pulling b2b buyers through the funnel with sem
DESCRIPTION
How to use Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Pay-Per-Click (PPC) and Analytics to help pull business-to-business prospects through the sales funnel. Developed for Online Marketing Connect's Search Focus Week, May 2011. By Stacy Williams, President, Prominent Placement, Inc.TRANSCRIPT
Pulling B2B Buyers Through the Funnel
Online Marketing Connect
Search Engine Marketing Focus Week – May 2011
Stacy Williams
Marketing/advertising: 23 years
Search engine marketing: 13 years
Founded Prominent Placement: 2001
Charter member of SEMPO
President-Elect of SEMPO Atlanta
When not working: wrangling two teenage daughters
www.linkedin.com/in/stacyswilliams http://twitter.com/stacywms
Prominent Placement, Inc.
Full-service, award-winning search engine marketing agency based in Atlanta
Provide search engine optimization (SEO) & pay-per-click (PPC) services to clients nationwide
Majority of clients are B2B
Brilliant team of 12 helped me put this together
Why should B2B marketers care about SEM?
Where do B2B buyers start when researching purchases online?
Where do B2B buyers go throughout the buying cycle stages?
Source: Webinar by Gord Hotchkiss of Enquiro, 2008
Topics I’ll cover
SEO PPC ANALYTICS
Keyword strategy Keyword strategy
Keyword strategy
Content strategy
Linking strategy
Landing page strategy
PPC on social media
Latent conversions
Phone call tracking
Reputation management
Social media strategy
Landing page strategy
Bridge the gap between site analytics & CRM
Top of the funnel: awareness, research
Bottom of the funnel: negotiation, purchase
SEO PPC ANALYTICS
Keyword strategy Keyword strategy
Keyword strategy
Content strategy
Linking strategy
Landing page strategy
PPC on social media
Latent conversions
Phone call tracking
Reputation management
Social media strategy
Landing page strategy
Bridge the gap between site analytics & CRM
Keyword research is critical
Use the verbiage your target audience uses – not what your industry or internal experts use
“search marketing” or “web optimization”?
“healthcare” or “health care”?
“professional retouching” or “picture airbrushing”?
“financial solutions” or “financial software”?
Opposite:
“payment card industry data security standard” or “PCI DSS”?
Choose keywords that don’t trigger editorial results
80% editorial
Choose keywords that don’t trigger editorial results
80% commercial
SEO PPC ANALYTICS
Keyword strategy Keyword strategy
Keyword strategy
Content strategy
Linking strategy
Landing page strategy
PPC on social media
Latent conversions
Phone call tracking
Reputation management
Social media strategy
Landing page strategy
Bridge the gap between site analytics & CRM
Optimize lots of content – all different kinds of content
Companies create voluminous content – hunt it down!White papers
Sales literatureProduct documentation
Spec sheetsCase studies
Marketing materialsCustomer testimonials
FAQsVideosPhotosMaps
Presentations
Universal Search: optimize all digital content
Blogging: no longer sexy; still very effective
Every company has experts just dying to have a voice
Find them – give them an outlet
Stagger content creation with content curation
Data capture for lead nurturing
Call
Request a free quote
Try an audit
Sign up for newsletter
Follow us
Like/recommend/share
SEO PPC ANALYTICS
Keyword strategy Keyword strategy
Keyword strategy
Content strategy
Linking strategy
Landing page strategy
PPC on social media
Latent conversions
Phone call tracking
Reputation management
Social media strategy
Landing page strategy
Bridge the gap between site analytics & CRM
Link-building methods
For any site:
Directory submissions
Competitive intelligence
Link reclamation
Promotions/giveaways
Authoritative links
Viral content/linkbait
Social media profiles/content
For B2B sites:
Partner/vendor sites
Customer/client sites
Vertical directories
Industry bloggers & tweeters
Article publication
Industry associations
Better Business Bureau
Optimized press releases build links & more
- Bypass the press & go directly to your prospects
- Take up more room in the SERPs
- Generate brand awareness & site traffic
- Build links pointing to your site
Optimized press releases build links & more
SEO PPC ANALYTICS
Keyword strategy Keyword strategy
Keyword strategy
Content strategy
Linking strategy
Landing page strategy
PPC on social media
Latent conversions
Phone call tracking
Reputation management
Social media strategy
Landing page strategy
Bridge the gap between site analytics & CRM
Goal: “clean” SERPs when decision-maker checks you out
Control the content that shows up for your own name
Website
Twitter profile
Facebook profile
LinkedIn profile
BusinessWeek profile
(not us)
Optimized press release
Video (not us)
Website
Website
SEO PPC ANALYTICS
Keyword strategy Keyword strategy
Keyword strategy
Content strategy
Linking strategy
Landing page strategy
PPC on social media
Latent conversions
Phone call tracking
Reputation management
Social media strategy
Landing page strategy
Bridge the gap between site analytics & CRM
Content – Votes – Links
Lead nurturing – staying top of mind
SEO PPC ANALYTICS
Keyword strategy Keyword strategy
Keyword strategy
Content strategy
Linking strategy
Landing page strategy
PPC on social media
Latent conversions
Phone call tracking
Reputation management
Social media strategy
Landing page strategy
Bridge the gap between site analytics & CRM
(Back to SEO keyword strategies)
Editorial results don’t matter here
Use both your own and prospects’ verbiage
Include keywords for all stages of the buy cycle
Top of the funnel: broader, more information-based
ERP software
ERP software information
ERP software research
ERP software benefits
compare ERP software
review ERP software
evaluate ERP software
Include keywords for all stages of the buy cycle
Top of the funnel: pain- or symptom-based
software migration problems
software migration bugs
unsecure network
network hacked
network crash
slow server
“The B2B purchaser is more emotionally removed from brands,
and bases judgment on real benefits and needs. That means searches will
involve less brand names and more pain-based or challenge-based
keywords.” - Andrew Spoeth, Enquiro
Avoid consumer clicks
Keywords: industrial, commercial, business, wholesale, professional, bulk, volume
Ad copy:
Ad scheduling: during business hours or some B2B buyers research Sunday evenings & convert Tuesday afternoons
SEO PPC ANALYTICS
Keyword strategy Keyword strategy
Keyword strategy
Content strategy
Linking strategy
Landing page strategy
PPC on social media
Latent conversions
Phone call tracking
Reputation management
Social media strategy
Landing page strategy
Bridge the gap between site analytics & CRM
Goal #1: Provide information
White paper
Webinar
Event
Demo
Free trial
Consultation
Newsletter
Case studies
Goal #2: Capture data
Classic tradeoff between amount of data collected and
number & quality of leads
SEO PPC ANALYTICS
Keyword strategy Keyword strategy
Keyword strategy
Content strategy
Linking strategy
Landing page strategy
PPC on social media
Latent conversions
Phone call tracking
Reputation management
Social media strategy
Landing page strategy
Bridge the gap between site analytics & CRM
Social media targeting: by industry, title or interest
SEO PPC ANALYTICS
Keyword strategy Keyword strategy
Keyword strategy
Content strategy
Linking strategy
Landing page strategy
PPC on social media
Latent conversions
Phone call tracking
Reputation management
Social media strategy
Landing page strategy
Bridge the gap between site analytics & CRM
Include keywords for all stages of the buy cycle
Bottom of the funnel: long tail terms
scalable ERP software
ERP software provider
ERP software companies
open source ERP software
ERP software for small business
Microsoft Dynamics ERP software
ERP software for pharmaceutical manufacturers
Don’t forget to bid on your own brand name
Dominate the SERPs – build credibility
Click-through rate increases
Conversion rate increases
Control the copy that’s displayed – convey marketing/sales message
Leave fewer spots for competitors
Low cost / high ROI keywords
SEO PPC ANALYTICS
Keyword strategy Keyword strategy
Keyword strategy
Content strategy
Linking strategy
Landing page strategy
PPC on social media
Latent conversions
Phone call tracking
Reputation management
Social media strategy
Landing page strategy
Bridge the gap between site analytics & CRM
Goal: convince prospect to buy our brand
SEO PPC ANALYTICS
Keyword strategy Keyword strategy
Keyword strategy
Content strategy
Linking strategy
Landing page strategy
PPC on social media
Latent conversions
Phone call tracking
Reputation management
Social media strategy
Landing page strategy
Bridge the gap between site analytics & CRM
Latent conversions & attribution
Decision by committee adds time and makes accurate tracking difficult
Set cookies to a long expiration date (6-12 months)
Watch for newconversionattributiontools
Google Analytics’ multi-channel funnels & assists
Source: Daniel Waisberg, Conversion Journey, Search Engine Land 4/15/11
SEO PPC ANALYTICS
Keyword strategy Keyword strategy
Keyword strategy
Content strategy
Linking strategy
Landing page strategy
PPC on social media
Latent conversions
Phone call tracking
Reputation management
Social media strategy
Landing page strategy
Bridge the gap between site analytics & CRM
How phone call tracking works
Type in URL directly & see this:
Click on a Google organic listing & see this:
Click on a Google paid listing & see this:
18. Call tracking ensures you’re measuring all results
66%
33%
18. Call tracking ensures you’re measuring all results
Mini Case Study:
-71% of leads came in by phone
-Increased PPC bids
-Doubled the number of PPC leads generated
SEO PPC ANALYTICS
Keyword strategy Keyword strategy
Keyword strategy
Content strategy
Linking strategy
Landing page strategy
PPC on social media
Latent conversions
Phone call tracking
Reputation management
Social media strategy
Landing page strategy
Bridge the gap between site analytics & CRM
Web analytics & CRM: gap
CRM (Salesforce etc.)
• Fields filled out on form
Number of S.E. leads, estimated revenue based on average closing rate & sales amount
Number of customers from all sources & total revenue generated
Reporting Disconnect:
Historical Method
Web analytics & CRM: no gap
CRM (Salesforce etc.)
• Fields filled out on form
Number of S.E. customers & revenue generated
Today’s Method
Action items
1. Keywords: target all phases of the buy cycle, include pain points & brand. For SEO, avoid industry jargon and keywords that trigger editorial results.
2. Optimize as much content as you can, including different types of content (company documents, videos/photos, blogs, press releases, social media).
3. PPC should have separate ad groups, keywords, ad copy and landing pages for those at the top of the funnel vs. those late in the buy cycle. Filter out consumers where you can.
4. Test PPC on social media sites.
5. Gather data for lead nurturing at every step.
6. Hone analytics as much as you can, including long cookies, conversion attribution, phone call tracking, and pulling web analytics data into your CRM.
Want more SEM info?
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Follow us on Twitter: @ProminentPlcmnt or @StacyWms
Follow us on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/prominent-placement-inc.
View other presentation on Slideshare: www.slideshare.net/stacywms
Listen to Stacy’s 90 seconds on PPC landing pages: www.ppcmindmeld.com
THANK YOU!