Facebook has always been well-regarded as one of the best advertising platforms for most brands. They’re easy to set up, manage, and optimize, at least for B2C Ads. However, for B2B Facebook Ads, this is a whole different story. You need the right strategies and a strong understanding of how the B2B buyer cycle works to get results. In this guide, I’ll explore the strategies, examples, and targeting techniques that can elevate your Facebook ads for B2B.
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What makes B2B targeting on Facebook Ads more difficult?
Facebook Ads are a powerhouse for B2C businesses, thanks to its massive user base of over 2.9 billion monthly active users and its versatility across various industries. But when it comes to B2B marketing, things get trickier.
According to a ViB Tech survey, only 18% of B2B marketers find Facebook effective for generating leads. The challenge lies in the fact that Facebook’s targeting options are primarily based on user behaviors and interests, which works well for B2C but not so much for B2B. Unlike B2C, where you can cast a wide net, B2B requires precise targeting to reach specific decision-makers and industry professionals. This complexity is further underscored by data showing that only 29% of B2B marketers believe social media ads, including those on Facebook, deliver a high ROI.
Why Should Your B2B Business Advertise on Facebook?
Despite only a small amount of B2B Marketers’ support that Advertising on Facebook brings higher ROI, Facebook Ads are still essential and affect the business marketing strategy you cannot skip. Here’s why you should try it out for your business:
Extensive reach and targeting capabilities
Facebook’s vast user base includes key decision-makers and professionals across various industries. With advanced targeting options, you can precisely reach these individuals based on job titles, industries, interests, and behaviors.
Access to extensive metrics
The B2B sales cycle can be long and complex, and you will hate the idea of having to spend a lot of effort and time pursuing a sale or campaign that was never meant to be.
Thanks to the tracking instruments and analytical data offered by Facebook through the Meta Business Suite, you’ll have the capability to monitor your campaign’s process and make informed decisions based on these insights.
Cost-effective
Compared to traditional advertising channels, Facebook advertising can be more cost-effective for B2B businesses. With options to set your own budget and bid strategies, you can control your ad spend and achieve a higher return on investment (ROI). In fact, Facebook is one of the cheapest platforms on which to advertise, offering an impressive average conversion rate of 10.63%.
Retargeting opportunities
Facebook’s retargeting capabilities allow you to reach out to users who have previously engaged with your website or content. This keeps your brand top-of-mind and increases the chances of conversion.
Promotion of educational content
Facebook is highly effective at the top and middle of the sales funnel for promoting educational content and collecting B2B leads through native lead-gen forms.
I can say with confidence that Facebook ads for B2B do work. You just need to know how to bring out the best in them, by following this article till the end.
B2B Facebook Ads and The Conversion Funnel
To start Facebook B2B Ads campaigns, first, you will need to understand the B2B conversion funnel. Why? Because it will help you identify the stages a potential customer goes through before purchasing.
The funnel typically consists of three stages: Awareness, Consideration, and Conversion.
Awareness
This is the top of the funnel, where the goal is to generate brand awareness and reach out to potential clients. At this stage, you’re trying to capture the attention of your target audience and make them aware of your brand and its offerings. The ads in this stage should be designed to introduce your brand, explain what you do, and highlight the value you can provide.
Consideration
This is the middle of the funnel, where the goal is to engage the audience that you’ve made aware of your brand. At this stage, you’re trying to get prospects to consider your offerings as a solution to their needs. The ads in this stage should provide more detailed information about your products or services, demonstrate how they can solve the audience’s problems, and encourage them to learn more.
Conversion
This is the bottom of the funnel, where the goal is to convert the engaged audience into customers. At this final stage, you’re trying to get the audience to take a specific action, such as making a purchase, signing up for a trial, or filling out a form. The ads in this stage should include strong CTAs, offer incentives, and make it easy for the audience to take the desired action.
Each stage of the funnel requires a different approach and type of content. It’s important to create ads that are tailored to the specific goals of each stage and the needs of the audience at that stage. By doing so, you can guide potential customers through the funnel and increase the likelihood of them converting.
How to Target your B2B audience on Facebook?
Facebook’s advanced targeting options allow B2B marketers to reach key decision-makers and professionals relevant to their business precisely.
There are 3 main Facebook audience types that let you reach your B2B buyers:
Target B2B clients with Facebook Interests Audiences
Interest targeting allows you to reach users based on their interests, activities, and pages they engage with. For B2B audiences, target interests related to specific industries, business tools, and professional development.
When creating a new Interest Audience, your most important tool is going to be the Detailed Targeting box.
Here, you can enter a wide set of interests related to your B2B product or target people based on their job seniority or industry.
To reveal the full list of work-related targeting options, select “Demographics” and then “Work.”
Example:
Imagine you are advertising for your SaaS business and want to target business owners who are decision-makers within their companies. Your goal is to increase brand awareness and generate leads by showcasing the unique features of your software solutions.
This is how you should set up your targeting under the “Work” category:
- Employers: Target individuals working at mid-sized to large enterprises, specifically those in managerial or executive positions.
- Industries: Focus on key industries where your SaaS solutions can provide significant value, such as:
- Information Technology and Services
- Financial Services
- Marketing and Advertising
- Health Care
- Manufacturing
- Job Titles: Target people holding job titles that indicate decision-making power and a high likelihood of needing your SaaS solutions, such as CEO, COO, CFO, CTO, VP of Operations, IT Director, Marketing Director, or Product Manager.
You can also reach potential B2B audiences by targeting the following types of interests:
- Industry publications
- Industry events
- Your competitors and their loyal users
- Other services or products used by your current clients
Target B2B clients with Facebook Custom Audiences
Custom audiences are gold for B2B, enabling you to target users who have already interacted with your business. Custom audiences upload your customer lists, website visitors, or app users to create highly targeted ad campaigns. This approach is effective for retargeting and nurturing existing leads.
In order to create Facebook Custom Audiences, you need to install the Facebook Pixel (Meta Pixel) on your website. Do it on Day 1 of your Facebook Page setup!
There are some types of Custom Audiences that I’ve seen work well when matched with B2B Facebook ads:
- Website visitors: target people who have already shown interest in your product
- Pricing page visitors: bring these visitors back to your site by using Facebook to remarket
- Blog readers: engage these semi-interested leads with more content offers
- Newsletter subscribers: convert these interested leads into customers by retargeting them with a sales proposal
- Free trial users: help these users on board smoothly with product guides and case studies
- Past purchasers: there’s an audience ripe for a cross-selling or upselling campaign
Target B2B clients with Facebook Lookalike Audiences
Lookalike Audiences are based on the idea that people who are most similar to your existing users are also the most likely to convert. By creating Lookalike Audiences based on your Custom Audiences, you can expand your reach to users who are likely to be interested in your offerings.
To create a Facebook Lookalike Audience, you first need to decide who you want to base your Lookalike on.
We recommend that you create a Custom Audience of your current top clients, as well as past ones. Next, you can use that Custom Audience as a seed for your new Lookalike Audience.
If the seed audience of your top customers is smaller than 1,000 people, you can create Lookalike Audiences based on other types of conversions, e.g. past 60 days leads.
B2B Facebook Best Practices for Ads & Campaigns
For B2B businesses, it’s crucial to understand the best practices that can make your campaigns more effective. From choosing the right ad format to leveraging social proof, each strategy plays a vital role in enhancing your ad performance. Let’s explore these best practices in detail.
1. Focus on benefits to the decision-makers
Unlike B2C, where you might target a broad audience, B2B requires precision. Remember, you’re not selling to a business, you’re selling to the people who run the business. Decision-makers such as managers, directors, and executives need to be the primary focus.
Highlight the benefits that your product or service can bring to them personally. This could be saving time, reducing costs, or improving their performance. Use customer testimonials or case studies to show real-life examples of these benefits. Remember, decision-makers are looking for solutions that offer tangible business value.
2. Know you’ll need to run split tests
Split testing, also known as A/B testing, is crucial in optimizing your Facebook ads. This involves creating two versions of your ad (Ad A and Ad B) and testing them against each other. You can change one element at a time (like the headline, image, or call-to-action) to see which performs better. Use the data from these tests to continually improve your ads.
3. Use Lead Ads for B2B lead generation
Facebook Lead Ads are a powerful tool for B2B lead generation. These ads allow users to submit their contact information directly within the ad, simplifying the lead capture process. This is particularly useful in B2B settings where obtaining contact information is vital for further engagement and nurturing.
Use Lead Ads to collect information such as email addresses, job titles, and company names. Make sure to follow up with these leads promptly to keep them engaged.
4. Create funnel-specific content
Different stages of the sales funnel require different types of content. Top-of-the-funnel (TOFU) content should focus on awareness, middle-of-the-funnel (MOFU) on education and engagement, and bottom-of-the-funnel (BOFU) on conversions.
Tailoring your content to the sales funnel stage helps in effectively nurturing leads through the buying process, ultimately leading to higher conversion rates
5. Promote resources & lead magnets
Offer valuable resources like eBooks, whitepapers, and webinars as lead magnets to attract your target audience. Promote these resources through your Facebook ads to capture leads and nurture them through your sales funnel.
6. Promote product knowledge before suggesting demos/sign-ups
Instead of pushing for a demo or sign-up right away, focus on educating your audience about your product or service. This could be through blog posts, webinars, or how-to videos. Once they understand the value you provide, they’ll be more likely to sign up for a demo or trial.
7. Leverage social proof
Positive testimonials and case studies can significantly boost the perceived value of your offerings and persuade potential clients to consider your products or services. Social proof is particularly influential in B2B marketing as it showcases real-world success stories and client satisfaction.
To leverage social proof effectively, ensure that your testimonials and case studies are visible in your ads. Use quotes from satisfied clients, highlight the results achieved, and if possible, include the client’s name and company for added credibility.
Top 5 B2B Facebook Ad Campaign Examples
There are tons of ways in which B2B businesses can use Facebook ads. Right now, I will share with you 5 B2B Facebook ad examples, each with different objectives.
1. SurveyMonkey – Brand awareness campaign
Let’s be real. You’re probably going to stop and look at this SurveyMonkey ad just because it has a box full of adorable puppies! But this ad is more than that, and I will explain why:
- Main objective: The primary goal of this ad is to generate leads by encouraging guide downloads and increase brand awareness by providing valuable marketing insights.
- Ad format: Static image ad with a compelling visual (puppies), including a link to download a guide
- Key content: The ad uses an unexpected and eye-catching visual element – a box full of adorable puppies – to grab the viewer’s attention. Once the viewer is engaged, the ad provides compelling reasons to download the guide, emphasizing its benefits.
2. DaPulse – Product promotion campaign
Do you think your startup company stands out from the crowd? DaPulse, a project management platform, agrees. This is how their Facebook ad works:
- Main objective: Generate leads and raise awareness about DaPulse’s project management tool tailored for startups.
- Ad format: Static image ad with a dashboard screenshot.
- Key content: Highlights DaPulse as a unique project management tool for startups by emphasizing benefits like setting goals, assigning tasks, tracking progress, and celebrating success.
3. Infusionsoft – Free Trials
Most people aren’t going to start paying for a product right away. Instead, try hooking them with a creative ad and a free trial, and you can bring them into an onboarding process where you have weeks to find the aha! moment that will turn people from casual users into devoted customers. Infusionsoft clearly did put some thought into their ad text:
- Main objective: The primary goal is to generate leads by encouraging users to sign up for a free demo, thereby promoting Infusionsoft’s automation software for small businesses.
- Ad format: A static image ad with a clear, professional photograph
- Key content: Emphasizes the benefits of automation for small business success. The ad text gives the reader a clear idea of exactly how Infusionsoft can make your company grow. Once the users have that image of small business success stuck in their heads, it’s just one more step to sign up for the free trial.
4. PayPal – Share case studies
Providing customer testimonials is one of the best ways to validate your business, since it’s being advocated by a 3rd party. Let’s see how this ad example from PayPal did it:
- Main objective: The primary objective is to promote PayPal’s business loans by showcasing their positive impact on SMBs.
- Ad format: Video ad highlighting a customer testimonial and case study.
- Key content: Uses a testimonial from Event Decor Direct, stating that PayPal Business Loan helped them sell more products and increase revenue.
5. G2 Crowd – Offer giveaways and discounts
Giving people unique gifts and discount codes is another way to test campaigns that give people additional incentives to sign up quickly. G2 Crowd, a business reviews platform, successfully ran a Facebook ad campaign using this strategy:
- Main objective: The goal is to incentivize users to sign up and review software tools they use at work by offering a $10 Starbucks gift card.
- Ad format: Static image ad featuring eye-catching graphics.
Key content: The ad offers an enticing incentive – a $10 Starbucks gift card for those who complete a software review. It emphasizes the simplicity and speed of earning the reward, stating that you can earn “$10 in under 10 minutes”. The call-to-action is clear and direct, urging users to sign up and submit a review in order to receive their gift card.
Wrap-up
In conclusion, Facebook B2B Ads presents a powerful and cost-effective tool for B2B businesses. With these best practices, you’ll be well-equipped to drive engagement, generate leads, and promote your B2B products or services successfully. So why wait? Start leveraging the Facebook advertising service from Mega Digital today. Our team of professionals can help tailor and optimize your campaigns to achieve the success your business deserves.
