By 2028, the business-to-business (B2B) market size can reach $25.6 trillion. As of 2022, the value sits at roughly $1.5 trillion.
What does this mean for businesses?
The field is getting more competitive. And if you want to establish a position in the B2B market as a SaaS founder, you need to generate results.
This is where pay-per-click (PPC) advertising comes in.
However, not all businesses know how to maximize the potential of PPC marketing and get the maximum ROI from their ad spend.
This guide shows you how to ensure your PPC for SaaS marketing efforts pays off. You can find strategies to boost your B2B marketing campaigns with PPC, and mistakes to avoid when running PPC ads.
Table of Contents
What is PPC for SaaS Marketing?
PPC advertising is the process of finding relevant keywords and using them in your SaaS campaigns so that your ads appear whenever users search for applicable terms.
Specifically, PPC for SaaS marketing uses paid ads to drive qualified leads for your product or service.
Let’s break down what PPC means:
- Pay: You're paying for each click on your ad.
- Per: Each time someone clicks on your ad, they're charged a set amount of money (which depends on what kind of PPC platform you use).
- Click: A person has clicked on your ad and has been directed to a webpage where they can download your product/service or sign up for your mailing list.
How Does PPC for SaaS Work?
Here’s how PPC works:
- You research and find out what keywords people use when searching for products or services like yours.
- Next, you set up a budget that limits how much money you spend on each click-through or bid and then let the ads run themselves.
- If the ads stop getting clicks, you adjust the bids by increasing them slightly, so they'll start getting more clicks again.
- The key to success in PPC is testing different keywords and ads to see which ones perform best.
You can do this by using the Google AdWords Keyword Planner tool, which will tell you how many people are searching for each keyword so you can decide which ones are worth targeting.
Once you have the right keywords, it's time to create ads for your SaaS product.
You'll also use Google Analytics to track how many people click on your ads and what they do afterward.
8 PPC Strategies to Boost Your B2B Campaigns
Check out these PPC strategies you can use to get the most out of your B2B SaaS marketing campaigns:
1. Offer a Free Trial
Offering free trials is more than just a good idea— it's necessary if you want to ensure that your prospects will convert into customers.
You can offer them a free trial for a few days, after which they'll need to upgrade or cancel. This way, you can test whether your SaaS product works for them before committing any money.
Plus, it allows customers to try out the product before spending any money on it, so they don't feel like they're wasting their hard-earned cash on something that doesn't work for them.
2. Create Microsites for Each Product
Having separate microsites for each product is another excellent way to boost your SaaS B2B campaigns.
Microsites allow you to focus on individual products and their benefits without being distracted by everything else that's available in your ecosystem of products and services.
Suppose a prospect has already expressed interest in one particular product; you can direct them to that microsite and focus your SaaS B2B campaign around that product.
Alternatively, you can include links to the individual microsites within the main landing pages for each product so that visitors can find out more about them
3. Utilize Google’s Free Advertising Platforms
Not all of your PPC ads will be on Google's search engine. In fact, you can also create ads for YouTube, Gmail, and Google Home devices.
These free advertising platforms allow you to promote your products and services directly to your customers, and they are a great way to start with your PPC campaigns.
Indeed, Google's free advertising platforms allow you to test out your product marketing and start gaining new customers.
You may even learn a few sales with these free ads and expand your paid campaigns later. It's also great to get more exposure and build a brand presence.
4. Test and Track Keywords
Plan out your keyword strategy. This will determine what keywords you bid on, how much you'll spend on each keyword, and how many people will see your ads in the first place.
It can be tricky if you're new to PPC. However, several great tools can help you organize your keyword strategy.
You can start by listing all the terms and phrases your customers would search for. Then, you'll have to determine which keywords are worth bidding on and which are not.
Once you've narrowed down your list, you can organize the terms into a spreadsheet and track your performance with each keyword over time to ensure your strategies are working.
5. Run Rich Media Ads
PPC ads can be text-based, but you may get more attention and clicks if you use rich media, such as photos, videos, infographics, or interactive content.
A study by AdForm shows that rich media ads can produce a CTR that's 267% higher than static banners.
While this can increase your costs, it can also improve your click-through rates, which means you'll pay less per click and have a better chance of converting your visitors.
6. Don’t Rely on Ad Reviews
Most PPC ads have reviews that can be helpful for people who are looking for products or services like yours.
You could take advantage of many potential leads if your ads have reviews. That said, don't rely too heavily on these reviews.
While these reviews can provide some insight into the effectiveness of your ad, you must keep track of other statistics to ensure your ad is as effective as possible.
7. Do Offline Marketing
While it's essential to continue investing in PPC campaigns, offline marketing can be as beneficial.
After all, you can use digital and offline advertising to promote your PPC campaigns and drive more traffic to your website.
You can increase your visibility, customer base, and sales by partnering with influencers, hosting offline events, and creating an excellent offline marketing strategy.
For example, you can partner with influencers on social media, create print ads and advertisements, or create an event to help boost your PPC campaigns and increase brand awareness.
No matter what you choose, note that offline marketing is an essential part ofto any successful business and can significantly impact your PPC campaigns.
8. Make Your Ads Mobile Friendly
According to Google, 61% of users won’t return to a site that’s not mobile-friendly.
As more people use mobile devices to search, you want your ads to show up in their results. If they can't see or click on your ad, it won't matter how much you spend on your PPC campaigns.
Use the Google Ads mobile preview tool to see your ad's appearance on a smartphone and make any necessary changes before launching your campaign.
What are the Benefits of SaaS PPC Ads?
PPC strategies are helpful for many SaaS businesses, especially if you're a startup. It allows you to reach out to potential customers while helping you save time, energy, and money.
With SaaS PPC ads, your SaaS business can enjoy these benefits:
- SaaS PPC ads are cost-efficient: They're an affordable way to reach new customers, especially if you're a startup SaaS business. The cost per click is lower than other forms of advertising because it's based on performance.
- Setting up PPC campaigns is simple and straightforward: You don't have to go through the lengthy process of figuring out how to get your business in front of people. You can simply set up a campaign, link it to your website or landing page, and let Google's ad system do the rest.
- You can target your ads based on keywords: This minimizes wasted ad spending by allowing you to reach your target audience. You can also decrease ad costs by bidding on high-performing keywords or competitors' terms.
- PPC is an excellent option for getting exposure: By bidding on keywords relevant to your business and paying only when someone clicks on your ad, you can reach audiences that otherwise may not have found you.
- SaaS PPC lets you maximize your ROI: With PPC, you can generate leads by creating highly visible ads with a clear call-to-action.
Why Some SaaS PPC Campaigns Fail: Common Mistakes to Avoid
PPC campaigns are tricky, and even the best planned can fail. But there are some common mistakes that, if avoided, can help increase your chances of success.
There are a few reasons why SaaS development campaigns fail:
- If your landing page has a poor copy, it can turn off potential leads and cause them to bounce from the page.
- Getting caught up in the excitement of driving traffic to your website is easy, but if you need to optimize for lead conversion, it won't matter how much traffic you drive.
- You can only expect results by putting in the effort first. Before launching any campaign, invest enough money into it at the beginning so that it has enough momentum to succeed over time.
- You don't have a way of following up with people interested in your product but have yet to convert. You should be able to use your PPC campaign to get in touch with these leads and make sure they have the information they need to convert into customers.
- Your PPC ad might only succeed if you're targeting the right keywords. To avoid this, don't use terms that are too broad. For example, don't just target "marketing" when your ads could be more focused on one specific area, mainly what your SaaS product is for.
- The most common mistake is relying on cost per click (CPC) alone. You should also look at other metrics, which you’ll learn more about below.
What are the Metrics to Measure the Success of Your PPC Ads?
1. Click-Through Rate (CTR)
The click-through rate is a metric that measures the percentage of visitors who click on your ad compared to the total number of impressions your ad receives.
It's calculated by dividing the number of clicks by the total number of impressions and multiplying by 100%.
This metric is important because it shows how many people are interested in your offering.
A high CTR means that your ad is performing well and attracting many people who will potentially convert into customers.
2. Cost Per Click (CPC)
The cost per click (CPC) is one of the most important metrics to measure PPC ad success for SaaS products.
It measures how much each click costs your business, which allows you to determine whether an ad has successfully met its goals through conversions or clicks alone.
3. Conversion Rate (CR)
An important but often overlooked key metric, conversion rates, calculate how many visitors completed an action on your site that you've predefined as a conversion event. It could be purchasing a product or signing up for email updates.
It shows how many people converted after clicking on your ads compared to how many were lost. This could be due to things like poor landing pages.
To calculate conversion rates, divide total conversions by unique website visitors.
For example, if you have 10ten unique website visitors and five completed your designated conversion event, your conversion rate would be 50%.
4. Cost Per Acquisition (CPA)
CPA refers to how much money you spend on each new customer acquired through paid search advertising campaigns.
If your CPA is high, it means you're paying a lot for each new customer. This can be a problem if you need to earn more from your customers to offset these costs.
CPA isn't an exact measurement because it depends on how much you pay for clicks and what percentage of those clicks convert into sales or leads.
But if you can lower your CPA by improving your ad copy or bidding strategies, this will help improve your ROI.
5. Cost Per Lead (CPL)
CPL shows how much it costs per qualified lead coming from your advertising efforts. To calculate CPL, divide the total cost incurred overall leads generated during the period.
For instance, if your company sold $1,000 worth of SaaS products and has ten new customers from your advertisement, your CPL would be $100.
6. Total ROI
The return on investment helps you determine if your PPC ads are worth running concerning their profitability.
ROI is calculated with these variables: Net profit divided by total investment equals ROI percentage.
PPC for SaaS Marketing: Wrapping Up
Under the right circumstances, pay-per-click advertising can be one of the most effective ways to promote your business.
With PPC for your SaaS business, your ad can spread across the entire web in days or weeks, reaching potential business partners.
The people who click on your ads expect to see information about your product or service, so you'll want to use keywords that accurately describe your offer. Make it as easy as possible for readers to take the next step towards becoming customers.
