Newcomers to B2B digital advertising, take note: Creating and managing successful, revenue-boosting ad campaigns takes more time than you probably think. For starters, you need to:
- Research and select the right digital ad networks
- Target the right accounts
- Launch the right campaigns
- Tweak campaigns informed by the right metrics
- And more
There’s no such thing as “overnight success” in B2B digital advertising. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t best practices for thoughtfully designing and deploying ABM ad campaigns … or that the timelines to implement these practices are unknowable.
Here’s a closer look at what it takes to create successful digital ad campaigns, and the timelines (measured in weeks or months) it often takes to get there.
Choosing the Right Digital Ad Networks for B2B ABM
There’s plenty of digital ad networks to choose from — such as vertical, targeted, premium, and inventory-specific networks. But some of these options may not be a good fit for your unique business needs.
Invest the time to research and select the right ones for your business goals. To ensure you select the right ad network, consider the following:
- Network Fit: Do the networks align with your target accounts and audience? Depending on your business, LinkedIn may be a far better fit than TikTok.
- Specialization: Investigate ad networks that specialize in specific industries or segments.
- Capabilities: Different networks offer different capabilities for targeting, ad creation, data, and more. Choose one that offers the tools you need to create successful campaigns.
Selecting the right digital ad networks can take up to two weeks (or more), depending on your resources and effort.
Targeting Accounts Within Your Chosen Network
Targeting the relevant accounts within those networks takes time, too. Without automated CRM or revtech solutions like 6sense, this may take a few weeks to gather contact information and create lists of target accounts based on your Ideal Customer Profile and relevant personas.
Consider these factors when targeting accounts within your chosen networks:
- Account Fit: Just as you did when selecting the networks, make sure your target accounts are relevant to your business and audience.
- Account Segmentation: Break down your target list into specific segments (such as company size, industry, or geography), and target each segment with a specific campaign.
- Account List Quality: Make sure you’re only targeting high-quality accounts that are likely to convert.
Targeting accounts within your chosen networks can take anywhere from two to four weeks, depending on the size and complexity of your account list.
Launching Your Campaigns
Launching your campaign is the most critical step of the process. When campaigns are properly crafted, they can provide immediate results. When done poorly, they’ll quickly drain your budget.
Keep these things in mind as you launch your campaigns:
- Define Your Goals: Have a clear goal for each campaign, and ensure your objectives are relevant to your target audience.
- Campaign Creation: The relevance of your ads’ copy and creative directly impacts the success of your campaigns among target personas.
- Account Fit: Again, evaluate that your target accounts are likely to engage. You’ll experience low conversion rates and high costs per acquisition (CPA) if they’re not.
- Targeting: Make sure your ads are reaching the right people with the right messages.
- Timing: An account engagement platform like 6sense can tell you in what buyer-journey stage an account is in. Use this data to target accounts that are most likely to buy right now.
Campaign creation can add two to four weeks to your B2B digital advertising timeline. Campaigns should be monitored daily and weekly to ensure they’re performing as expected.
Measuring Results and Refining Your Strategy
Continually monitor your campaigns’ engagement metrics. Iterate and optimize your campaigns for the best results. Try different ads, targeting tactics, and bid amounts to find what works best for your business — and make data-informed adjustments as needed.
Here are some traditional metrics to follow:
- Conversion Rate: The percentage of people who click on your ad and then convert.
- Cost per Acquisition (CPA): The average customer acquisition cost through your digital advertising campaigns.
- Click-Through Rate (CTR): The percentage of people who click on your ad.
- Reach: The number of people who saw your ad.
It may take weeks to see meaningful results; you may have to adjust your strategy several times before finding success.
How We Can Help
6sense simplifies this process — and accelerates these timelines — by providing actionable insights that help you identify accounts looking for your product or service. We also provide the visibility you need to target them proactively.
With our AI-powered time-based predictions, you’ll know where your customers are on the buying journey and when to engage them. Contact us today to learn more, or check out our webinars for more insights.
