The end goal of every sales strategy is to convert more prospects and improve revenue. Marketing plays a massive role in that process, and perhaps no strategy is more impactful than B2B retargeting.
If you want a cost-effective way to improve your sales numbers, build brand awareness, and recapture lost leads, then B2B retargeting could be for you.
This article will cover the ins and outs of it with step-by-step instructions for helping you get as much out of the practice of B2B retargeting as possible.
So without further delay, let’s get into it.
B2B retargeting 101
B2B retargeting is the practice of running ad campaigns that specifically target B2B buyers who have already engaged with your company in some way.
For example, one of these campaigns could involve showing ads to people who have:
- Interacted with your social media posts
- Visited your website
- Signed up for your email list
- Completed one of your free trials
- Purchased a product from you in the past
The key idea is that you aren’t trying to engage new potential buyers with these campaigns, but people who have already shown an interest in what you have to offer. This shift in purpose also shifts the best way to conduct your campaigns, which we’ll cover in a later section.
Just how effective is this sales strategy?
Pretty much any statistic you look at will tell you that retargeted ads have higher conversion rates than standard ones. Here are just a few examples of that:
- Normal display ads have a click-through rate (CTR) of 0.07%, whereas retargeted ones have a CTR of 0.7%
- Website visitors who are retargeted with ads are 70% more likely to convert
- Retargeting ads reduce cart abandonment rates by 6.5%
- Retargeting ads beat all other ad placements with a 10x efficiency rate
The bottom line is that if you want to start running ad campaigns with higher conversion rates, then focusing on retargeting is a great way to go.
How to use B2B retargeting to convert more sales prospects
Now that we know what B2B retargeting is and why it matters, let’s dive into some best practices. Here’s a step-by-step guide you can use to start getting more out of your sales strategy with retargeting.
1. Start with a clear segmentation strategy
First, it’s important to understand that not every customer who you retarget will respond to the same types of advertising. For example, one B2B buyer may be interested in how budget-friendly your software is, while another may be more interested in its technical capabilities.
You want to target each type of buyer that you have with ads that are going to give you the best chance of converting them. That’s why it’s important to begin your B2B retargeting campaign with a clear segmentation strategy.
Segmentation is the practice of splitting your audience into groups based on shared characteristics, such as:
- Demographics
- Previous interactions with your company
- Pain points and goals
- Company size and budget
If you start by segmenting your retargeting audience based on factors like these, then it’s going to be a lot easier to convert your sales prospects with more personalized advertising.
Before diving in, just note that every business is different. The best ways to segment your audience will depend on what you know about your buyers and your company.
2. Build custom content around each segment
Now that you’ve split your audience into unique segments based on shared characteristics, you can begin appealing to each of those segments with targeted content.
When we say content, we’re talking about more than just banner ads and boosted social media posts. It’s absolutely worth customizing the ads themselves. But the content that someone sees after clicking on the ad should also reflect the segment that they belong to.
For example, you may advertise a blog post that highlights the value of automation to potential buyers who care most about saving time. But that ad wouldn’t as effective for buyers who are looking for budget-friendly products. These customers would likely respond more favorably to blog content focusing on how to reduce costs.
You can take that idea and apply it to each type of content you create, including social media posts, emails, and even YouTube videos. The key thing to keep in mind is customizing both the ads that a member of your audience sees and the content they’re shown after clicking on it.
3. Use targeted landing pages
Landing pages are another piece of content that you can customize based on the unique goals of each segment that you’ve created.
Research shows that companies with 15 effective landing pages get 55% more leads than businesses with only 10 landing pages. This statistic shows that you get exponentially more out of your marketing campaigns when you turn up the amount of personalization that you use in them.
Building a targeted landing page is similar to building targeted blog posts. As we discussed in the last section, you can want to lead people to a page that is a perfect reflection of their interests in your company and its products.
The closer you can get to doing that, the higher your rates of conversion should become.
4. Retarget across multiple channels
It’s also important that you don’t limit your retargeting campaign to any one channel. Your sales prospects aren’t only in a single place on the internet. Most will be active on various social media platforms, on their email accounts, on Google searches, and elsewhere online.
People pay closer attention to ads on different channels. Some may be more likely to click on an ad that’s shown in the results of a Google search, while others may be more interested in engaging with advertised content on social media platforms.
If you want to give yourself the highest chance of converting as many people as possible, you need to show retargeted ads on all of these platforms.
5. Consider deploying a freemium pricing model
A good product speaks for itself. If many of your sales prospects were able to use your product without any risk, they would likely see its value very quickly and become paying customers in no time.
That’s why it could also make sense for you to start using a freemium pricing model as part of your retargeting campaigns. This is a good way to get sales prospects into your ecosystem so that they become familiar with your products and what they have to offer.
6. Win with incentives
You may also want to turn your retargeting campaigns up a notch with incentives. This can be especially effective for things like abandoned cart ads.
For example, when someone abandons a cart for a week or longer, you could send them an email that offers something like 10% off if they go back to your site and complete the purchase within the next 48 hours.
This is another tactic that you can deploy strategically based on how quickly you’re looking to get results and your success rates without incentives.
7. Analyze your results and adapt
Lastly, it’s important that you don’t create a B2B retargeting strategy and then assume that it will work forever. Digital marketing is constantly evolving, as are consumers’ goals and preferences.
That means your campaigns will almost certainly need to adapt as time moves forward. Plus, your initial efforts in this type of marketing may not be as effective as they could be after you make some improvements.
It’s why you absolutely have to analyze the results that you get from B2B retargeting and adapt your strategies based on those results. You may even want to use a tactic like A/B testing to create more compelling advertisements and content.
Data is the key to a successful B2B retargeting sales strategy
If you want to optimize your performance with B2B retargeting, then you need consistent access to high-quality data. You need to data to:
- Understand your audience well enough to segment it effectively
- Assess the performance of your retargeting ads over time
- Discover which channels are giving you the best results
LeadLander can form the backbone of your B2B retargeting strategy. Our website visitor tracking software will tell you everything you need to know about your website visitors so that you can segment them into the perfect groups.
You can also use our software to assess the performance of different landing pages, blog posts, and web pages. That way, you can quickly figure out what your customers will respond to best.
But don’t take our word for it. Try a free 14-day trial of LeadLander today to experience the value we offer directly without any risk.