The best marketing efforts are typically a combination of strategies. This includes inbound, outbound, and paid ads.
For example, inbound marketing is an effective strategy, particularly in the B2B space. However, good performance is based on effective SEO. Therefore, it can take time before you see results. Sometimes, you need to push your content in front of your audience while you wait, with paid ads.
Content marketing can be confused with inbound marketing. It is easy to assume that content can only perform with the best SEO.
This assumption is wrong. Your content should be at the heart of all of your marketing efforts.
It’s also important to note that paid advertising performance has taken a hit in recent months, as data privacy changes make targeting audiences even more difficult. In fact, our research suggests that almost 100% of marketers have seen their paid advertising ROI either decrease or stay the same in 2022. So, how do you get your ads to perform in such a challenging climate?
Here’s how you can combine your content with paid ads to improve your marketing and sales performance.
Content to Drive Paid
Take a look at your most popular content. This could be blogs, infographics, videos or other content. Organic reach is a great measure of content success.
These analytics can be used as a guide for your ads. They provide an indication of how your content is resonating with your specific audience. Utilize your best content, to improve your ad reach and engagement.
Many marketers will follow the same ad format. They might offer an explanation of the company services, and they end with a CTA. Typically the CTA will ask the user to contact the company, or provide contact information. However, it’s important to bear in mind that this may be the first time your user interacts with your company. “Contact us” is a difficult sell to a stranger.
Content is a much easier conversion for a new prospect. Consider offering the download of a relevant whitepaper, or infographic. Whilst paid ads are a more “salesy” marketing strategy, they should still provide value to your leads.
Repurposing is another great way to use content to craft effective ads. For example, utilize blog content topics to create engaging LinkedIn posts and ads. Not only is this time effective, but your existing content will have a wider reach.
The majority of social media sites have ad platforms. Video ads are a more appealing and informative medium, compared to graphic or image-heavy ads. Around 69% of people would rather watch a video, than read about something new. Consider repurposing blog posts or other written content into short-form videos. Social media sites favor video ads. This will boost the conversion rates of your paid advertising.
Guide to B2B SaaS Marketing
Customer Journey
As mentioned, the results of inbound marketing aren’t immediate. Good SEO should reach your specific audience, but this won’t happen overnight. Paid ads are targeted, and can be aimed towards prospective customers at any stage of the buyers’ journey.
Your ads should push to content that is relevant to your customer, at that specific time. Consider your personas’ problems, and how you can solve them.
Your content should provide value to your persona specifically, with ads to engage them immediately. Relevant and timely content is more likely to improve engagement and conversions on your ads.
The tailored nature of ads is ideal for lead nurturing campaigns. Data including demographics and browsing behaviours can guide your paid ads. It is important to target the right customers, and provide them with valuable content at the right time.
Good targeting, with quality content, creates a positive company image, and sets you up as a thought leader.
Remarketing
Remarketing is another form of lead nurturing. Typically, this type of campaign aims to target those that may have lower intent, but are still relevant.
It is easy to forget about low-intent leads, when focusing on engaged prospects. However, it’s important to keep your brand fresh in the mind.
Make use of paid ads to drive to content on your site. Be active in diverting less engaged leads, rather than waiting for SEO and organic reach.
Content should be valuable, regardless of the leads’ position in the buyers’ journey. By providing content to leads that aren’t engaging, you can keep your brand present as they browse.
Your content-based ads should increase touchpoints with your target audience. The more touchpoints available, and the more content provided to them, the better chance of conversion.
The conversion of your ad may not have resonated with every user in your target audience. This is why it is important to test, and try again, with a differing format or change of conversion. Remarketing increases the span of your marketing strategies.
Algorithm Changes
SEO generates organic traffic for your website and your content. Ranking highly on search engines like Google is important. Ideally, every marketer should optimize their content for crawlability and ranking on search engines.
However, this can be challenging as SEO rules change at the search engine’s discretion. As the most popular search engine, Google outlines what constitutes a relevant and valuable piece of content. Whilst your content may be well optimized now, this isn’t a guarantee for the future.
It can be frustrating to keep on top of algorithm changes. If you notice a drop in organic traffic, it’s worth checking your optimization.
However, there is another solution. Paid ads are always a priority for search engines. This is where search engine’s make profit, so it is in their best interest to rank their ads highly.
Your content can benefit from the improved ranking of paid ads. Take the time to consider which content that you want to push. Your ads will continue to drive traffic to your content, even if your SEO and ranking fluctuate.
The combination of content and paid ads can ensure that your content reaches its targeted audience.
At Nituno, we implement a combination of content and paid ads, alongside other marketing strategies, to improve your lead generation. Get in touch with us today for help to make the most out of your paid advertising.
