This How-To Consensus blog is part of the Marketing-Lead Generation / Product Education / Lead Qualification Use Case
By Brian Zurcher and Chase Lewis, @goconsensus

Is paid advertising worth it for B2B sales?

Average paid traffic converts anywhere between 1-3%. Those rates are low enough to make anyone cringe. Even with its challenges, paid advertising is still a great way to drive traffic and help people find your solution. The key in B2B promotion is to give them a truly personalized experience, one that fits their needs and motivates them to act.

So, let’s say you’ve grabbed the viewers attention with an ad, how do you get them to convert? Use your Consensus Demos on buyer persona-specific landing pages in order to better convert highly targeted prospects.

With our demo videos, we have seen conversion rates between 8% and 32%! Of course, your mileage may vary, and campaigns need to be designed correctly and be adjusted to find your sweet spot. But when done right, you’ll see qualified fruits from advertising like never before.

Step by Step Process

• • Create an Advanced Demo using buyer personas (Industry, Role, etc…)
    • Admin > Manage Demos > Create New > Advanced

• • • • *All answers can lead to the same demo if you do not have unique content for each persona
  • Create paid search campaigns/ads for targeted demographics. (i.e. LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Adwords, GDN, etc)
    • Each campaign/ad should be designed to speak to your buyer persona. (i.e. VP & Directors of Sales in Software companies)
  • Create buyer persona specific landing pages.
  • Add a Consensus demo to each landing page. The advanced demo option will allow you to show a potential prospect a tailored video. If they are in Sales the video will be specific about sales, if they’re in marketing the same thing will happen.
    • Marketing Accelerator > Get Link for Website > Select Demo

Landing Page Best Practices

Make sure the primary headline of your landing page matches the ad visitors clicked to get there. Make your call to action BIG and use directional cues to direct attention right to it!

• • A landing page should have a single purpose and a single focused message. Be short and succinct.
  • Show your product/service being used in context.
  • Use video. It’s been shown to improve conversion by up to 80%.
  • Use real testimonials for authenticity.
  • Test new ideas using A/B testing. Let your customers decide which message works best for them.
  • If you are selling a book, or giving away an eBook via lead gen, provide a preview to increase trust show that you are proud of your product.
  • Segment by traffic source. Send your PPC, email, social media, organic and banner traffic to separate landing pages for better message match and measurability (which channel performs best)
  • Show your phone number so people know you are real and can interact with you on a personal level.
  • Don’t send inbound traffic to your homepage. Use a landing page!

With these tips, you’ll be sure to get more out of your paid advertising efforts, and will convert at a significantly higher rate. Personalized, specific landing pages combined with intelligent demo automation will educate your customer more effectively than ever before.