users who aren’t working at a company or in a role that you’ve specified. However, Microsoft Ads will take this targeting into account and, over time, should begin to prioritise impressions towards users who fit into the LinkedIn targeting criteria. In the meantime, you’ll be able to filter data specific to these users, allowing you to make smarter manual optimisation decisions while the automatic optimisation gets up to speed.
There are also some geographic restrictions at play here. While this targeting option can be implemented by marketers located anywhere in the world, for now it’s only available in campaigns targeted to the US, the UK, Canada, Australia, France & Germany. Over time this is likely to be expanded out but it’s a point worth keeping in mind when planning any new campaign activity for advertisers located outside these countries.
Despite being available since 2018, LinkedIn targeting remains a very underutilised and unappreciated benefit of Microsoft Ads. When used correctly it’s a powerful tool for any B2B marketers looking to get the edge on their competitors and, as Microsoft Ads grows in popularity, should be built into every B2B Paid Search strategy. As incremental tactics go it’s hard to beat and is further evidence of the work that Microsoft is doing to break Google’s grip on the Paid Search landscape.
For B2B marketing guidance & tactics to help get ahead of competitors, get in touch.