Top B2B PPC Agencies

A B2B PPC agency helps businesses-to-business (B2B) companies target specific audiences through pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns. PPC advertising involves placing ads on search engines or other online platforms and paying a fee every time a person clicks their link. Businesses can increase brand visibility, website traffic, high-quality leads, and sales quicker through PPC advertising than organic search marketing.

By the end of 2024, B2B ad spending is expected to reach $37.7 billion. $14.3 billion of which is used on digital ads. Moreover, search advertising spending is expected to reach $190.5 billion, with the U.S. having the highest global ad spend.

Because business-to-business pay-per-click agencies target businesses, they face unique industry challenges that require skills and expertise. Namely, these are:

• Longer sales cycles: B2B sales cycles are longer and more complex than B2C, making PPC conversion tracking challenging since multiple touchpoints may contribute to a conversion.
• High competition: The B2B space is highly competitive, driving up CPC and lead acquisition costs.
• Complex keywords: B2B keywords are more technical, requiring in-depth knowledge of industry-specific terminology.
• Multiple decision-makers: B2B purchases involve multiple decision-makers within an organization, requiring tailored PPC campaigns that target different stakeholders within the buying process.
• Content and messaging: B2B PPC ads need to address businesses’ specific needs and challenges rather than just promote products or services. This is because B2B buyers need information that helps them make informed decisions.
• Lead nurturing: Due to long sales cycles, agencies must integrate PPC campaigns with lead nurturing strategies such as email marketing, retargeting, and content marketing to engage prospects throughout the sales funnel.

One such example is when CMS Funding collaborated with B2B PPC agency SmartSites. CMS Funding has been providing commercial equipment leasing and financial services for small businesses for over 20 years. However, it was struggling to drive traffic and new leads as banks and lending giants overshadowed it.

SmartSites implemented consistent ad campaigns, content marketing, link-building strategies, and conversion tracking. It also developed industry and location pages to target desired audiences more accurately.

As a result, CMS Funding reduced cost-per-click (CPC) by 44% and increased conversions by 74%.

A B2B PPC company provides PPC campaign management services to help businesses gain the highest return on investment (ROI) for their advertising efforts. This includes developing a campaign strategy, managing keywords, monitoring ad performance, creating campaign materials, optimizing conversion rates, and analyzing data. It also involves keyword bidding, where agencies bid on behalf of their clients for ad placement on the first search engine results page for targeted keywords.

Here is a quick description of the B2B PPC services:

• Campaign strategy: Developing a comprehensive PPC strategy tailored to the specific needs and goals of B2B clients. This includes keyword research, competitor analysis, and target audience identification.
• Ad creation: Creating compelling and relevant ad copy that resonates with B2B audiences, such as crafting ad headlines and selecting appropriate imagery or multimedia elements.
• Campaign setup: Setting up PPC campaigns across various platforms such as Google Ads, LinkedIn Ads, or Bing Ads. This includes configuring targeting options, setting budgets, and defining bid strategies. 
• Keyword management: Continuously monitoring and optimizing keyword performance to ensure that the ads appear in relevant search queries and generate qualified leads. 
• Geofencing: Targeting qualified audiences in a specific geographic location, using GPS, Wi-Fi, or cellular data to build virtual boundaries. 
• Remarketing and retargeting: Using PPC ads to re-engage website visitors or audiences who have shown interest in your brand. 
• Ad performance monitoring: Tracking metrics such as click-through rate (CTR), conversion rate, and cost per acquisition (CPA). This allows them to make data-driven decisions to improve campaign performance.
• Budget management: Allocating resources to high-performing campaigns and adjusting spending as needed to maximize ROI.
• Conversion optimization: Optimizing landing pages and conversion paths to improve the conversion rate of PPC traffic. This may involve A/B testing, user experience optimization, and implementing conversion tracking tools.
• Mobile optimization: Developing mobile-first ads, including fast-loading landing pages, well-proportioned graphics for mobile phones, responsive and fast-loading pages, and targeting mobile-specific keywords.
• Reporting and analysis: Offering clients regular reports and analysis, PPC campaign performances, and outlining recommendations for improvement.

The difference between B2B PPC and general PPC agencies is their audiences. Because the former’s audience involves businesses, it requires longer sales cycles and more formal, analytical, and educational content. It also results in more expensive campaigns because it targets more niche markets.

• Target audiences: The most obvious difference is the type of audience. B2B PPC targets decision-makers in the business, like CEOs, managers, and business owners. General PPC agencies target a wider set of audiences.
• Sales cycles: B2B PPC agencies follow longer sales cycles than general PPC agencies because B2B purchases involve highly complex decision-making processes.
• Buying funnel: General PPC agencies only target the bottom of the funnel where customers have high purchase intent. In contrast, B2B PPC companies target the top, middle, and bottom of the funnel, depending on your campaign goals. This is because of the longer sales cycles for B2B companies.
• Messaging and language: Where general PPC ads can be casual and emotion-oriented, B2B PPC campaigns need to be formal, technical, and business-oriented, which often covers the statistical benefits of the product or service.
• Content strategy: B2B PPC firms provide more educational content to highlight the value of the offering. Examples of these are white papers and case studies.
• Keywords: Because B2B companies have very small and specific markets, they use niche keywords. These are more difficult to target and may have higher competition than B2C keywords.
• Costs: Since B2B PPC campaigns have longer cycles and more competitive keywords, B2B PPC agencies charge more than regular PPC companies.

B2B PPC services cost can vary, depending on your pricing model, ad platform, type of ad, required services, niche market, and target audiences. However, businesses spend an average of $9,000 - $10,000 per month on B2B PPC services. The average CPC of B2B PPC agencies is $3.33.

Below are the factors that affect B2B PPC cost:

• Pricing model: B2B PPC agencies can charge based on a percentage of ad spend, pay-per-lead, base retainer, flat rate, hourly rate, or performance-based fees.
• Industry: Insurance companies have the highest CPC at $54.91. The higher the competition in your industry, the higher the costs.
• Keyword competition: Targeting highly competitive keywords means bidding against more players, which will raise ad costs.
• Ad quality: Platforms like Google Ads look at the quality and relevance of ads and charge less for high-quality PPC ads.
• Ad platform: Because Google is one of the most popular ad platforms, Google PPC campaigns will be more expensive than on less competitive platforms like Reddit and LinkedIn.

You should hire a B2B PPC company because they have a dedicated team of experts in advertising, copywriting, designing, website development, and analytics to help you gain faster results, higher return on income, and gather relevant data. Moreover, their team can provide a more comprehensive marketing strategy, so that you can further optimize your conversion process.

• Gain a team of multi-disciplined experts: The top three PPC ads on Google receive 46% of all clicks. B2B PPC agencies have the experience and knowledge to place your ads on the top searches of customers, using the right keywords, platform, and ad type. Moreover, they have copywriters, designers, web developers, and certified advertising experts on their team to ensure that your ad stands out from your competitors.
• Develop a comprehensive marketing campaign: B2B buyers look at 3-7 pieces of content before purchasing. This means that your PPC campaign is only one part of the conversion funnel, and B2B PPC companies know this. That is why they offer additional marketing services to ensure that you fully capture and convert the leads gained from your ads. These include content marketing, email marketing, social media marketing, and traditional marketing.
• Maximize your ad budget: B2B companies allocate 60% of their marketing budget to ads. But 72% of businesses haven't looked at their ads in over a month. B2B PPC firms monitor your ads for you so you can focus on running your business. Moreover, they use the data they collect to optimize your campaigns continuously, maximizing your return on investment (ROI).
• Achieve faster results: B2B PPC companies have streamlined their advertising process to achieve faster results for their clients. Moreover, they have dedicated designers, copywriters, and web developers on their team that can quickly turnover advertising materials whenever needed.
• Gather relevant data: Tracking the effectiveness of B2B PPC campaigns and attributing conversions accurately can be challenging due to the longer sales cycles and multiple touchpoints involved in the buying process. B2B PPC agencies already know this struggle and have solved it by using robust customer relationship management (CRM) and advertising tools and technologies to track conversions more accurately.

A case study that better illustrates the benefits of working with a B2B PPC agency is when ALL-TEST Pro approached WebFX to boost its digital marketing strategy.

ALL-TEST Pro provides motor testing to businesses, including motors, generators, and transformers. It wanted to retain its top industry position. WebFX conducted search engine optimization (SEO), PPC, and conversion rate optimization (CRO). As a result, ALL-TEST Pro increased contact form submissions by 71% and leads from organic forms by 25% year-on-year (YoY). It also reduced PPC cost per lead by 30%.

You can choose the best B2B PPC agency for your business by following these steps:

1. Consider your average sales cycle: B2B sales cycles are longer than B2C ones. Knowing how long it takes for your client to convert can help you determine your campaign timeline and budget more accurately.
2. Know your buying funnel: Unlike B2C campaigns, B2B campaigns also target top- and middle-of-funnel audiences to gain qualified leads. By knowing which part of the funnel you’re targeting, you can better specify your audience, keywords, and campaign goal.
3. Determine your campaign requirements: Specify your target audience and keywords based on your data analytics. Also, set your monthly spending limit, timeline, campaign goals, and KPIs.
4. Research potential partners: Search for agencies featured in B2B PPC publications, directories, top rankings, and award pages. Shortlist those that have won awards and recognition for their PPC campaigns.
5. Check their technical expertise: Look at their list of skills and services, PPC platforms, tools and technologies, and certifications. Prioritize those that are transparent, communicative, data-driven, analytical, and results-oriented.
6. Do your due diligence: Check their online reviews, client testimonials, and case studies to understand their approach and strategies for success. Choose those with experience in your niche, industry, and location.
7. Send your request for proposal (RFP): Outline your project details, target audience, campaign goals, timeline, and budget range. Include links to your website and social media accounts so the PPC agency can better estimate its costs based on your current online visibility.
8. Conduct an interview: Ask your preferred B2B PPC agencies about their expertise, processes, and strategies for your business. Gauge their understanding of your specific industry and target audiences.
9. Request for client references: Ask a B2B PPC company for client references from your industry and contact them. This will give you insight into how it will be working with the agency.
10. Choose your B2B PPC agency: Once you have decided, notify the agency of your decision. Discuss contract terms, payment methods, and other necessary details with the team.
11. Onboard your B2B PPC partner: Collaborate with your agency, send your customer data, and provide access to relevant accounts, like Google Ads and Meta Business.

If you need help finding the top B2B PPC agency for your business, contact us. We’ll customize a list based on your specific requirements. Visit our Marketplace for more details.

You can find the best B2B PPC company on DesignRush that fits your budget by using our web filters. These will help narrow your search according to hourly rates, minimum budgets, region, and company size.

The key success metrics in PPC campaigns for B2B measure leads, conversion rate, and revenue. The specific key success metric you’ll use will depend on your campaign goals.

Below is a brief explanation of each B2B PPC key success metric:

• Cost per lead (CPL): The amount spent on PPC divided by the number of generated leads.
• Cost per acquisition (CPA): The amount spent on PPC divided by the number of leads converted.
• Cost per click (CPC): Average amount you pay for every click.
• Click-through rate (CTR): The percentage of people who clicked your ad.
• Return on ad spend (ROAS): The revenue generated by the campaign divided by the amount spent.
• Conversion rate: The percentage of visitors who convert after clicking your PPC links.
• The number of impressions: The number of views on your ad, regardless of CTR. This is often used for measuring brand awareness.
• Average position: The order of your ad on the search engine results page (SERP) against other businesses competing for the same keywords.
• Quality score: Measures the likeliness that your target audiences will find your ads compared to competitors.
• Marketing qualified leads: The number of leads worth marketing or following up with. A low cost per marketing-qualified lead means your PPC campaign is targeting the right audiences.

You can ask B2B PPC agencies the following questions before hiring them:

Its Relevant Background

1. Have you worked with businesses in my niche? Can you share case studies and references?
2. What results have you achieved for businesses like mine?
3. Have you advised against using PPC for a business? If so, why?
4. What is your approach to PPC management?
5. How do you conduct keyword research?
6. How does your PPC optimization process and strategy look?

Company Services and Processes

1. Do you create the entire PPC campaign? Or do you just manage it?
2. What tools and technology do you use to manage PPC campaigns? How about reporting and analytics?
3. What advertising platforms do you specialize in? What is your level of certification (e.g., Google Partner or Google Premier Partner)?
4. What is your strategy for collecting first-party data?
5. Do you do account setup or continuous account management?
6. What additional services do you offer? Do you also provide social media marketing, search engine marketing (SEM), and web optimization?

The Project

1. What are the benefits of PPC for my B2B company?
2. What is the best-paid advertising strategy for my B2B company?
3. How will you integrate your campaigns with my overall marketing and sales strategies?
4. How will your PPC strategies impact my business goals?
5. Who will be on my team? What are their credentials and expertise?
6. Who owns the PPC account?
7. How do you measure my success? What are your key metrics for success?
8. When can I expect to get results?
9. What factors determine my PPC costs? Please send a breakdown.