In the B2B digital marketing space, knowing how to leverage Search Engine Marketing (SEM) strategies can be the game-changer your business needs. Explore our blend of organic and paid search B2B SEM tactics that should be part of your efforts.
B2B SEM Tactics You Should Be Trying
In summary, these are some of the most important organic and paid tactics to utilize.
- SEO: Known as Search Engine Optimization, you will want to optimize your website and its content for search engines to improve your organic search ranking. More of the right eyeballs means more opportunities to reach your target audience.
- Content Marketing: Provide value to your audience through a high-quality content marketing strategy that informs, educates, and supports lead generation efforts.
- Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Campaigns: Invest in PPC advertising to ensure your website appears in the paid search results for your chosen keywords.
- Negative Keywords: Refine your PPC campaigns by excluding irrelevant search queries, which will increase the quality of your advertising spend and bring in the right leads to your site.
- Long-Tail Keywords: Use specific, long-tail keywords to drive targeted traffic to your site, whether through organic or paid search.
Now, let’s take a closer look at these tactics.
The Balance of Organic and Paid Search
Achieving success in SEM requires careful consideration of how to deploy organic and paid search tactics.
Understanding Organic Search
Organic search refers to unpaid search results based on the relevance to the user’s search query, links, and domain authority, among other organic ranking factors.
Decoding Paid Search
On the flip side, paid search is when companies allocate ad budget to have their webpage displayed on search engine result pages (SERPs) for specific keywords.
Organic Search Tactics
Let’s unravel some potent organic search tactics.
Mastering SEO
Having an effective SEO strategy is a vital component of organic search. It involves optimizing your website and content to rank higher on SERPs, bringing more traffic to your website.
Leveraging Content Marketing
Content marketing involves creating and sharing valuable content to attract and convert prospects into customers. Optimizing blog posts, landing pages, case studies, and other forms of content can lead to high conversion rates.
Paid Search Tactics
Now, what about effective paid search tactics?
Pay-Per-Click Campaigns
PPC is an online advertising model where advertisers pay each time a user clicks on one of their online ads. The great thing about PPC programs is that you can target the audience you’re looking for with very specific messages. And, you can refine your campaigns over time to increase efficiency.
When done right, your ad campaigns can effectively reach the right people at a lower cost to increase the number of quality leads coming to your site.
Utilizing Negative Keywords
Negative keywords are an important element in refining your PPC campaigns, especially for Google Ads. They prevent your ad from being triggered by certain words or phrases, cutting out wasteful ad spending.
You don’t want to spend ad dollars on keywords that have nothing to do with your business or are targeting the wrong demographics. You want to make sure anyone who clicks on your ad is coming to your site for the right reasons.
Common Ground: Long-Tail Keywords
Both organic and paid search strategies can benefit from using long-tail keywords!
Understanding Long-Tail Keywords
Long-tail keywords are specific phrases with less competition than common keywords. They can attract more targeted traffic and lead to higher conversion rates.
Finding and Using Long-Tail Keywords
Finding long-tail keywords requires understanding your target audience and how they articulate their needs in the form of search queries.
Being able to unlock these longer-form searches through keyword research can help you serve up highly-targeted paid ads and strategize very focused blog content.
Let’s Implement These B2B SEM Tactics
The B2B SEM tactics we covered can give your B2B marketing strategy a serious boost. With the right approach, your company will be well on your way to creating effective and efficient campaigns that deliver results.
Need a helping hand putting these tactics into practice? Work with our team at Marketing Refresh. Our digital marketing agency knows B2B marketing tactics. We carefully implement each of these tactics to maximize ROI for our clients.
Find out more about our capabilities and proven approach for our clients. Get in touch with us today to schedule an intro meeting.
FAQs
- What is the difference between organic and paid search in SEM?
Organic search results are achieved through SEO based on relevance to the user’s search query and other organic ranking factors. Paid search results, on the other hand, are displayed when businesses pay for their webpage to appear on SERPs for specific keywords.
- How can SEO benefit my B2B marketing strategy?
SEO can help your website rank higher on search engine results, leading to increased visibility and traffic. This effort can result in more leads and conversions for B2B companies.
- What is the role of content marketing in SEM?
Content marketing plays a crucial role in SEM by providing valuable information to your audience. This not only attracts and retains customers but also improves your website’s ranking on search engines.
- How does PPC work?
In PPC advertising, advertisers pay a fee each time one of their ads is clicked. This can be a cost-effective way to drive traffic to your site, as you only pay when your ad is actually clicked.
- How can long-tail keywords improve my SEM strategy?
Long-tail keywords are specific search phrases with less competition than common keywords. They can attract more targeted traffic, leading to higher conversion rates, whether used in organic or paid search strategies.