Successful B2B marketing practices that combine the use of social media with the power of Google

In 2016 we started working with our client Fintrade – a non-banking, financial institution specializing in business lending. As with any B2B client, here, at the beginning of our work together, we had serious challenges, which were to research the market, define the right target audiences and choose the right digital channels to reach them. One of our main advantages at the time was that apart from banking institutions, there were no other major players in the market to take a significant advertising share, and small businesses needed a partner like Fintrade. He just didn’t know it existed, and we had to fix it. This is how we implemented successful digital marketing for B2B.

The beginning

As a first step, we created a media mix based on our detailed study of the digital environment and assumptions about audience behavior that we wanted to validate with the client. We relied on mandatory channels such as Google Search, as well as purely image and traffic-generating sites such as Facebook and the Google Display Network. We wanted to achieve a large scope of the campaign, to build a serious audience and then to analyze the behavior of individual micro-audiences, which we had previously defined. In this way, we were able to correctly and easily identify the target audiences and optimize the performance of our campaigns – both at the level of requests made by users and in terms of budget. After the first 3 months of work we had the following conclusions:

1. Our highest quality audience, in terms of performance and site behavior, is brought to us by the Google Search channel /no surprise to anyone/.
2. Google Display manages to generate good traffic at a very low cost-per-click and creates a good user base to engage in remarketing with relevant content. However, the results did not happen at the pace we wanted.
3. Facebook ads report high consumer interest and good performance, but have one major problem – they generate a huge number of loan applications from individuals. This was a case we had to deal with.

In the following lines, we will look at how when the right approaches and content are used Facebook can become a successful B2B channel.

Positioning Fintrade on Facebook is strategically important.

We use content in the form of banners, posts, videos and articles aimed at small business owners. With posts and articles we aim to give advice and present good practices in business management. They generate average monthly CTR values of around 7%, which is a high result and speaks of good levels of engagement on the part of the audience.

Two Lead Generation campaigns were a great success. One goal was to download a booklet (in pdf format) with merchandising tips, and the other was a small business management guide. More than half of the people who downloaded the books indicated that they were real business owners, which showed that the campaigns had reached the right audience. A key factor in the success of Facebook as a channel is the screening of legal entities through proper targeting. To this end, we focus mainly on Lookalike and Remarketing audiences.

Applying the described approach, combined with increased presence in Google Search (we are talking about over 98% achieved Impression share), and limiting image formats, we managed to reduce advertising budget by 30%, improving the effectiveness of campaigns with each passing month. Because Google Search is not a channel that can influence the volume of monthly searches, budgets have varied according to audience behavior. But here we had the understanding and support from the client to be flexible and respond to the needs of the moment. Which was an important prerequisite for success.

The role of the landing page

Analyzing the indicators and digital behavior of users on the Fintrade site, after several in-depth discussions with the client, we decided it was time to make a special landing page different from the company’s site. Its purpose was to provide consumers with the most important information they need, while directing them to our main goal – the implementation of conversion (in this case what we measure under the term “conversion” is the client to make a request for a business loan). In the digital environment, the user’s attention, including the B2B target user, it can be lost in seconds, so it is crucial to outline the consumer path in our own digital assets clearly.

Here’s how the results for the Google Search and Facebook (remarketing) channels have changed, while keeping the strategy and changing only the site with the landing page:

Working with the client and the importance of them understanding our work

Every agency needs to understand the business model of its clients. However, this cannot be at a level that businesses themselves can analyze and give advice and recommendations. Fintrade is an example client who gives us guidance and advice every month in terms of:

• Clients and what interests / motivates and urges them to action

• How a meeting goes physically and the “selling” of the service

• What are the trends and innovations in business and demand

Thus, we built a process with monthly meetings, where in addition to reviewing results, we also comment on business issues, customer behavior and business services. This gives us the option to be able to “draw” a strategy from communication and messages for 1 to 2 months ahead.

Separately here we have the option to do different tests and monitor how successful they are. An example of this, according to our client Fintrade, is that we tested using a vision of posts with the highest CTR to become a creative banner, which in itself shows great results and allowed us to be effective as an advertising and from the resources we invest in production.

If this case study with concrete results has intrigued you, you probably want to know more about our approach. We offer you to meet to discuss whether and how your business can be influenced by a well-established digital marketing strategy and well-implemented communication, taking into account your business and marketing goals. When we work together, we will create a concept tailored to your current and future digital assets. And last but not least, we will commit to solid results. We will be committed to the realization of digital assets and advertising and you will receive detailed reports on consumer behavior and advertising communication costs. If you like this approach, you can send us an inquiry through our intuitive inquiry form, in which you choose with a few clicks exactly how we can be useful to you. Then we are on the move.

You can also see the case study in the video we did on the case: