These are exciting times. Your new product has GA'ed, has some early adopters, and now the board wants to see your GTM strategy in action, driving tangible financial results. Or, you've finally been given the long-awaited budget to invest in PPC. Before diving into b2b paid media head first, consider holding back and just dipping in a toe - getting a feel for the temperature before taking a full plunge.
After rolling out hundreds of ppc campaigns with eager tech startups, we've come up with some guidelines for getting that well-deserved visibility for your product while attracting high-quality leads from those very first form submissions.
PPC Strategy #1
Prioritize Key Account Lists from Your Sales Team
You've likely defined a clear Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) in your Go To Market Strategy. This will certainly be your North star when configuring paid campaign targets; however, your sales team probably has a list of accounts they will prioritize above all others. By layering this list of top companies as a mandatory segment on all your initial LinkedIn Ad campaigns - your ad messaging will help prime this audience as the sales team starts deploying outreach campaigns (ideally, giving their email open rates a boost).
Involving sales early in the targeting process does more than just align marketing efforts with sales' goals—it fosters a strong partnership between departments. This collaboration keeps the sales team invested in marketing initiatives, encourages SDRs to value your leads, and creates a more cohesive and effective strategy across the board.
Big Bonus: Every lead generated by your paid social campaigns will work at one of these key accounts. Who doesn't love high MQL rates?
PPC Strategy #2
Use Intel from Your Current Database
If you have a decent volume of leads in your database, roll up your sleeves and start creating those pivot tables! You'll want to extract the upper tier of qualified leads and evaluate all the different ways they've engaged with your brand.
- What content did they download?
- What pages did they read?
- If they filled out "contact us" forms, what details did they provide when describing their immediate needs or pain points?
- What notes did the sales team enter into their lead records?
- What is the most common title/industry/region across your MQLs (and above)?
All of these details will help shape your targeting strategy and your content roadmap.
And, don't forget to analyze those disqualified leads. Their lead activity records will inform negative keyword development for paid search, and firmographic/demographic suppressions for paid social.
PPC Strategy #3
Start Lean for Maximum Impact
Starting lean doesn’t mean compromising on quality. It’s about being resourceful and making smart decisions that drive maximum impact. Prioritize initiatives that will yield the highest returns and be selective about where you invest your time and money. Focus a significant portion of your budget on a few key campaigns. This lean approach allows you to scale your efforts as you grow, ensuring that every step forward is strategic and sustainable.
Once your flagship campaigns are optimized and generating qualified leads, you can gradually expand your efforts, repeating the same methodology with each new addition.
PPC Strategy #4
Invest in Content That Matters to Your ICP
Your ICP doesn't care about your brand, at least not yet.
Invest in content that resonates with your ICP’s pain points, goals, and interests. Focus on early promotions that leverage industry benchmarks, technology forecasts, and process best practices. Resources like analyst reports not only encourage conversions but also provide valuable insights into what topics your audience cares about most.
Once you build greater brand awareness and establish a stronger industry voice, your audience will be more receptive to internally produced content like blogs, whitepapers, webinars, case studies and demos. Launching only self-generated materials too early may result in low conversion rates and high CPAs.
PPC Strategy #5
Become BFFs with Your SDRs
Sales Development Representatives (SDRs) play a critical role in the success of your startup. Building a strong relationship with your SDR team, gathering consistent feedback on your inbound leads, will allow you to process positive or negative indicators and quickly optimize your campaigns accordingly. Regular communication and collaboration between marketing and SDRs lead to better lead qualification, faster lifecycle stage progressions, and ultimately, more closed/won deals.
Think of your SDRs as your new BFFs—when you are both happy, everything is worth celebrating!
Conclusion
Remember, the key is to stay lean, stay agile, and always keep your ICP at the heart of your efforts. Providing great leads out of the gates will establish a much easier path forward - especially when requesting more budget to fuel your growing database!