Pay-per-click has long been a staple of marketing strategies in both the business-to-consumer (B2C) and business-to-business (B2B) sectors. This marketing method has proven particularly useful for Software as a Service (SaaS) providers. 

While a well-managed B2B pay-per-click (PPC) advertising strategy can greatly enhance a company’s ability to generate leads and drive conversions, an inefficient campaign can have nearly the opposite effect. 

Unfortunately, a seemingly well-designed PPC for SaaS strategy can fall short of expectations without any clear indication as to why. 

With that in mind, the experts at Galactic Fed wanted to take an in-depth look at PPC for SaaS. Below, we recap some SaaS paid media tips, provide a few B2B ads examples, and — most importantly — explain what separates a good campaign from a mediocre one. 

By leveraging this information, you will be well on your way to crafting your own high-performance SaaS PPC campaign. 

Setting the Stage for a Successful Campaign

One of the biggest misconceptions about PPC for SaaS is that managing a campaign is an extremely time-consuming and complex process. While that can certainly prove true, there are ways to streamline this procedure. 

Accomplishing this will require you to do two things. First, you will need to devote an ample amount of time to creating a comprehensive B2B PPC strategy. 

This strategy should be intertwined with your overall digital marketing plan. Dedicating an adequate amount of time to the front end will make it easier to manage and adjust your plan in the future. 

If you simply do not have the time, knowledge, or experience to create a PPC campaign on your own, you could always partner with a B2B PPC agency — but more on that in a later section.

After you have a great plan in place, you will need to ensure that you do not neglect your campaign for weeks at a time. This type of willful ignorance is how concerning trends go unnoticed, and your precious marketing dollars get wasted. 

Instead, you should dedicate a little bit of time each week to check in on your campaign. The infographic below demonstrates just how efficient this process can be:

Source: Powered By Search

By creating a cohesive plan and then closely monitoring its efficacy, you will be well on your way to achieving results with your SaaS PPC campaign. 

Why PPC Is Integral to Inbound Marketing

Now that you know what it takes to set the stage for successful SaaS PPC advertising let’s examine the connection between inbound marketing and PPC for SaaS.

Inbound marketing is a cyclical growth strategy that centers around:

• Attracting prospects by targeting them with information content
• Establishing your company’s authority in your industry
• Highlighting how your SaaS product solves the audience’s pain points
• Converting the prospects to customers
• Providing adequate post-purchase support to nurture loyalty 

HubSpot illustrates this process beautifully with their Flywheel Model, which is pictured below:

Source: HubSpot

To recap, a good PPC strategy for your SaaS company should be based on a great plan and use an inbound marketing-centric approach. 

When you generate leads via inbound marketing principles, the prospects that you are connected with already have an interest in your product and understand that it could potentially alleviate their pain points. All that your sales team has to do when they connect with these qualified leads is close the deal. 

Let’s move past this high-level overview of good PPC strategies and get more granular. 

Key Tenets of a Successful PPC for SaaS Campaign

While your strategy should be tailored to the unique needs of your SaaS company, virtually every successful B2B PPC marketing campaign includes:

B2B Facebook Ads

Facebook is a great medium for marketing B2C goods and services. However, many B2B businesses falsely believe that Facebook is not a good channel for marketing business-to-business products — but this is simply not the case.

B2B Facebook Ads can certainly help you forge connections with your target audience. However, if you want to maximize the efficacy of this tactic, you will need to thoroughly test any ads before launching a full-scale campaign. 

A/B testing is the most popular method for gauging the effectiveness of paid ads. As you are probably well aware, A/B testing involves launching two different ads in a small geographic region. 

Both ads will be very similar but will include very small differences. The goal of the A/B test is to determine which ad design resonates better with your target audience. 

While A/B testing is an effective way of finding a winning ad design, it is not the most thorough option available to you. If you really want to take a deep dive into the minds of your target audience, we suggest using multivariate testing. 

Our in-depth guide will tell you all you need to know about multivariate testing, including what it is and how to incorporate it into your marketing strategy. 

LinkedIn B2B Ads

The phrase “LinkedIn ads B2B” is one of the most popular search phrases among B2B marketers and for a good reason. LinkedIn B2B ads are a great way of connecting with organizational leaders and business decision-makers who might be interested in your SaaS products. 

LinkedIn B2B ads will be displayed across users’ feeds. This setup means that users are already highly engaged when they come across your content. Like paid ads on Google, LinkedIn B2B ads function on a PPC basis. 

Long-Tail Keywords

Even if your SaaS offering is geared towards a very niche market, most of the prime B2B PPC keywords are likely highly competitive. If you want to target these keywords, be prepared to fork over a pretty penny for each click. 

While there will come a time in your company’s growth journey when targeting these keywords will be a necessity, there are ways to stretch your marketing budget a little further. 

One effective tactic involves targeting long-tail keywords. These keywords are very similar to traditional keywords but include a few extra words. Whereas a standard keyword may range from one to three words, long-tail variants may have four to seven words or more. 

For instance, let’s say that your business offers SaaS accounting products. In this scenario, law firms are one of your prime target audiences. 

A common keyword that you may target would be “accounting software for businesses.” Instead of targeting this phrase, you could use a long tail variant like “automated accounting software for law firms.” 

Like anything in the world of PPC for SaaS, this tactic comes with a tradeoff. While fewer people will be searching for long-tail phrases, the ones who do have a very specific intent. 

This intent means that the users you connect with via long-tail keywords are much more likely to convert into customers. Another benefit is that long-tail keywords traditionally cost less per click.

Partnerships with B2B PPC Agencies

National enterprises have the resources necessary to hire full-time digital marketing teams. These teams work around the clock to build the company’s brand image, generate leads, and drive conversions. 

However, many businesses cannot afford the luxury of a full-time in-house team but still want to increase their competitiveness in the SaaS industry.

Fortunately, there is a way to access top-tier digital marketing talent without breaking the bank. The answer lies in partnering with a B2B PPC agency like Galactic Fed. 

Our team of digital marketing gurus knows precisely how to help you get the most out of every single marketing dollar you spend. In addition to offering a comprehensive suite of B2B PPC campaign management services, we can also assist with generating organic traffic via search engine optimization. 

Are you ready to work with our digital marketing professionals and elevate your position within the SaaS sector? If so, then contact us today to learn more about our PPC for SaaS and other digital marketing services.